The March 3, 2026, Hays County Primary Election saw a record number of voters cast ballots, mirroring a statewide trend.
27.22% of voters cast ballots in the 2026 primaries in Hays County, up from 18.89% in the 2024 primaries, according to Hays County Elections data. The election also saw more Democratic ballots cast than Republicans for the first time since the 2020 presidential election.
Assistant Professor of Communication Studies Wallace Golding said increased turnout was motivated by several factors, such as mid-decade redistricting, displeasure with national politics and the ability of certain campaigns to motivate voters.
“It’s clear from polling data that many people are unhappy with the current state of national affairs. Democratic enthusiasm in particular can probably be understood as a reaction to unpopular federal policies, especially around issues like the economy, trade, and immigration,” Golding wrote in an email to The Star.
Golding wrote that turnout in the May 26 runoffs is likely to drop, but he couldn’t predict if November turnout would be higher than normal.
“I’d argue it has a lot to do with what the national political environment looks like in a few months’ time,” Golding wrote. “If it cools off, I would not be surprised to see momentum fade, but it could also get more intense. November is a long way off, and a lot can change in that time.”
Included in the increased turnout were more than 400,000 voters across Texas who had never voted in a Democratic Primary, according to the New York Times. Golding said he was encouraged by the number of first-time voters casting ballots in the primary, but wasn’t sure it was part of a new trend.
“I’m hesitant to say it represents any changing tides, but it’s still good to see. Again, I think this is mostly a result of the way people understood the stakes of this primary cycle,” Golding wrote. “It shows that campaigns are still an important art in our politics and that people can be motivated by the right person saying the right thing at the right time.”
Chris Miller, a theater performance and production junior, said being 1 younger voter gives him hope to make a bigger change within the government.
“I feel like everybody should be doing their due diligence to vote for things, not just because they have a party that they affiliate with, but because they want to see change made in the country,” Miller said. “I don’t want to be supporting people that are going to say one thing and then actively do something else or put us all into another war, for most likely oil.”
Miller said with the higher voter turnout, he wants to see a shift politically across the country and would like to see a bipartisan government again.
“I think right now, especially, it feels important because in the past, candidates were pretty cordial with one another, and now we’re at a stage where there’s this whole idea that we need to be fighting each other,” Miller said.
Miller wants some good to come out of the primary elections, with people supporting the candidates they want their tax dollars to go to.
Jacquelin Acosta, an aquatic biology freshman, said she was unable to vote in her home county but still wanted to exercise her rights as a citizen by voting at the LBJ Student Center.
“I think it’s very important [to vote] because what’s going on right now and the people that are in office right now are not benefiting what I need and what the people need here in Texas,” Acosta said.
Malay George, an animal science sophomore, said that after all the history classes she had to take, she realized how important it is to vote in not only the presidential elections but the smaller elections too.
“I’ve always felt like if you want to see change in the state that you live in and not just the whole country, then obviously we have to show up to the other elections we’re voting for,” George said.
George wants to see more acceptance and adherence to diversity within politics and to be able to wake up every day and feel like she belongs in America.
“I know that a lot of people have just been feeling a bit overwhelmed with the state of the politics in our country, and people have been very overwhelmed with the state of the politics in Texas for a long time,” George said. “It makes a lot of sense that people our age will be showing up just because they want to see some change happen.”
