Texas Counties 1-10

 Yesterday, I provided data on 71 Texas counties that comprise 90 percent of the total registered voters in Texas.

Today, we'll look at the 10 Texas counties with the largest number of registered voters in terms of votes cast in the 2022 Texas gubernatorial election. There are some caveats about the information. First, I used the January 2023 registration figures from the Texas Secretary of State's Web site. The vote for gubernatorial candidates includes only the vote for Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Beto O'Rourke. There were, of course, votes for others, but the number was insignificant. If you have questions about the sources, let me know. Second, the vote totals are from the Texas Secretary of State's office and are the canvassed vote totals. Third, voter turnout in Texas was disappointing. Here are the results:


Notice that the largest segment, more than 9.5 million Texans, were registered voters who did not vote. Aso, another 1.3 million Texans, who were otherwise eligible to vote, were not registered to vote. Overall, only 45.85 percent of registered Texas voters voted.

So, how did Governor Abbott and challenger O'Rourke do  among the voters in Texas' 10 counties with the largest number of registered voters?

The table tells the story.


There are several important takeaways. First, O'Rourke outpolled Abbott by 534,618 votes, winning nearly 56 percent of the two-party vote. O'Rourke's percentage of the two-party vote was highest in Travis County, where he won almost three-fourths of the vote (73.8 percent). In addition, O'Rourke carried Harris, Dallas, Bexar, Fort Bend, and El Paso Counties with a majority of the two-party vote. O'Rourke's percentage of the two-party vote was lowest in Denton County and Collin County, where he won only 43.5 percent and 44.9 percent respectively. 

Second, there are important lessons for counties to learn from Travis County's efforts to mobilize voters. Several pro-Democratic Party groups, in addition to the Travis County Democratic Party, made an extensive effort to identify Democratic Party voters, especially those who are less likely to vote in midterm elections, contact them either through canvassing or social media, and get them to the polls. Organizing at the precinct level is essental to electoral success. Training with groups involved with social media, such as 2 Million Texans, and groups that canvass with neighborhood residents as volunteers can increase Democratic turnout significantly. These efforts, however, require committed volunteers, training, and oversight to ensure that the right people are mobilized. 

Third, the meme that Texas isn't a Red State, it's a non-voting state is true. Travis County shows the way. Adopt their methods and make the other large Texas counties mirror their performance in the 2024 General Election. It should have started by now, or really several months ago.

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