Three key takeaways from early voting in the midterm elections | 2026 US midterm elections
U.S. citizens are voting in record numbers ahead of Tuesday’s midterm elections, another potential indication, analysts say, of voter discontent with Republicans and Donald Trump.
Voting was particularly high in states with close Senate elections that could determine which party controls the chamber.
1. People are voting early in record numbers
In North Carolina, residents broke the record for the most votes cast in early voting for a midterm election, according to WRAL. And turnout was particularly strong among Democrats.
More than a million Democrats have already voted, compared to 679,000 Republicans.
In Texas, 7.6 million citizens voted early, a record number for a midterm election. And in South Carolina, nearly a million people voted early, also a record number for a midterm.
The same is true for Georgia, where more than 2.8 million people voted early, a 13% increase from the 2022 midterm elections, which saw a record number of early voters, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
In Maine, Kansas and Michigan, early voter turnout also increased by more than 30% compared to the 2022 midterm elections, according to the Associated Press.
2. Democrats exercise their early voting power
In the United States, many more Democrats voted early than Republicans. Democrats received 43% of early votes, while Republicans cast only 31% and citizens with no party affiliation accounted for 25% of voter turnout, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.
The greater turnout of Democrats than Republicans could reflect a “referendum on Trump,” University of Florida political scientist Michael McDonald told Axios.
3. More support for Democrats than Republicans
Fifty-two percent of voters said they would support the Democratic congressional candidate in their district, while only 44 percent of people said they would support the Republican, according to a PBS News/NPR/Marist poll.
“Even staunch Republican voters look at the state of the economy, for example, and say they’re not very enthusiastic about voting,” Bernard Fraga, a political science professor at Emory University, told Time. “Reading the trends, it’s clear that Democrats are enthusiastic and engaged to a much greater degree than even Republican voters.”
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