Record Early Voter Turnout in 2026 Midterms: Which Party Stands to Benefit?

Early voting numbers broke previous records in the 2026 midterm elections, casting some concerns for Republicans as they try to maintain control of Congress. What do these high early voting numbers mean for the election, and where are they concentrated?

The Details: About 54 million Americans cast early ballots this election, beating the 2022 midterms by 9 million ballots, according to the University of Florida Election Lab. There was a particularly significant rise in early voting in Georgia, Iowa, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Ohio, and Texas, according to Newsweek (Center bias). Based on early voting alone, Texas is only about 600,000 ballots away from having its highest voter turnout ever for a midterm election in its highly watched Senate race between Democrat James Talarico and Republican Ken Paxton.

For Context: Both Newsweek and Fox News (Right) noted that Democrats tend to lead in early voting, though early voter totals are not necessarily an indicator of the election results. USA Today (Lean Left) reported that out of the 27 states that report party affiliation, about 43% of early voters were Democrats and 32% were registered Republicans. Ted Cruz said on his podcast that he was "deeply, deeply worried" about the early turnout of Democrats. "Democrats are showing up. They are energized. They hate, hate, hate Donald Trump. If the election were over today, if just the early votes that have been cast so far were counted, Republicans would lose massively," he continued.

How the Media Covered It: Fox noted that Republicans face "a challenging political climate fueled by persistent inflation tied in part to what polls show is an unpopular war with Iran and Trump's increasingly negative approval ratings." Fox also reported that polls show Democrats are "more energized" than Republicans to vote in the midterms. USA Today noted that voter diversity has increased, with a significant uptick in voters of color, at least in the states that report voter race and ethnicity. Hispanic turnout is especially high in Texas, USA Today noted. Newsweek highlighted the fact that President Donald Trump "has often cast doubt on early voting" and that he urged voters to head to polls in person on Election Day.

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