East Texas primary sees surge in voter turnout

EAST TEXAS (KTRE) - In deep red East Texas, the primary is often the election that counts the most and it appears voters recognized it.

Several East Texas counties saw stronger-than-usual participation in the March primary, with turnout topping the last two primary cycles in many areas.

Smith County Elections Administrator Michelle Allcon said nearly 28% of registered voters there cast a ballot.

“That is a trend that has started in fairly recent years,” Allcon said. “We beat all of them. I believe we even beat the presidential for early voting.”

In Angelina and Nacogdoches counties, turnout was 27.5%. In Gregg County, about 25% of registered voters went to the polls.

While this year’s primary surpassed turnout in the 2022 and 2018 primary elections, it still did not quite reach the level seen during the 2020 primaries in Smith, Angelina and Nacogdoches counties.

Allcon said it has also become common to see higher turnout during early voting than on Election Day itself.

“It could be because it’s longer. You have two weeks to vote whenever it fits your schedule best,” she said. “You can make it work a little bit more, rather than everybody showing up on Election Day and maybe having to wait in line.”

In East Texas, where Republicans dominate most general-election races, the stakes in March are especially high. Smith County Republican Party Chair David Stein said GOP primaries frequently decide who will ultimately hold office.

“A lot of the elections are decided tonight,” Stein said on primary night. “There really aren’t that many contested Republican versus Democrat races. While there may be a contender, the reality is we have so much of the voter base here that typically if a Republican wins in March, they win in the November election.”

With the March primaries now in the rearview mirror, local election offices are already pivoting to the next round of voting.

“I’ll be working on ballot proofs, locations, and starting to staff those locations for the May elections as early as tomorrow,” Allcon said.

Election officials are reminding voters to check their registration status and confirm their polling locations ahead of the May runoff.