Nearly 4.5 million Texans cast a ballot in the first seven days of early voting — outpacing the turnout rate of the 2022 midterm election but slightly behind 2018, when Democrat Beto O’Rourke fell 2.6 points shy of toppling U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
From Oct. 19 through Sunday, 23.4% of registered Texas voters had cast a ballot or voted by mail, according to data from the Texas secretary of state. In 2018, the turnout was 24.3% in the first seven days of early voting.
