In Texas’ five largest counties, first day early voting numbers set records for a midterm election. Some polling places reported hour-long waits, but mostly the lines moved quickly with only short waits to vote.
Harris County (Houston) had the most early voters — 63,188 compared to only 20,215 in the 2014 midterms. Dallas County had the largest percent increase compared to 2014 — up 325 percent — with 55,384 voters this year compared to 13,037 in the 2014 midterms.
Bexar County (San Antonio) increased from 13,436 voters to 34,021 this year.
Tarrant County (Fort Worth) increased from 13,466 to 40,422 this year.
Travis County (Austin) increased from 10,257 voters in 2014 to 32,696 this year.
A majority of Dallas Travis and Bexar county voters are registered Democrats. A majority of Tarrant County voters are registered Republican and Harris County, the state’s most populous, is fairly evenly split. All five major urban counties have seen substantial population growth since the 2014 election explaining some of the increase in voter participation but most of it is due to excitement about this year’s election on both sides.
These are only first day records. Early voting continues through Nov. 2.
— David Taffet
