Voter turnout in North Texas on Election Day for the primaries was up from previous years, largely due to a surge in Democratic voters — a pattern that follows what was seen during early voting.
Election Day Democratic turnout doubled in Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties. Democratic turnout was 202,700 in North Texas on Election Day compared to Republicans' turnout of 147,900. Democratic turnout was also higher across the state, according to the most recent numbers.
Calvin Jillson, a political science professor at Southern Methodist University, told KERA Democratic voters were energized by their opposition to President Donald Trump's policies and by an exciting U.S. Senate primary between Jasmine Crockett and James Talarico.
"The anger, the energy is on the Democrat side," Jillson said. "Republicans are in complete control in Washington, D.C. and in Texas, and the idea of supporting their incumbent officeholders was just less energizing than the anger that Democrats felt about the performance of those officeholders."
Republican voter turnout on Election Day in Dallas, Tarrant, Collin and Denton counties was below that of the previous two primaries in 2024 and 2022.
Republicans still outvoted Democrats in Collin and Denton counties, but by slimmer margins than usual.
Republican turnout on Election Day in Collin County this year was 33,000 to the Democrats' 30,200. In 2024, Republican turnout was 41,600 compared to Democratic turnout of 14,600. In 2022, 35,600 Republicans showed up against 15,600 Democratic voters.
The story is similar in Denton County where 26,600 Republicans showed up on Election Day this year next to Democratic turnout of 24,700. But in 2024, Republican turnout was 38,000 against a Democratic turnout of 12,100. In 2022, Republican turnout was 30,800 and Democratic turnout was 12,300.
Democratic turnout on Election Day in Dallas was 85,400 — higher than 2024's 58,300 and 2022's 62,600 — despite thousands of voters being turned away at the polls due to a change in voting location rules.
Nearly 2,000 ballots cast by Democratic voters in Dallas are also not included in this year's Election Day total due to a court order. A district judge ordered polls to close at 9 p.m. rather than 7 p.m. on election night due to voters being turned away, but the Texas Supreme Court temporarily blocked that and required all ballots cast by voters in line after 7 p.m. to be separated out. It's now up to the courts to decide whether or not those ballots get counted.
"I think it's really difficult to say what proportion of people who intended to cast a vote were not able to do so, but it's a not insignificant number," Jillson said. "And perhaps more important is when you are a low-turnout state, and you discourage voters by this sort of chaotic process, that is going to perpetuate that low turnout rather than cure it."
Will democratic turnout be high in the general election too?
Primary voter turnout does not directly translate to the November's general election, Jillson said. One reason for that is each party has eight months from the primary until the general to adjust their policies or messaging.
However, that doesn't look to be the case this year, he added.
"It doesn't look as if Donald Trump is going to be shifting his focus to domestic policy, the economy and affordability and speaking to kitchen table issues that will move voters in November," Jillson said.
Instead, Trump has focused on high-profile foreign policy moves like arresting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and joining Israel in bombing Iran, he said.
The party of the president also historically loses seats in Congress during the midterms.
James Henson, director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Texas Newsroom that it's not unprecedented for Democrats to outpace Republicans in a primary year. Examples include 2008, when Barack Obama won the presidency, and in 2020, when Joe Biden won. But in both of those cases, a majority of Texas voters still chose the Republican presidential candidate.
Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, told KERA while Democrats are happy about primary turnout, the general election "is a totally different animal."
"They are going to have different pressure, there is going to be different money, there will be different candidates," Rottinghaus said. "So there is a lot more factors to consider when it comes to what the turnout is going to be like in a general election."
Dylan Duke is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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