Driven by substantial numbers of new and younger voters, El Paso County Democrats and Republicans smashed turnout records this year for early voting in primary elections.
Both major parties had their best turnouts ever for a midterm primary in El Paso, with more than 40,000 Democrats and 14,000 Republicans casting ballots Feb. 17-27. Democratic turnout jumped by 79% from the last midterm primary election in 2022, and the GOP saw a rise of 53%.
The Democratic early voting turnout surpassed the total early voting and Election Day turnout of 2022, the last midterm primary election.
Election Day is Tuesday, March 3, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
VOTER GUIDE: Everything you need to know about the March 3 primary elections in El Paso
El Paso Republicans have never had a higher primary early voting turnout than this year, even in heavily contested presidential nomination contests such as in 2016. The only time El Paso Democrats have had a higher primary turnout than this year was in 2008, which featured the presidential primary between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.
Even with the record Republican vote, about three of every four early voters in El Paso County cast ballots in the Democratic primary.
An El Paso Matters analysis of county voting records shows that most of the people who cast early ballots in primaries this year did not vote in that party’s El Paso primary in 2022. Both party primaries – which feature contested races for one of Texas’ U.S. Senate seats – have attracted voters who don’t usually vote in such races. A small number of voters moved from one party in 2022 to another in 2026.
Early voting turnout for all age groups was substantially above 2022 levels, but the biggest proportional gains were among voters younger than age 45.
The number of El Paso voters between ages 18-29 almost tripled over 2022, while voters 30-44 more than doubled.
Historically, Democrats have far outnumbered Republicans in primary voting in El Paso County, and that held true again in early voting this year.
The Democratic advantage was most pronounced among younger voters. Voters younger than age 30 cast almost eight times as many Democratic primary ballots as Republican ones.
The Democratic strength among voters ages 18-29 was strongest among women, who cast 12 Democratic primary ballots for every one Republican ballot. Even among young men, who Republicans have targeted in recent years, Democrats got almost five primary ballots for every one GOP ballot.
Among all early voters ages 18-44, 84% cast Democratic ballots. For those age 45 or older, 71% were Democratic voters.
The strongest demographic group for El Paso Republicans is men ages 45-64, where 35% of such voters cast GOP ballots. It’s the only age and gender group analyzed by El Paso Matters where Republicans attracted more than a third of early voters.
As a result of the strong leaning of younger voters, Democratic voters on average are younger than GOP voters, 58 years compared with 62 years.
The early voting results show a strong gender divide between the parties. Women make up the strong majority of Democratic voters; for Republicans, it’s men.
Women historically make up the majority of voters in El Paso elections. In early voting, they accounted for 54% of those casting ballots.
And while men made up a majority of Republican voters, 69% of men who cast ballots did so in the Democratic primary. Among women, 78% of voters cast Democratic primary ballots. For generations, most men and most women voting in El Paso primaries have cast ballots in the Democratic contest.
The post El Paso Democrats, Republicans post historic primary turnout ahead of Election Day appeared first on El Paso Matters.
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