Here you go:
Year Dem GOP
=======================
2008 19,578 8,654
2012 8,135 17,846
2016 14,001 19,376
For your reference, the 2016 totals are here, and the 2012 totals are here. I don’t have daily EVPA totals from the Harris County Clerk for 2008, so my reference for those numbers is the SOS archive for 2008, with the Day One Dem totals here and the Day One GOP totals here. Day One EV totals for the 15 biggest counties statewide are here.
I haven’t broken this down by mail versus in person voting in the table, but for the record the Democrats have returned 7,191 mail ballots out of 18,251 that have been sent out, while the Republicans have sent back 9,755 of 28,814. Friday is the last day to request a mail ballot. They’re not going to be a huge part of the final early total, so I’m not too focused on them. For what it’s worth, Republicans have requested 61.2% of the mail ballots, while their share of the mail ballots returned is 57.6%. Not sure how we get to that three to one turnout ratio that Stan Stanart predicted, but it is still early days.
A couple of Day One early voting stories so far. First, from the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Tarrant County Republicans shattered their turnout records Tuesday as early voting kicked off for the March 1 presidential primaries in Texas.
By mid-afternoon, more local Republican ballots had been cast than through the end of the first day of early voting in the past four presidential primaries.
“It’s exciting,” said Frank Phillips, Tarrant County elections administrator. “Look at the primaries that have proceeded us — Iowa and New Hampshire. Turnout was large there too.
“I don’t know why we would be any different,” he said. “And this is Day One. It usually climbs all week.”
By the end of the day in Tarrant County, Republicans cast 4,617 ballots in person and Democrats cast 2,922 ballots in person, local election records show.
[…]
In the 2004 primary in Tarrant County, 332 Republicans and 472 Democrats turned out on the first day of early voting, state records show.
Then Texas, a large state that generally has a small voice in the battle for the White House, drew nationwide attention for Democratic turnout in 2008.
That year, local Democrats weighing in on the primary battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton broke turnout records.
On the first day of voting that year, 5,732 local Democrats voted, compared with 2,606 local Republicans.
In the next presidential election, numbers went down on the first day of voting: 2,147 Republicans and 798 Democrats in Tarrant County cast ballots that day, records show.
Not much to see here. Dems are above 2012 but below 2008, which is what you’d expect. Republicans, who have a couple of hot legislative primaries to go with the top of the ticket, have the lion’s share of the vote total.
And over in Dallas:
In total, 5,588 people have voted in Dallas County, 2,828 Democrats and 2,760 Republicans.
“That’s really good,” said Dallas County Elections Administrator Toni Pippins-Poole. “Most of the activity is being driven by the presidential election.”
Dallas Dems cast 9,834 first day early votes in 2008, while Republicans contributed 2,912. In 2012, those numbers were 2,555 D and 3,411 R. Interesting that 2012 was hotter on the R side than 2016, at least right off.
The Chron takes a broader view:
Republican primary turnout on day one of early voting nearly doubled from 2008 in Texas’ 10 largest counties, likely reflecting elevated interest in the heated contest for the Republican presidential nomination.
Data compiled by the Texas Secretary of State shows that 41,508 Republican voters cast an early or absentee ballot in the state’s 10 largest counties as of Tuesday, up from 21,130 on the first day of early voting in 2008.
Participation increased just 13 percent from Texas’ Mary 2012 Republican primary, however, when former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney was leading the Republican field by a wide margin.
[…]
Democratic turnout in the state’s 10 largest counties, meanwhile, dropped 30 percent from 2008, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton’s hotly-contested primary drove turnout in Texas to record highs.
If you look at the included chart, it appears that Day One Dem turnout is roughly double what it was in 2012. Not sure why that wasn’t noted in the story, but whatever. I’ll keep an eye on the other counties as we go forward as well. Have you voted yet?