Early voting for the March 3 primary election begins tomorrow (Tuesday). The first day of early voting historically produces one of the highest totals of votes cast during the two-week period. In-person voting is usually higher than on other days because of initial voter enthusiasm, and ballot-by-mail totals are historically at their highest because all ballots received up to and through Tuesday are counted as Day 1 votes.
On the first day of early voting in 2016 (which fell on a Monday), a record 51K people voted in the Republican primary in the 15 counties with the most registered voters, and 45K voted in the Democratic primary, comprising 9% of total early voters. The first-day record for the Democratic primary was in 2008, when 66K people cast ballots in the 15 counties with the most registered voters. There are nearly 2M more registered voters now than in 2016, and since 2008 the voter rolls have grown by more than 3.3M.
Historically, we have been able to report some same-day turnout figures in these larger counties, but complete data is not typically available until the following day (which means it reaches our subscribers’ inboxes the day after that). The Secretary of State has expanded its reporting of early voting figures to include all 254 counties, although not all of them provide it in a timely manner.
RRC: The Houston Chronicle endorsed Comm. Ryan Sitton (R) for re-nomination.
CCA4: The Houston Chronicle endorsed District Judge Tina Clinton (D) for the Democratic nomination to challenge Judge Kevin Yeary (R).
HD14: The Bryan-College Station Eagle endorsed Janet Dudding for the Democratic nomination to challenge Rep. John Raney (R-College Station)
HD135: The Houston Chronicle endorsed former Jersey Village Mayor Justin Ray for the Republican nomination to challenge Rep. Jon Rosenthal (D-Houston).
CD7: The Houston Chronicle endorsed former Bellaire Mayor Cindy Siegel for the Republican nomination to challenge U.S. Rep. Lizzie Fletcher (D-Houston).
CD12: The Fort Worth Star-Telegram endorsed U.S. Rep. Kay Granger (R-Fort Worth) for re-nomination.
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