Texas early voting passes 7.6M in Talarico-Paxton race

More than 7.6 million ballots cast

More than 7.6 million Texans have voted early in the U.S. Senate race between Democratic candidate James Talarico and Republican candidate Ken Paxton. About 7.3 million voted in person, while 259,915 ballots had been cast by mail, Texas Secretary of State figures show.

The state has more than 19 million registered voters, up 7.7% from before the 2022 midterm election. The 6-million-plus count marked an increase of about 50% from the 4.2 million Texans who had voted by the same stage in 2022.

Early-voting totals measure participation, not candidate support. Texas does not register voters by political party, and ballots are not counted publicly by candidate during early voting.

Turnout ahead of 2022 pace

By the 10th day of early voting, 31.4% of registered voters had cast ballots in person. The comparable figure in 2022 was 22.36%. In the 2024 presidential election, in-person turnout had reached 38.87% by day 10.

Harris County reported 862,700 early voters as of Wednesday, compared with 564,500 at the same point in 2022. The county also recorded more than 127,000 ballots on the first day of early voting, while Dallas County recorded more than 88,000.

County participation varies

Tarrant and Denton counties each reached about 32% of registered voters by early in the week. The Rio Grande Valley was running about 64% ahead of its 2022 pace, though all four counties in the region remained below the statewide participation rate. Starr and Willacy counties were near 17%.

The Secretary of State’s office is expected to post the next statewide totals over the weekend.