Republican candidates led up and down the ballot in Smith County in Tuesday's election, according to unofficial results from the Smith County Elections Office. Every Republican federal and state candidate on the ballot held over 61% of the vote in the county. Democrats won Texas-wide races, flipping the state for the first time in three decades.
About 53% of the county's 168,079 registered voters cast a ballot, or 89,785 people. Of those, 73% voted early from Oct. 19 to 30, and 21,075 voted on Election Day. Turnout was up 17% from the 2022 General Election, the county reported. Voters used 35 polling locations, including The Hub in downtown Tyler.
Smith County Republican Party Chairman David Stein said the statewide and national results were not what the party expected. "What I don't want to take away from is the overwhelming success we once again enjoyed in Smith County," Stein said. He said he would share more thoughts with the local GOP organization in the coming weeks.