Matt Rourke / AP Republican voters in Pennsylvania abandoned their party at higher rates last month than they did last year, movement that experts say was likely sparked by the Jan. 6 insurrection in the U.S. Capitol. Statewide, 4,640 Republican voters flipped and became Democrats last month, a period in which only 2,956 Democrats re-registered as Republicans. Data kept by the Pennsylvania Department of State largely reflects a continuation of voter shifts that began years ago: Republicans in suburban counties outside Philadelphia have been shifting blue, while Democrats in Westmoreland and other southwestern counties have been adopting the GOP. But the rate at which many of those shifts were happening sped up dramatically in January. For every 10 Chester County Republicans who flipped for Democrats, only one Democrat became a Republican last month. Last year, that ratio was 2.5 to 1. Other eastern counties -- including Delaware, Lancaster and Montgomery -- saw similar upticks, as did Cumberland County outside Harrisburg.