Residents of Texas are clearly eager to vote during this year’s midterm elections and the latest figures show that a whopping 4.5 million Texans have already voted, eclipsing the total number of votes that were cast in the state during the midterm elections in 2014.
As the Hill reports, as soon as early voting began in Texas, 4.5 million people showed up for in-person ballots, with 360,000 residents from 30 counties mailing in their ballots. In fact, out of these counties, 40 percent of the 12.3 million residents here have already cast their votes.
Data taken from the Texas secretary of state’s office has shown that in just 12 days of early voting, ballots cast in these 30 counties alone have not only exceeded the votes that were submitted during the 2014 midterm elections, but they have also beat the early turnout for the 2012 presidential election.
Democratic Representative Beto O’Rourke is cautiously optimistic about the outcome of the midterm elections in Texas and explained that if residents continue to vote early and in droves as they already have, Democrats could certainly go on to win big.
“If North Texas continues to turn out in the record numbers that we’ve seen, shattering every midterm total for as long as we’ve been looking at them, in some cases rivaling presidential voter turnout, then we’re going to win this race. The best thing I can do is continue to be with the people of North Texas, just as we have been for almost the last two years.”
More than 4.5 million people vote early in Texas https://t.co/F3fedQxP8t via @thehill #USRC pic.twitter.com/zpg8VmJryp
— Top U.S. & World News? (@USRealityCheck) November 4, 2018
While it has been decades since Texas voters have put a Democrat in the Senate, early figures are certainly looking good for O’Rourke. And according to Vox , O’Rourke is very hopeful that he will be able to fight in the future for everything from healthcare to education for Texans.
“If this continues, we win. I feel very good about our prospects, not just on Election Night, but on being able to deliver for the next six years that follow on every priority, from health care to education to immigration to criminal justice reform. Texas is going to be the leader that this country has been waiting for.”
Of course, it is not just Texas that has seen its share of early voters for midterm elections, as both early and absentee votes in 22 states show that voters in general have turned out in much greater numbers than they did in 2014, which includes a huge increase in the number of female voters, as well.
