Nearly one in four registered voters in Texas cast a ballot in Tuesday’s primaries, a high-water mark for midterm elections in the state’s recent history, driven by electrifying momentum surrounding both parties’ races for U.S. Senate.
In all, some 4.3 million Texans voted across the Democratic and Republican primaries, according to unofficial numbers on the Texas Secretary of State’s Office as of 1 p.m. Wednesday. The turnout was divided between about 2.2 million ballots in the Democratic primary and more than 2 million on the Republican side; it was the first time with higher Democratic turnout since 2020, when voters flocked to weigh in on the party’s open presidential primary.
The energy across both parties this year was clear from the start. In the first seven days of early voting, the state recorded more ballots cast than in any recent midterm or presidential election year. There are roughly 18.7 million registered voters in the state.
The higher turnout on the Democratic side, despite the draw of spicy contests at the top for both parties’ ballots, has helped fuel Democrats’ hopes that backlash to President Donald Trump’s policies could propel them to their first statewide win since 1994.
Should that become reality, the political trophy could be claimed by their nominee for Senate, state Rep. James Talarico, who Democratic voters selected over U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Dallas. Meanwhile Republicans sent two party stalwarts, incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Attorney General Ken Paxton, into a runoff to decide who will face Talarico in November.
Democratic turnout was significantly higher than in 2018, the last midterm when Trump was in office. That March, about 7 percent of registered voters cast a ballot in the Democratic primary, compared to 12 percent in this year’s intraparty contest. That November, then-Congressman Beto O’Rourke of El Paso came within 2.6 points of unseating GOP U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
A geographic analysis of turnout suggests there was political energy propelling voters to the polls virtually throughout the state. Nearly two-thirds of Texas counties — 158 of 254 — saw higher percentages of their registered voting population participate in either the Democratic and Republican primary this year compared to the 2022 primary, the most recent midterm.
About 17% and 18% of registered voters participated in the 2018 and 2022 primaries, respectively, compared to about 23% this year, according to the latest unofficial figures Wednesday afternoon.
The widespread propulsion was laid bare in the Tribune’s geographic analysis, which found the highest turnout came in the state’s solidly red counties — from bigger population centers like Lubbock County to the many sparsely populated rural counties — along with the fast-growing suburban counties such as Tarrant and Fort Bend.
Both saw turnout north of 24%, followed closely by the nearly 22% clip in the biggest liberal counties. Turnout was lowest — 19% — in the border counties, though all four geographic buckets saw an increase in turnout rate from four years ago.
To be sure, there were far fewer competitive races in 2022 — when the gubernatorial contest was the top statewide draw — compared to barnburner Senate and down-ballot races during this year’s primaries. Voters on Tuesday also picked nominees for an unusually large number competitive statewide offices.
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