HARRISBURG — Voter registration for Pennsylvania's April 22 presidential primary is close to setting an all-time record, and the surge of Democratic sign-ups this year has reversed years of Republican domination in two suburban Philadelphia counties.

Statewide registration stands at 8.32 million — fewer than 50,000 votes shy of breaking the record set in the 2004 presidential election, according to updated county totals that state officials released Monday.

The statewide total is expected to grow because county officials are still not finished processing applications that were filed by the March 24 deadline.

The number of Democrats is 4.2 million — an increase of 8 percent since last fall's election, reflecting intense interest in the nomination battle between Democratic Sens. Hillary Clinton of New York and Barack Obama of Illinois. They are competing for 158 delegates to the national nominating convention in Denver in August — the largest group of delegates that will be awarded in the primaries that remain.

As a result of the latest updates, Democrats outnumber Republicans in Bucks and Montgomery counties — both longtime GOP bastions — for the first time in recent memory. Democrats also have made steady gains in neighboring Chester and Delaware counties, largely because of recruitment drives by the Obama and Clinton campaigns, but the Republican Party remains the majority party there.

Republican registration declined statewide by about 2 percent to 3.2 million.

WASHINGTON — Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., raised more than $15 million in March for his presidential campaign, a top performance for the likely Republican nominee that still falls far short of the cash gathered by rival Democratic Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton.One official said McCain intends to accept public financing in the general election — a sum of about $84 million. McCain donors are now being asked to supplement that public financing with donations to the Republican National Committee, with a goal of raising $120 million through a joint Victory Committee.McCain's March fundraising and the decision to seek public financing in the fall are two separate tracks that highlight the superior fundraising by the Democratic candidates.Obama raised $40 million in March, bringing his total so far in the campaign to about $234 million. Clinton raised $20 million for a total of more than $175 million during the entirety of the contest. McCain has raised about $75 million since he began running last year.Clinton has raised at least $22 million for the general election and is expected to raise her own money if she is the Democratic nominee. Obama, who once said he would take public money if his Republican rival did, has made no commitment and is under pressure to use his formidable fundraising in the general election as well.