Nevada Democrats increased their lead among registered voters as the state heads toward the June primary election.

Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske announced on Tuesday that statewide, Democrats hold a 61,629 advantage in registered voters over Republicans, or a 4 percentage point lead. With turnout that generally lags behind Republicans, Democrats will need to maintain a strong lead to win close contests in the November election — including a neck-and-neck U.S. Senate race and an open governor’s seat.

The total number of active registered voters in Nevada had grown by 12,743 in April, to 1,427,752.

Democrats added 5,330 voters to their ranks in April, compared with the 2,785 that Republicans added last month -- that’s a gain of 2,545 voters. The number of voters registered as nonpartisan grew by 3,796 over the month, meaning 302,000 people in the state are not registered with a party.

The number of Independent American Party voters grew by 566, while Libertarians grew by 202, and other minor parties added a combined 64 voters.

Democrats have a slightly smaller lead over Republicans in the number of registered voters than they did in April 2016, when the margin between the two parties was 64,635 — a 3,006 difference between the April 2018 numbers.

Nevada’s two “swing” congressional seats also saw slight gains in Democratic party registration. The state’s 3rd Congressional District, which covers Henderson and large parts of rural Southern Nevada, saw Democrats widening their lead over Republicans by about 440 between March and April, with a total lead of slightly more than 5,600 registered voters out of more than 401,000 in the district.

Nevada’s 4th Congressional District gained a total of 803 more registered Democrats than Republicans between March and April, giving the party a 32,143-voter advantage in registration.