It’s been a long time since Democrats in Florida were allowed to use the same restrooms or lunch counters as Republicans but that day appears to be returning. New voters in the state are registering donkey by a ratio of nearly 10 to 1.

Democrats have posted even greater gains statewide, up 106,508 voters from January through May, compared with 16,686 for the Republicans.

Republicans aren’t going down quietly, however.

State Rep. Ellyn Bogdanoff, R- Fort Lauderdale, was blunt: Republicans need to do a better job.

The registration numbers “got my attention; I’ll be calling our party chairman this afternoon,” she said.

Unfortunately, already-registered elephants aren’t changing teams.

Michael Martinez, an associate professor of political science at the University of Florida, said there aren’t many people shifting from the Republicans to the Democrats. But the allegiance of first-time voters is significant.

“New voters tend to identify with the hot party at the time. In the 1980s, a lot of new voters were identifying with Reagan, because he was sort of the hot commodity,” Martinez said.