Early voting in Texas shows massive Republican turnout.
Posted by Ask Dr. Drew, Checked
- Sources
- 2 contradict3 support1 context
- Said
- 1 time·
- Confidence
- 60%
Ask Dr. DrewOct 21, 2026
Early voting in Texas was indeed very large, with turnout far above the 2022 midterm and near the 2018 record. The sources do not show a Republican advantage, though: partisan primary-participation proxies show Democratic-primary voters slightly ahead of Republican-primary voters, so the 'Republican' part of the claim is contradicted.
A guest makes this claim. Listeners heard it, so it counts against the post, and on the guest's own record.
This claim is about the present, so it is judged as of the day it was checked.
What was said
… What did you mean by that? There are a lot of the yeah, so at one point before Paris, it looked like the Republicans were going to lose both the House and the Senate. I now think, especially with what's going on in Texas, the turnout has been massive. Early voting started yesterday. It's been massive turnout, and that favors the Republican when early. It's kind of odd in Texas. Like, usually the Democrats come out, you know, and then they vote, and then they flood the ballot boxes at the last few minutes. Texas is showing massive Republican turnout, and I think Texas Paxton will hold Texas. …
Ask Dr. Drew · · from the transcriptPost →What we found
Contradicts. Using primary participation as a partisan proxy, Texas Monthly reports that voters who previously voted in Democratic primaries slightly outnumbered those who voted in Republican primaries as of Sunday night.[3]
Contradicts. Derek Ryan's analysis of the first five days of early voting found Democratic-primary voters made up 36% of ballots cast versus 35% for Republican-primary voters.[4]
Supports. AP reports early voting jumped sharply in Texas, with more than 6.3 million Texans voting early versus 4.2 million at the same point four years earlier, a 50% increase.[1]
Supports. Texas Secretary of State data show more than 7.4 to 7.7 million Texans voted early in 2026, a turnout rate near or above the 2018 midterm high-water mark.[5][6]
Context. Sources caution that early-voting totals are unofficial, county-reported, and cannot show how people voted, so the partisan skew is only an estimate.[2][3]
Sources
6 sources: 1 fact-checker, 1 primary, 4 not rated
- 1Early voting jumps as millions more Americans vote ahead ...apnews.com · fact-checker · cited for: supports
- 2More Than 4.2 Million Texans Cast Ballots in First Half of Early Votingsos.texas.gov · primary source · cited for: context
- 3Can the Texas Early-Voting Numbers Tell Us Anything?texasmonthly.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts, context
- 4In first week of early voting, 4.5 million Texans cast a ballotelpasotimes.com · not rated · cited for: contradicts
- 5More than 7.4 million Texans voted early in 2026 election ... - KSATksat.com · not rated · cited for: supports
- 6More than 7.4 million Texans voted early in 2026 election ...kwtx.com · not rated · cited for: supports
Where this claim was made
Said in 1 published post
Related claims
- Republican primary voters are currently outpacing Democrat primary voters in Texas.False
- In Texas, 4.5 million ballots have been cast compared to 3 million at this point in 2022.True
- There are approximately 500,000 high-propensity Republican voters in Texas who have not yet voted.Mixed
- Total voter turnout in Texas is currently tracking with 2018 levels.True
- Democratic early voting is surging.True