First Day Of Early Voting In Texas Breaks Records In Blue, Urban Counties

Screenshot/YouTube/The Joe Rogan Experience

Two Democratic areas in Texas posted record-breaking first-day early voting numbers Monday, which could spell trouble for Republicans.

Dallas and Harris County had more voters than ever when early voting began Monday, which was a good sign for Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico. Judge Clay Jenkins, who has access to official data from the Dallas County Elections Department, reported that 76,069 voters showed up in Dallas County, which surpassed the previous record of 60,573 voters in 2020.

The number of registered voters in Dallas surged from 1,398,469 in 2020 to 1,463,708 this year, a 4.7% rise.

Former Vice President Kamala Harris won Dallas County by a 60.1% to 38.1% margin in the 2024 presidential election, according to Politico. Former Democratic Texas Senate nominee Colin Allred won the county by 29 points against Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz.

The number of voters in Dallas County already surpassed turnout during the 2024 presidential election, according to The Political HQ.

The Harris County Elections Department recorded over 100,000 in-person voters. As of 3:30 pm central time, over 70,000 voters had been processed, which surpassed the previous record of 63,188 votes recorded in the 2018 midterm elections. Harris County includes the city of Houston.

“Harris County has broken the record for first-day early voting turnout in a midterm election!
As of 3:30 p.m., 70K+ voters have been processed, surpassing the previous record of 63,188 set in 2018, with 3.5 hours remaining,” the Harris County Elections Department said on X.

The county’s number of registered voters rose 14.7%, from 2,357,199 in 2018 to 2,702,952 this year, according to county data.

Harris won Harris County by a five-point margin, 51.9% to 46.5%, according to Politico.

Over 22,000 voters turned out in El Paso County, the second-highest turnout number on record for the first day of early voting. The historically blue county had its highest ever first-day voter turnout in the 2018 midterm election when 24,449 were recorded. Harris won in El Paso County by 15 points, according to Politico.

Collin County, Denton County and Tarrant County reported increased voter turnout in comparison to the previous election in 2022, which are all historically Republican counties. Collins County reported over 34,000 voters on the first day of early voting, which was well above the roughly 19,000 voters on the first day of early voting in 2022, according to Fox 4 KDFW, a local Fox affiliate.

The county reported approximately 43,000 voters on the first day of early voting in 2024, according to Fox 4 KDFW.

Denton County reported over 34,000 voters on the first day, which surpassed turnout in 2018 and 2022.

Republican PACs spent over $326 million to support Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton while he fell behind Talarico in the polls. Talarico led by an average of 2.2 points as of Tuesday, according to RealClearPolling.

Paxton told donors in leaked audio that the Iran war and gas prices caused his campaign to struggle.

The PACs spent unprecedented amounts in other red states, including Kansas, South Dakota, South Carolina and Iowa.