HARRIS COUNTY, Texas – Harris County is leading the state of Texas in early voting, posting record-breaking numbers ahead of Election Day.
As of the latest figures, at least 362,534 people in Harris County have already cast their ballots. By comparison, Dallas County has recorded close to 199,000 votes.
More Democrats voting early, but experts urge caution
Rice University political science professor Mark Jones said more Democrats are voting early than Republicans — and points to the U.S. Senate race as a possible key factor driving turnout. The contest pits Democrat James Talarico against incumbent Republican Ken Paxton.
Jones told KPRC 2 News the Republican Party needs to do more to mobilize its voters.
“You need to look at those numbers with some caution. While Democrats are turning out at a higher rate than Republicans in the first few days of early voting, that one that doesn’t mean that Democrats are going to turn out than Republicans during the entire early voting period, or that we are going to see a disproportionate level of turnout by Republicans on Election Day,” Jones said.
Democrats eye independent voters
For Democrats, some said the path forward runs through independent voters.
“What Democrats need is to be able to counter that, by running up the score where they are and by enticing people who have soured on Donald Trump or who weren’t previously engaged but are mad about things to come out and vote,” Charles Kuffner, Democratic blogger said.
Republicans push voters to cast ballots now
Republicans are also urging their supporters not to wait until Election Day.
“There’s certainly not a planned effort for people to wait, that’s why you are hearing candidates and campaigns begging their people to go vote,” said Ed Emmett, a fellow at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy. “I think a lot of people are turned off this year too, and they don’t want to go vote. Frankly, that hurts incumbent office holders, and right now the incumbent office holders are republicans at the state level.”
Emmett also told KPRC 2 reporter Sandy Torres early voting clarifies where both parties need to go.
“It is going to force candidates in the future to say okay we are going to start being positive and pay attention to a wider group of voters than we have in the past,” said Emmett.
Some voters said they’re happy to cast their ballot early after previously being Election Day traditionalists.
“Some people are traditionalists and they just want to wait until election. I used to be like that, but I don’t think it makes a difference. I really don’t,” one voter said.
