Midterm Ballots: Early voting spikes in key Senate races

More than 43 million Americans have already voted in the 2026 midterm election, a figure that stands nearly 10 million higher than at the same point in the 2022 cycle.

An Associated Press analysis of voting data released five days before Election Day shows that advance voting is outpacing previous midterms. The data covers 47 states and Washington, D.C., compared with 48 states and the capital four years ago. In states that disclose party affiliation, approximately 6.8 million Democrats and 5.2 million Republicans have already cast their ballots. These numbers do not account for all early voters or indicate specific candidate preferences.

The increase in turnout is most visible in states with competitive Senate races. Texas leads the surge, with more than 6.3 million residents voting early as of Wednesday. That total represents a 50% increase over the 4.2 million Texans who voted at the same point in 2022. Harris County, which includes Houston, has seen 862,700 people vote compared with 564,500 in the prior cycle. The county, which voted for Democratic candidates in the 2024 presidential and Senate races, is a focal point for the current contests between Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico for the Senate, as well as the governorship race between Greg Abbott and Gina Hinojosa.

Other battleground states report similar jumps. South Carolina, where voters are selecting a successor to the late Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham, has seen early voting rise by 83%. In Kansas, early voting is up 34%, with roughly 83,000 more ballots cast than four years ago. Maine and Michigan, both hosting closely watched Senate races, also show increases of 44% and 32%, respectively. Michigan is experiencing its first midterm with statewide early in-person voting, a measure voters approved in November 2022.

The data arrives as voters prepare to decide the composition of Congress during President Donald Trump’s second term. Republicans currently hold the majority in both the House and the Senate. The Republican side is defending a 53-47 Senate majority, while Democrats seek to gain seats in states that have historically favored Republicans. Campaign spending in Texas has reached hundreds of millions of dollars, with President Trump visiting the state for the third time in a month to support the local candidates.

The two-week early in-person voting period in Texas ends Friday. The surge in participation in the state is particularly notable given that Democrats have not won a statewide election there in more than three decades. The expanded map of battleground states includes Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, and Kansas, all of which report early voting increases of more than 30% compared to the same point in the 2022 election.