Midterm Turnout: Early Vote Counts Surge in Key States

More than 43 million Americans have voted early or by mail as of Wednesday, five days before Election Day. This total is nearly 10 million higher than the count at the same stage of the 2022 midterm cycle, according to Associated Press data covering 47 states and Washington, D.C.

Texas leads the surge. The state recorded 6.3 million early votes through Wednesday, a 50% increase over the 4.2 million cast at the same time four years ago. Harris County, which includes Houston, reported 862,700 ballots, up from 564,500 in 2022. The county has voted Democratic in recent cycles, though margins have varied. In 2024, Kamala Harris won the presidential contest there by nearly six percentage points, while Colin Allred carried the Senate race by roughly 11 percentage points against Ted Cruz.

South Carolina shows the steepest growth among Senate battlegrounds. Early voting is up 83% compared to 2022. The state is selecting a successor to the late Lindsey Graham and also has an open governor's race. Kansas also reported a sharp rise, with 34% more ballots cast than four years ago. That increase represents roughly 83,000 additional votes. Republican Senator Roger Marshall faces Adam Hamilton, a Methodist megachurch pastor, in the Senate contest.

Other competitive states show similar trends. Maine is seeing a 44% jump in early voting. Senator Susan Collins is running against Troy Jackson, a former state Senate president. Michigan recorded about 409,000 more early votes than in 2022, a 32% increase. This is the first midterm election where Michigan voters can cast ballots in person early, a method approved by voters in November 2022.

Party affiliation data is available in some states. About 6.8 million Democrats and 5.2 million Republicans have cast early ballots where that information is tracked. These numbers do not represent the total early electorate nationwide. The surge occurs as voters decide control of Congress two years into President Donald Trump's second term. Republicans currently hold both the House and the Senate. They are defending a 53-47 majority in the upper chamber. Trump visited Texas earlier this week, marking his third trip to the state in a month.