What has brought "election wins to the GOP" is a combination of moving forces and covert behavior. In the area of dynamic forces has been the creation of 'think-tanks' which have promoted different tactics in creating a different brand which led to the 'Moral Majority' and the 'religious right' in the 80's. It evolved into 'anti-govt' rhetoric and an 'individualism' that painted those on welfare as sychophants, and the pathway to creating wider separation of parties took off. At the same time, deregulation of some banking laws also moved the needle of 'income-inequality' into high gear; equity firms were created (Romney's business) which legally took over other companies (hostile takeovers) and broke down their assets that often led to the fleecing of pension funds. Also, the 'war on unions' was in full force by the end of the 80's. The divide between conservatives and liberals was becoming wider every day. All these efforts galvanized the Republicans and their turnouts have been more impressive.

The Democratic party became more 'centrist' and aligned, in many ways, with the power structure of the Republicans. This was in alignment with the 'oligarchical' strategy to shrink the middle-class back to the Depression era and before when the 'Robber Barons' ruled industry and labor. While all this energy was devoted to creating an almost theocratic party, there was this great push to open up money sources so elections could be bought and/or manipulated. And that led us to Citizen's United; this cleared the legal obstruction to literal bribery and turned the Congress/Senate folk into indentured servants to the 'wealthy elite.' Ultimately, it's a long-term strategy to creating a govt ruled by one party.

The combination of the following factors are the foundation of how the Republicans have fared so well in both state and federal elections: strong grass-root organization (the 'progressives' are now beginning to catch up as the 'blue wave' is having a very positive impact in regaining seats for the Democrats), voter suppression (closing voting precincts in areas mostly populated by people of color as well as cutting back voting hours; making it more difficult for people to be registered to vote; manipulating voting rolls through "interstate-crosscheck" which has cut out a few million voters which has only impacted 'red states' (the creator of it, Kansas Secty of State Kris Kobach, has been sued for violating voter laws); severe gerrymandering which has been under fire by the SCOTUS, and a handful of states have been ordered to redraw their districts (N Carolina and Texas were found guilty of racial gerrymandering); electronic voting machines are still susceptible to manipulation.

You can add in immigration issues, the fear mongering that the Berniecrats will turn the US into a 'socialist' country and much more in terms of propaganda (gladly provided by conservative media like FoxNews). What I see is that the election of Trump has woken up millions to the reality of possibly losing their country to fascism and so several groups were founded during the early part of last year (check out indivisible.com) to educate, motivate and organize those who would get involved in all levels of govt. So, now the progressives are attempting to move the party to the left of center, moving away from 'corporate' democrats which shifts the basis of power away from the corporatocracy, and that's why we're winning the majority of elections this year and it's being observed that the November elections will be a great boon to the party and most likely will retake the House with an outside possibility of retaking the Senate...cheers

Anger. I see it in Ohio every election. Conservative campaign ads claim Liberals want to steal your guns, raise your taxes, kill unborn babies, indoctrinate your children. Nothing whips voters up into a frenzy more than a fear of people coming to take away the way they live.

Gerrymandering. Republicans just keep redrawing district lines to put the numbers where they want them.

I suspect you mean, with ‘registered democrats outnumbering republicans’... One side is basically a catch-all, where ‘leading them’ is akin to herding cats. The other is as lock-step as the military, needing only someone to follow..

The ‘liberals’ (most often democrats) are confused by the multitude of facts & opinions … with ‘regressives’ (the R’s) confused by their sources of propaganda.. In short, one side is willing to live with less, the other wants it all...

The key is, sad to say, the ones swinging elections are those paying the least attention! They reside ‘in the middle,’ and are often interviewed a week from the elections saying something like,’ “I haven’t really made up my mind.” What mind? you might ask

Often comes down to how charismatic the candidate it, sad to say. Or how long a ‘progressive’ has been in the ‘conservative’ crosshairs … as the propaganda mills are funded by industrialists, long knowing (as trump admitted) how easy the conservatives are to fool… It takes a relative newcomer to have escaped the heavy guns of the far-wrong..

No easy answer, but considering back in Oregon, where my previous county had a 53% turnout for the presidential election ...leaving lock-step militaristic (I knew them) ‘conservatives’ and wishy-washy frightened & confused (knew them too) ‘liberal’ purists to make the decision for everyone … we got trump ~

America wants world peace, and to have a strong economy - electing Trump was their best hope for these things.

Ha.
Maybe it's the conservative being a responsible citizen and voting, rather than sitting at home browsing Agnostic.Com.

Insecurity