Both parties have some work to do with Colorado voters, but especially Republicans, Allen Fuller writes today on the Principles That Matter blog

The outcomes on Election Day in Colorado-Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump; U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet over Darryl Glenn-can be traced back to the “shifting growth in voter registration over the past few years,” Fuller writes.

Fuller, a data guy who happens to be an exceptional wordsmith, points out that voter registration has grown by more than 6 percent since the presidential race in 2012. That’s the good news.

The bad news for parties is they’re losing market share in the state’s political economy, reports Fuller.

“The Republican share of voters in the state has dropped 3.5 percent since October 2012,” he notes. “The Democratic share of voters in the state has dropped 1.3 percent since October 2012.”

The number of unaffiliated voters has grown by 2.5 percent.

Republicans should pay particular attention to the trend.

“Over the past six months, Republicans saw 5 percent growth in their numbers across the state, from 1.13 million in June to 1.17 million in December,” he said.

“In that same time period, however, Democrats added 6 percent to their numbers, from 1.14 million to 1.21 million, while the number of unaffiliated voters in the state grew at almost 7 percent, from 1.32 million in June to 1.41 million this month.”

Consider that a warning bell.

Principles That Matter is an initiative of the conservative Centennial Institute,  which is based at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood.