The county elections administrator said 2,178 people voted in person on the first day of early voting, a 3.7% turnout. That beat any single early-voting day during the 2022 general election. Officials said turnout is trending above the 2018 general election too.
Randall County is moving fast as well. More than 13,000 people had voted there by Thursday morning, and the county elections administrator said voter registration has reached a record high, passing earlier midterm years. These figures cover only the two counties, not a statewide total.
Across Texas, more than 19 million people are registered for the Nov. 3 midterm, a record, according to The Texas Tribune. That is up 2.2% from the November 2024 general election and 7.7% from the 2022 midterms. Registration shows who can vote, not who has.
Jason Husser, a professor of political science and public policy at Elon University and director of the Elon University Poll, pointed to the U.S. Senate and governor's races. He said Texas is seeing a level of competition it has not experienced in a long time. "The thing that drives voters the most to turn out to vote is when an election seems very competitive, and when the stakes seem very high," Husser said.
So far, nobody can say whether the surge helps Democrats or Republicans.