The first-week total of Texas Democratic primary early vote numbers shows voter turnout is up significantly over 2016.
In the state’s 15 most populated counties, more than 271,000 voted in person and by mail in the Democratic primary in the first week, over 100,000 more than in 2016, according to data compiled by Texas Democratic Party.
One impressive fact, Fort Bend County, a suburban battleground between Republicans and Democrats, saw a 140 percent increase in early voting for Democrats.
Other major counties, like Bexar, Dallas and Harris County, also saw a significant bump in voter turnout:
Despite the strong turnout, the early voting numbers still fall short of where they were in 2008, a record-breaking year for trying Democrats where the cumulative percent of early voting after the first week was 5.5 percent, compared to 3.3 percent this primary.
Republicans meanwhile are seeing a decline in early voting, with 169,751 fewer early votes in the Texas’ 15 largest counties than in 2016.
“Texas Democrats have had a strong start to early voting,” Keir Murray, a longtime Texas political consultant told the Signal. “And with many voters still making a final decision in the presidential race, I expect turnout will increase through the end of early voting and on Election Day.”
Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
Fernando covers Texas politics and government at the Texas Signal. Before joining the Signal, Fernando spent two years at the Houston Chronicle and previously interned at Houston’s NPR station News 88.7. He is a graduate of the University of Houston, Jack J. Valenti School of Communication, and enjoys reading, highlighting things, and arguing on social media. You can follow him on Twitter at @fernramirez93 or email at fernando@texassignalarchive.com
