CAPITAL REGION — New York has always been a Democratic state, but it is getting more so, and that includes the Capital Region.

In 1996, according to the state Board of Elections, there were 2,998,511 registered Republicans in the state. By this year, the GOP total had actually declined by 2,529 voters to 2,995,982, while Democratic enrollment in the same period increased 700,546 from 4,738,254 to 5,438,800.

During that period, the Republicans lost the governor’s mansion and have been shut out of every other statewide office, as well as losing several congressional seats including one in the Capital Region. They are now clinging to a one-seat majority in the state Senate, which has become their last bastion of power. Senate Democrats hope to take that away from them in this year’s elections.

Robert Farley, R-Glenville, minority leader of the Schenectady County Legislature, places much of the blame for his party’s woes on the loss of population in upstate New York, where most of the half-million people who left since the mid-1990s were Republicans.

The Capital Region is in better economic shape than most of upstate, and most of this region has not lost population. Still, the enrollment trends here, as throughout the state, do not favor the GOP.

In Schenectady County, there were only 700 more enrolled Democrats than Republicans in 1996, but now the gap exceeds 6,000. Those numbers help explain why Democrats took over the county Legislature and City Hall in 2003 and have held power there since.

As Republicans battle to keep control of the Senate, they are facing an unexpected battle in the 43rd District, which includes Rensselaer and eastern Saratoga counties. The district was represented by former Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, R-Brunswick, who stepped down this summer. Democratic candidate Brian Premo thought he could win against Bruno, against whom he tried to run two years ago, but got knocked off the ballot by the state Board of Elections and a court. Premo’s running again this year and will face Michael Russo in a Sept. 9 Democratic primary.

He said Bruno was beatable because people do not believe state government works well, with “three men in a room” (including the Senate majority leader) running up the debt and beholden to special interests.

The district has 77,258 Republicans to 58,856 Democrats, but the GOP has lost ground there since 2002, when it had a 78,316-53,641 edge.

There are almost 4,000 more members of the Independence Party now than then, and the number of unaffiliated voters increased from 60,688 to 61,137.

“A lot of blank voters tend to lean more Democratic these days,” Premo said. He also noted that Rensselaer County now has a slight Democratic edge, which he said was the first time that had ever happened.

Assemblyman Roy McDonald, R-Saratoga, who will face Raymond Seney in the Republican primary for the Senate seat, said, “People are very independent today. They’re not wedded to any political party, and I can’t say I blame them.”

McDonald said he has a history of winning elections with an “appeal to responsible men and women, whether they’re Republicans, Democrats or independents.”

Both McDonald and Premo have demonstrated some independence from standard party lines.

McDonald voted this month for an Assembly Democratic bill to provide income-based property tax relief through a “circuit-breaker,” to be paid for by increasing the income tax on those making $1 million or more per year.

Premo backs a property tax cap, both the one on the table in Albany, which is supported by the Democratic governor and the Republican Senate, and a more stringent one if he could get it.

McDonald said he favors a compromise bill that would include some kind of cap.

Republicans continue to dominate in some Capital Region counties. In Schoharie County, there were 7,806 Republicans to 5,651 Democrats in 1996, compared to 7,934 to 5,106 now.

In Saratoga County, there were 58,529 Republicans to 26,222 Democrats in 1996, compared to 68,268 and 37,011 in 2008.

Montgomery County went from 12,141 Republicans and 11,861 Democrats in 1996 to 11,786 and 11,028 in 2008.

Fulton County’s figures are 17,561 Republicans and 7,417 Democrats in 1996, compared to 17,415 and 7,747 in 2008.

Albany County, the only county in the region to have fewer registered voters in 2008 than 1996, had 97,388 Democrats and 48,396 Republicans in 1996, compared to 96,531 Democrats and 45,036 Republicans in 2008.

Schenectady County had 33,735 Democrats and 33,021 Republicans in 1996, compared to 35,901 Democrats and 29,782 Republicans in 2008.

Farley said his party’s troubles in recent years were more a matter of candidates than demographics and pointed to recent GOP successes in Rotterdam and Glenville as examples.

Enrollment figures do not necessarily determine election results. Overwhelmingly Democratic New York City, for example, has not elected a Democratic mayor since 1989.

Farley also said the GOP has been hurt by the unpopularity of President Bush and the failure of former Gov. George Pataki to continue the party-building efforts that had been undertaken successfully by former state GOP Chairman William Powers.