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A summer bump for Iowa Democrats dramatically closed their deficit in state voter registration.

It’s another ripple in what Democrats hope is that long-forecast blue wave in this fall’s elections.

Registered, active Republican voters in Iowa outnumber Democrats by 24,441, according to the latest data from the Iowa Secretary of State. That is down nearly half from earlier this year: Republicans in January held an advantage of 48,800 more registered, active voters than Democrats.

The gap is the lowest since before the 2016 elections. Going further back, Iowa Democrats outnumbered Republicans shortly after the 2012 presidential election. But Republicans overtook Democrats and steadily built on the advantage over the next six years.

Democratic registration took a giant leap this summer: the number of registered, active Democrats leaped by more than 28,000 voters from May to July. Meanwhile, registration figures for Republicans were flat.

The jump likely can be at least partly explained by the myriad competitive Democratic primary races earlier this year, including for the party’s candidate for governor. The primary election was in early June, just as the spike in registered Democrats began.