Michael Hagerty/Houston Public Media
Voters wait in line for roughly 30 minutes to vote at the Clear Lake City-County Freeman Branch Library on the first day of early voting on Oct. 19, 2026.
More than 100,000 people cast an in-person ballot during the first day of early voting in Harris County on Monday, shattering the previous record of 63,188 set in 2018.
According to the Harris County Elections Department, the county surpassed the 2018 record by 3:30 p.m. on Monday. When polls closed on the first day of early voting, three-and-a-half hours later, the county reported that over 104,600 residents had cast a ballot.
Day 1 of Early Voting: As of October 19, 2026, #HarrisCounty has recorded 104.6K + total In-Person Early Voters for the November 3 General & Special Elections. 🗳️✅ #harrisvotes https://t.co/vXRFWBtTSs
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— Harris County Elections Department (@HarrisVotes) October 20, 2026
This year’s Texas Senate race shows some parallels to the 2018 midterm election. In 2018, Democrat Beto O’Rourke ran a tight race against incumbent Senator Ted Cruz. While O’Rourke ultimately lost, it was by a slim margin of just under 215,000 votes. O’Rourke’s campaign was also credited with boosting down-ballot Democrats, including then-Harris County judge candidate Lina Hidalgo, who flipped the county’s highest office from Republican to Democratic control.
Now, eight years later, Democratic Senate candidate and State Rep. James Talarico is in an even tighter race against Republican candidate and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Recent polling — including one published Friday by the University of Houston’s Hobby School of Public Affairs — has shown Talarico and Paxton in a statistical dead heat or Talarico in a slight lead.
During the 2018 midterm election, 855,711 people cast a ballot in Harris County across the entire early voting period.
Early voting will continue through Oct. 30, and Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3. Below are the early voting hours and locations.
Oct. 19-24 — 7 a.m.-7 p.m.
Sunday, Oct. 25 — 12 p.m.-7 p.m.
Oct. 26-30 — 7 a.m.- 7 p.m.
The list of all 75 locations can be found on the Harris County Clerk’s website.
On Election Day, the county plans to have over 600 polling locations open across the county.