Updated with new totals to include Oct 31, 2018 totals.
For reference, the total statewide vote total for Governor in 2014 was 4,718,268. So far, in the 15 counties listed below, the early vote total is now 70% of the state-wide vote total through Election Day. The SOS site doesn’t update vote totals for all 254 Texas counties, so the state-wide early vote totals could well be near or over the 2014 total. I excluded some of the counties below because data was not available for 2016 or 2014 early votes in those counties.
Taking the 30 counties on the SOS site, the total number of early votes climbs to 3,973,968 — 84% of the 2014 total. WOW
On a whim, I decided to check out Texas early voting numbers. I’m very cautiously optimistic about Beto’s chances this year. Of course, I remember falling for another strong Democratic candidate in 2014 by the name of Wendy Davis. I know the political climate is very different this year and Ted Cruz is loathed far and wide, but I’m still being cautious because I remember how disappointing I was seeing Wendy lose her race for Governor of Texas.
Anyway, the number of early voters we’re seeing in Texas this year is crazy! We’re seeing near-presidential-level voting totals across the state. The Texas SOS website only publishes info for the larger Texas counties, so it’s incomplete, but it’s nice to look at the numbers.
Comparable Vote Totals 2014, 2016, 2018
| County |
2018 EARLY VOTERS* |
2016 Early Voters* |
2014 Early Voters* |
2014 Election TOTALs |
| HARRIS |
687,878 |
789,968 |
284,342 |
680,076 |
| DALLAS |
429,147 |
440,956 |
161,324 |
407,260 |
| TARRANT |
376,641 |
416,745 |
158,997 |
373,973 |
| BEXAR |
337,767 |
385,013 |
145,735 |
300,950 |
| TRAVIS |
296,596 |
304,808 |
103,556 |
267,795 |
| COLLIN |
234,992 |
249,793 |
77,416 |
177,131 |
| DENTON |
186,144 |
195,432 |
61,414 |
144,010 |
| EL PASO |
114,546 |
121,853 |
29,503 |
80,408 |
| FORT BEND |
160,649 |
173,814 |
58,590 |
132,468 |
| HIDALGO |
92,537 |
113,702 |
47,645 |
80,219 |
| MONTGOMERY |
114,579 |
128,734 |
44,106 |
104,895 |
| WILLIAMSON |
134,570 |
134,072 |
44,526 |
103,910 |
| GALVESTON |
75,122 |
85,489 |
30,422 |
191,961 |
| CAMERON |
44,566 |
50,363 |
17,762 |
39,407 |
| NEUCES |
55,088 |
60,281 |
26,055 |
57,005 |
| TOTAL |
3,340,822 |
3,651,023 |
1,291,393 |
3,141,468 |
*For consistency, early vote totals are through the Tuesday Wednesday before Election Day, the most recent 2018 numbers available. The last column includes ALL votes cast in 2014.
Check this chart out. Early vote totals for this year’s mid-term is 90% of the early vote total for the 2016 Presidential election. It’s nearly triple early voting numbers of the 2014 midterms and even more surprising, early vote totals in most of these counties (with the notable exception of Galveston County) have already eclipsed the total number of votes the 2014 election — through Election Day!
Texans are motivated this year. I just hope this helps push Team Blue over the finish line. if I was ted Cruz, I’d be nervous seeing the bigger deltas in more liberal counties (Dallas, Harris, Travis, El Paso) than conservative counties (Galveston, Montgomery, Fort Bend).
