In its post-election analysis, The Texas Tribune reports nearly one in four registered voters in Texas cast a ballot in the primary. That figure hit a high-water mark for midterm elections in Texas after 17% turned out in 2018 primaries and 18% turned out in 2022.
The high turnout was likely due to two high-profile races for a U.S. Senate seat.
The turnout was divided between 2.3 million ballots cast in the Democrat primary and almost 2.2 million on the Republican side.
Debbie Wuthnow, president of faith-based iVoterGuide, told American Family News the increased turnout could be attributed to a growing interest in elections and an increase in the state's overall population.
The biggest contributor of all, she added, is whose name is on the ballot: state Rep. James Talarico versus U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett for the Democrats, and a three-way race for the Republicans with U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Wesley Hunt.
Talarico defeated Crockett in the primary, and Cornyn and Paxton advanced to a May 26 runoff.
The overall turnout for the primary was right in line with typical elections, Wuthnow said, but the Democrats had a higher turnout compared to recent primaries.
"I think Republicans and conservatives, and biblical voters, should look at it as a wake-up call that our values are being challenged,” she warned. “We need to make sure that we turn up to the polls and vote our values.”
