With early voting set to end Friday, Bexar County Democrats gathered at party headquarters Wednesday for a final push to keep voters engaged. The event brought together state and local candidates, including state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, who is running for Texas comptroller.
The San Antonio Current reported that Eckhardt scheduled the gathering to counter a dip in voter enthusiasm she said often comes during the second week of early voting and to encourage turnout through the final stretch.
Wednesday's lineup included Clayton Tucker, a candidate for Texas agriculture commissioner; state Sens. José Menéndez and Roland Gutierrez; former San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, who previously ran for Bexar County judge; congressional candidate Kristin Hook; and Texas House candidate Kristian Carranza. The rally came amid other campaign stops: James Talarico, Gina Hinojosa and Vikki Goodwin, who is running for lieutenant governor, held events in the city the prior week, according to the Current. C-SPAN separately broadcast Talarico's San Antonio rally.
Voter Concerns and Turnout
Bert Santibañez, campaign director for the Bexar Democrats, said Democrats were outpacing Republicans in San Antonio's early voting. He said voters he had spoken with were concerned about cost-of-living pressures, immigration policies and the national political climate.
Tricia Gronnevik, a field organizer, canvassed San Antonio's far north side with Hook on Wednesday. She said seeing candidates return to the city encouraged her to keep working.
The Numbers Behind the Enthusiasm
The ground-game claims track with what election officials are actually seeing at the polls. Bexar County Elections Administrator Michele Carew said the county is likely to see more votes cast in November's midterm than in the 2024 presidential election, according to the San Antonio Report. That would be an unusual outcome, since it's typically rare for midterm turnout to rival a presidential year. The county has added more than 45,000 new voters since 2024, and nearly 301,000 early in-person and mail ballots had been counted as of a recent Sunday evening — with voters who have a history of voting in Republican primaries casting fewer early ballots than those with Democratic primary histories, per the same report.
The Express-News reported that Bexar County recorded 42,776 early voters on the first day of voting, the highest first-day turnout for a non-presidential election in county history — a 34% jump over the 32,005 voters who showed up on day one of the 2022 midterms. More than 72,000 early ballots had been cast by the following afternoon, the outlet found, and the county now counts about 1.3 million registered voters, up from 1.2 million four years ago. By comparison, the county's largest first-day turnout overall remains the 2024 presidential election, when almost 47,000 voters cast ballots that day. A separate count published by Yahoo News put Bexar County's early-voting total at just over 370,000, compared with about 359,000 in 2022, and noted the county was approaching the 420,191 early voters recorded in the 2018 midterm.
Putting the Turnout Comparisons in Context
County early-voting totals include both mail ballots and in-person votes, and the turnout share is calculated using registered voters as the denominator, according to the Houston Chronicle. The Bexar figures cited above show a reported cumulative total just over 370,000, compared with about 359,000 in 2022 and 420,191 in 2018. Those are overall totals, not a comparison at the same point in each election; the 2024 figure reported above is for the first day of voting.
For statewide context, KERA reported that turnout at the same point in early voting was roughly 24% in 2018 and 21% in 2022, and that statewide participation was ahead of both midterm paces this year. That statewide comparison does not establish how Bexar County's turnout rate compares with other major counties or with its own rate at the same point in earlier elections.
Eyes on Bexar County Judge and Statewide Races
Nirenberg, the former San Antonio mayor appearing at Wednesday's event, is running as a Democrat against Republican Patrick Von Dohlen for Bexar County judge, the Express-News has reported. Eckhardt argued that one-party rule can lead to inefficiency or corruption and urged residents to vote for change. She called on them to encourage friends and family to cast ballots before Friday's early-voting deadline.
Clayton Tucker said San Antonio matters to the rest of Texas because of its economic and cultural value, and that voters across party lines are focused on food affordability, food safety and data centers. The emphasis on full ballot participation is notable statewide: a Democrat is running in every state and federal race on the Texas ballot this cycle, which the Texas Tribune has described as the first time in modern state history that either party has fielded a full slate. Organizers told the Tribune that running candidates everywhere could boost Democratic turnout and engagement in areas statewide candidates might not otherwise reach.
Bexar County's Place in a Bigger Fight
Statewide, nearly 4.5 million Texans cast ballots during the first seven days of early voting, with 23.4% of registered voters having voted early or by mail as of Oct. 25 — slightly below the 24.3% recorded over the same period in 2018, per the Tribune's reporting. Hispanic voters made up 18% of early voters as of that date, one percentage point above 2024 and two points above 2022. Harris County set a midterm first-day record with more than 127,000 votes, while Dallas County recorded more than 88,000.
The Tribune has also identified 2026 as featuring the state's biggest slate of competitive legislative and congressional races in years, noting that all four of Texas' most competitive U.S. House races sit in majority-Hispanic South Texas districts that Donald Trump carried by at least 10 points in 2024. Republicans currently hold an 88-62 majority in the Texas House, meaning Democrats would need to flip 14 seats to take control of the chamber. Bexar County voters can cast ballots at any of the county's 58 early voting locations through Friday, with Election Day set for Nov. 3.
