{"id":457161,"date":"2026-10-05T18:12:09","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:12:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/457161\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T18:12:09","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T18:12:09","slug":"texas-voter-registration-deadline-arrives-as-youth-vote-could-sway-nov-3-midterms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/457161\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas voter registration deadline arrives as youth vote could sway Nov. 3 midterms"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 With Election Day less than a month away, Monday is the last day for Texans to register to vote<\/a> ahead of the Nov. 3 midterm elections, as campaigns focus on how different voting blocs could shape the outcome.<\/p>\n

Early voting in Texas begins Oct. 19, with the general election set for Nov. 3.<\/p>\n

Political science professor Brian Smith of St. Edward\u2019s University said younger voters could play an important role if turnout rises above typical levels.<\/p>\n

“Young voters, they’re a group that doesn’t traditionally vote at the same proportion as their representation in the population, meaning they voted a much lower rate,” said Smith.<\/p>\n

Smith added that a surge could “disrupt the election because campaigns and polling doesn’t capture this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith said there is no official definition of young voters, but they are commonly treated in surveys as those ages 18 to 29.<\/p>\n

Jobs and inflation are top concerns for younger voters, Smith said, noting that many are entering the workforce and have less disposable income.<\/p>\n

“We see that young voters are really unfavorable on the economy, not giving it a lot of credit, really blaming the president and are really feeling the effects of it,” said Smith.<\/p>\n

Smith also cautioned that youth turnout can be inconsistent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey don’t have a lot of experience with coming out to elections, so they vote hit or miss sometimes,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The Receipts | Could you be one of the over a million Texans on the voter “suspense” list?<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Civics Center<\/a>, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization, 38 percent of Texas\u2019 18-year-olds were registered to vote as of May, compared with 81 percent of registered voters ages 45 and older.<\/p>\n

Smith said Democrats in Texas have long looked to younger voters as a key part of their statewide strategy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHere in Texas, the Democratic Party has been hoping that young voters would eventually become older voters that will enable them to start winning statewide elections,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But he said campaigns face a balancing act in trying to appeal to younger voters without pushing away other groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrying to thread that needle for young voters is very difficult,\u201d Smith said, adding later, \u201cSo tailoring that message is a science.\u201d<\/p>\n

American Association of Retired Professionals (AARP) Texas State Director Lisa A. Rodriguez said older voters remain a powerful and reliable voting bloc, and her organization\u2019s polling found strong intent to vote among Texans 50 and older.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said 86 percent of voters ages 50 and older who were surveyed indicated \u201c10 out of 10, they intend to vote in November.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rodriguez said affordability was the top issue for older adults, including the cost of groceries, health care, prescription drugs, insurance and gasoline. She also pointed to Social Security and Medicare as major concerns, saying older voters want clear plans from candidates on protecting benefits and addressing costs.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez says there’s a particular party those they polled tended to favor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWell, in our findings, older voters are supporting the Republican candidate,” she said.<\/p>\n

She added that undecided voters within the 50-plus group are more likely to support candidates who address Social Security, Medicare, caregiving and affordability.<\/p>\n

Rodriguez also said the affordability issue cuts across age groups.<\/p>\n

In the poll, she said 78 percent of those under 50 said they were \u201cdefinitely showing up,\u201d compared with 86 percent of those 50 and older.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey’re motivated, but what’s motivating them is the affordability factor,\u201d Rodriguez said.<\/p>\n

More information about the AARP poll can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUSTIN, Texas \u2014 With Election Day less than a month away, Monday is the last day for Texans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":457162,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-457161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457161","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=457161"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/457161\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/457162"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=457161"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=457161"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=457161"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}