Texas Early Votes Top 4.5 Million in Paxton-Talarico Race

Texas has recorded more than 4.5 million early votes as Republican Ken Paxton and Democrat James Talarico compete for a U.S. Senate seat in a closely contested race. Unofficial figures from the Texas Secretary of State counted 4,538,667 ballots cast in person or by mail as of October 26, nearly 24% of registered voters. The total was 74% higher than at the same point in the 2022 midterm election cycle, according to the figures. The early-voting period began October 19 and is scheduled to run through October 30. The tally measures ballots cast, not the candidates voters chose, and does not establish which campaign is benefiting. Polling cited in the reports also showed a tight contest. A RealClearPolitics average of surveys conducted October 8-21 put Talarico at 48.4% and Paxton at 46.9%. Another polling average, cited without the same survey window, put Talarico at 49.2% and Paxton at 46.5%; the figures should not be treated as directly comparable. Jim Henson, who leads the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, said public early-voting data are ambiguous and justify, at most, cautious Democratic optimism. Democratic consultant Chuck Rocha also cautioned...