On Tuesday, March 6th, 2018, Texas voters go to the polls to vote in the first primary elections of the 2018 midterm elections.
Polls throughout Texas open at 7AM and close at 7PM local time.
Texas voters can find their polling location here.
As of this past Saturday, it's been reported that in Texas's most populous counties, more than 885,000 people had voted early or by mail, which amounts to a 50% spike from 4 years ago.
According to Fox News:
The early numbers also indicate that for the first time since 2008, more Texas Democrats will vote in their primary than Republicans. By Saturday, the Texas Secretary of State’s office noted 465,000 people voted in the Democratic Primary in the state’s 15 largest counties, compared to just about 420,000 Republicans.
This is leading some to see signs of a national blue wave in November.
Voters are going to the polls to choose nominees on both sides of the aisle in a variety of elections including Governor, Lieutenant Governor, U.S. Senator, and members of Congress representing districts throughout the state.
Texas holds an open primary where you don't have to be registered to vote in a certain party to vote in that party's primary, you just have to pledge not to vote in any other party's primary within the same year.
If no one receives 50% of the vote in any given primary election, there will be a run-off ahead of the November 6th primary.
Top tier races include the race for U.S. Senate, in which Senator Ted Cruz is expected to win his Republican primary handily and where Democratic Congressman Beto O'Rourke is expected to win his party's nomination to challenge Cruz in November.
The surge in Democratic turnout received much attention on Twitter from both sides of the aisle:
And many candidates running on Tuesday weighed in with Get Out The Vote messages to their voters:
As well as famous relatives:
@LauraLoomer/X
