Texas sees record voter turnout in primaries led by Democratic voters | Houston Public Media

Texas saw a historic surge in voter participation for the primaries, with over three million Texans casting their ballots in-person on Tuesday.

While final statewide totals are still being canvassed, early reports from the Texas Secretary of State (SOS) show Democratic voters outnumbered Republicans by more than 4% at the polls.

Republican voters have historically led turnout at the polls in the state, but for the first time since 2020, Democrats showed a higher voter turnout. More than 1.6 million Democrats voted on Election Day, with approximately 1.4 million Republican voters casting a ballot.

The large Democratic turnout could be attributed to high-profile, competitive Senate races, according to University of Houston Political Science Professor Michael Kistner.

“Is it going to be a more progressive party or is it going to be a party more focused on sort of the ‘bread and butter’ dinner table-type issues that might not catch many headlines, but what a lot of voters care about,” Kistner said.

The election rule change in Dallas County, where voters could only vote in their assigned precinct, according to Kistner, could have also impacted the state’s total voter turnout.

“That could have meaningfully depressed or deflated turnout totals in one of the largest counties in Texas,” he said. “And so there’s a possibility turnout would have been even higher than it actually was if there weren’t those issues, that confusion in the Dallas area.”

The March 3 primary was the first time Tennessee transplant Jessie Bradley voted in Texas. She said the process was “quite different” based on the number of items to vote on.

“It was a lot to select from, which was very unusual, but I did it to the best of my ability,” she said. “I think I’ve been here long enough to make the right decision.”

Several candidates campaigned at her local Brazoria County church, she said, which helped her learn more about who to vote for.

“We just need to be very informed on who’s out there and who’s going to be the next best person,” Bradley said.

Brazoria County voter Ashley Warren was at the West Pearland Library and said that while she regrets not being an early voter, the line was easy and quick for her. The county in South Texas has seen a steady growth in registered voters, at approximately 245,000, compared to more than 234,000 in 2022, according to data from the Brazoria County Clerk’s office. When it came to early voting totals, Brazoria County had Republicans outnumbering Democrats by just over 2,000 voters.

Harris County’s turnout followed the state trend and also saw record-breaking turnout. Turnout this year was nearly double the number of votes cast in the 2024 primaries. Both early voting and in-person numbers came in over half-a-million, according to Harris County Clerk Teneshia Hudspeth.

More than 346,000 were from early voting, and more than 200,000 ballots came in on Election Day.

Harris County’s Democratic voters outnumbered Republicans in early voting totals by 17% or close to 94,000 voters, according to the county elections office.

Kistner said one factor that contributed to the large turnout in Harris County was President Trump.

“He inspires a lot of strong opinions and views from people,” Kistner said. “So I think there’s sort of a reaction to some of what’s going on in D.C. right now. People have a desire to make their opinions heard.”

Harris County Runoff elections throughout the state will take place on May 26. For voters in Houston’s 18th Congressional District, they’re marking their fourth election in less than seven months.

One factor Kistner said would help Harris County maintain large voter turnout: running elections as “smooth” as March.

“No election administration issues,” he said. “Everyone did their job really well.”