HOUSTON — The first day of early voting in Harris County showed higher voter turnout than in previous years when a mayoral race in Houston was on the ballot.
The Harris County Clerk’s Office released first-day totals for early voting. There were 12,740 early in-person voters and 3,289 mail ballots returned on the first day of early voting on Monday, Oct. 24.
The totals surpassed the first day of early voting in 2019, the last time there was a Houston mayoral race on the ballot.
“It’s surprising because this is definitely one of those races you don’t typically see a big turnout on, especially on day one of early voting,” KHOU 11 Political Analyst Brandon Rottinghaus said.
Rottinghaus pointed to several factors as the reason for likely generating voter interest and boosting voter turnout compared to previous years of similar election cycles.
“Several candidates who are pretty well known, you’ve got a pretty competitive election, you’ve got down-ballot races that are juicing up turnout at the top of the ticket and a lot of money being spent,” Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston, told KHOU 11.
At the top of the ballot in Houston is the race for mayor.
The two front-runners are John Whitmire and Sheila Jackson Lee, according to recent polling.
Rottinghaus believes both candidates will keep a close eye on voter turnout throughout early voting and election day as the information could reveal an impact on a potential runoff election in December.
“The fact that there are a lot of people here who are engaged in this race means that there are people down the road who might be persuadable and that’s something that both campaigns are looking for,” Rottinghaus said.
Early voting continues through Friday, Nov. 3. The general election is on Tuesday, Nov. 7.
KHOU 11 has your voting guide here:
VOTER GUIDE: Early voting starts Monday, other key dates