North Texas saw a surge in turnout fueled by Democratic voters in Dallas and Tarrant counties during the first week of early voting.
Early data shows Dallas County Democrats showing up to the polls at more than three times the numbers of both the 2024 primary — a presidential election year — and the 2022 primary. More than 70,000 Democrats cast a ballot through the first five days of voting.
Republican turnout is higher as well, with about 23,000 voters casting early ballots through the first five days of voting compared to about 16,000 in 2024 and about 13,000 in 2022.
Total early voter turnout in Dallas County is likely to surpass that of the last two elections in the coming days.
Turnout is also up across the board for Tarrant County, with Democrats outpacing Republicans — something that was not the case in 2024. This year, 8,361 Democrats turned out to vote on the first day of early voting as opposed to about 2,100 in the presidential-year primaries. That daily tally grew as the week went on, with more than 12,000 Democrats turning out to vote Saturday in Tarrant County for a total of more than 51,000 total early ballots cast in the first five days. Republicans, meanwhile, cast nearly 37,000 ballots through Saturday.
Matthew Wilson, a political science professor with Southern Methodist University, told KERA News this is a particularly energizing year for Democrats because of growing criticism of the Trump administration's policies and a U.S. Senate primary with high-profile candidates — U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Dallas and Austin-area Texas Rep. James Talarico.
"Democrats have generally not perceived that they had that great of a chance to win statewide office, and they haven't had especially interesting primaries," Wilson said. "But those two things aren't true this time."
The party has been optimistic since Taylor Rehmet won the Texas Senate District 9 runoff election in Tarrant County by 13 points against his Republican opponent. That race garnered national attention because President Donald Trump won the district by more than 17 points in 2024. Rehmet spent $531,331 on that race. His opponent, Leigh Wambsganss spent $3.2 million.
Wilson said it's still not clear whether Democrats can break their streak of losing statewide seats.
"It certainly means that there's more hope on their side," he said. "That for a variety of reasons, they've got a fighting chance to post some real gains in the fall."
Collin County
The number of Collin County Democratic voters trailed behind that of Republicans in the first days of early primary voting, but the totals were nearly identical by Saturday — about 26,000 apiece, with slightly more GOP voters through the first five days. In 2024, about 57,000 Republicans and 19,000 Democrats turned out for the entire early voting period.
Michael Slaughter, a Republican running unopposed for Collin County Commissioner, said in a Facebook post this year's Republican and Democratic voter turnout is closer than he expected.
"If we want to continue to keep Collin County strong and ensure we are positioned well for the fights that are coming in future elections, it starts with showing up now," Slaughter wrote. "Primary turnout sets the tone."
Denton County
While more Denton County Republicans turned out throughout the first week of early voting than Democrats, the margin also shrunk as days went by: 22,607 Republicans had voted early as compared to 21,200 Democrats through Saturday. For the entire early voting period in the 2024 primaries, about 14,500 Democrats and more than 53,300 Republicans had cast a ballot.
Early voting will run through Feb. 27. Election day is March 3.
Dylan Duke is KERA's Breaking News Reporter. Got a tip? Email Dylan Duke at dduke@kera.org.
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