While they may not vote Republican, the bulk of the state’s 1 million newly registered voters live in districts currently represented by Republicans, according to research released today by Derek Ryan, former research director of the Republican Party of Texas.
Less than a quarter of the more than 1 million Texans who registered to vote since the March primary have a Hispanic/Latino surname.
Ryan found the average age of new registrants was 36, and 43% of new registrants were under the age of 40. About 23% were at least 50 years old.
The greatest percentage growth in registered voters occurred in the I-35 corridor from San Antonio to Dallas/Fort Worth, with suburban and exurban counties showing the highest growth. The counties ringing Harris Co. also saw high growth rates. The lowest growth rates occurred in West Texas and South Texas.
Districts currently represented by Republicans tended to have higher numbers of new voters than districts represented by Democrats. The five Congressional and Senate districts with the most new voters are all represented by Republicans, and the five Congressional and Senate districts with the fewest new voters are all represented by Democrats.
There were a couple of notable exceptions in the Texas House. HD49, currently held by Rep. Elliott Naishtat (D-Austin), saw the highest number of new voters (13,303), and HD144, currently held by Rep. Gilbert Pena (R-Pasadena), saw the fifth fewest number of new voters (3,923).
