Harris County's first week of early voting beats every midterm on record

Key Points:

• Harris County, Texas, has seen record-breaking early voting turnout for the 2026 midterm elections, with over 500,000 ballots cast in the first week, representing about 20% of registered voters and the fastest start since 1998.
• The high turnout is driven by competitive races including the U.S. Senate seat vacated by John Cornyn, with Attorney General Ken Paxton facing Democrat James Talarico, and the gubernatorial race where Gov. Greg Abbott seeks a fourth term.
• Locally, voters are electing a new Harris County judge for the first time since Lina Hidalgo, who is not seeking reelection; candidates include Democrat Letitia Plummer and Republican Orlando Sanchez.
• Voter turnout is strong even in traditionally Republican suburban areas, and the county's flexible voting locations make it difficult to predict election outcomes at this stage.
• The busiest early voting sites are in Cypress, Kingwood, Jersey Village, and the HCC campus, with wait times generally under 15 minutes, while mail-in voting remains a small portion of total ballots cast.