Election 2026: Has the early voting surge ended?
Early voting wait times have gone down across Austin
Wait times at most early voting locations across Austin have gone down. It's unclear if the surge is over or if it's just a midweek lull before a Friday dash.
TEXAS - Wait times at most early voting locations were down Wednesday across the Austin metro.
It’s unclear if the surge is over, or if it's just a mid-week lull before a Friday dash.
What they're saying:
If the big surge is over, especially from democrats, the question is, will we start seeing a gradual increase in republican voters? That political ebb and flow has happened in past elections.
The possibility of a turnout downturn brought efforts Wednesday to jump start voter turnout. It's a push not only focused on each party base, but now includes independents who have also not yet voted.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Top Texas midterm candidates not debating
The top candidates on the Texas Midterm ballot are not debating, but two top party leaders spoke to Battleground Texas on Tuesday.
On the Battleground Texas show, there was a discussion about the final drive to election day.
"As I've said before, the Texas suburbs are far more purple than they were 10 years ago. And I think this midterm may well provide proof of that very contention," said Greg Groogan with FOX 26.
The Battleground panel also dove into the campaign for Congressional District 37, which covers much of east Austin. Incumbent Democrat Greg Casar voted and urged those who have not voted to not be scared off by the last-minute ad blitz.
PREVIOUS COVERAGE: 2026 Election: Race for Texas governor
The first week of early voting is wrapping up. In the governor's race, the latest Emerson Poll still has Gov. Abbott in the lead. But some political observers said there's a familiar echo from the past on the campaign trail, and history could be on the verge of repeating itself.
"In the last days before an election, that's when you start to see posts built to try to make you feel angry or feel scared. But that's exactly when it makes most sense to take a beat and take a breath. Thousands of likes is not proof that something is true and neither is a confident influencer," said Congressman Greg Casar.
FOX 7 also spoke to Casar’s republican challenger, Lauren Pena, about her grassroots strategy for the next few days.
"You're going to see Republicans start to pick up. But I want to tell you, here in our district, there is a significant population of people that identify as independents. And I think that that's really where we're going to see these votes start to come in," said Pena.
By the numbers:
The turnout is tracking slightly ahead of the Early Vote turnout from 2022 but is still well below the rates from recent Presidential election years. 9.7 million in 2020 and 9.1 million in 2024.
"We're seeing that blitz as a matter of, okay. Now how many people have already voted, like, what, 5 million in Texas? So, who was it reaching, and who's left to be going out to vote and be influenced," asked Steven Dial with FOX4.
According to the Secretary of State's Office, 5.5 million people have voted early so far. That’s 29% of the 19 million people who are registered to vote in Texas.
Early voting ends Friday, Oct. 30. There is no voting this Saturday, Sunday or Monday. Election day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.
The Source: Information from Greg Casar, Lauren Pena, the Secretary of State's Office, Battleground Texas and reporting by FOX 7 Austin's Rudy Koski