More than 6.4 million ballots were cast in Texas through the end of Thursday, according to the story. That is well above the state's previous record for early voting in a non-presidential year, which was 5.5 million in-person early votes in 2018. The figures are not broken down by party and do not include mail-in ballots. Early voting ends Friday, and Election Day is Tuesday.
Texans are deciding a closely watched U.S. Senate race between Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico, along with contests for governor and other statewide offices. The number of registered voters in Texas has grown by 3 million since 2018 and now exceeds 19 million. Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, said the Talarico-Paxton contest is the main driver of turnout. He said, "There's no doubt that competition drives turnout."
AdImpact, which tracks political advertising, said more than $560 million has been spent on ads and reservations across the primary, runoff and general elections. Rottinghaus said he could see as many as 10 million ballots cast in this year's midterm, which would exceed the 2018 record of 8.3 million. The Texas Secretary of State's office declined an interview request with Robert Howden, whom Gov. Greg Abbott appointed as the state's top election official in July after Jane Nelson resigned.