NBC 5’s Alanna Quillen tells us how despite several hot-button issues on the line for candidates running for office, this election cycle is seeing a smaller voter turnout than in years past.
Super Tuesday is underway for the March primary, when many key races will be decided in Texas.
Despite several hot-button issues on the line for candidates running for office, this election cycle is seeing a smaller voter turnout than in years past.
State elections administrators are seeing lower turnout for early voting this year than it was in 2022 for the governor primary.
Nearly 2 million Texans voting during the early voting period, with older voters and more Republicans casting their ballots than any other demographic. Like almost every election, young people are not showing up in high numbers.
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Experts weighed in with NBC 5 on the matter.
"It's going to be a challenge to get a big turnout because there are relatively low high profile and high conflict races," said James Riddlesperger, a political science professor at Texas Christian University in the AddRan College of Liberal Arts.
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"Normally we have at least one interesting presidential primary and normally in off years we have the statewide officials like the governor and lieutenant governor on the ballot. But this year, we only have the one state-wide race of note -- and that's the senate race."
In that race, Democrats are having to choose from eight candidates to take on Republican Ted Cruz as he runs for reelection.
The standouts include Dallas Congressman Colin Allred, who is leaving his current seat to run for senate, and State Sen. Roland Gutierrez from San Antonio.
But there are also several interesting congressional races to watch in DFW, with some big retirements from long-time politicians like Republican and U.S. Rep. Michael Burgess of Dallas and U.S. Rep. Kay Granger of Fort Worth, who was the state's first Republican woman in Congress since she took that seat in 1997.
“They've been in Congress for a long time. And both of them have said, it's time for a new generation to be in charge,” Riddlesperger said.
Voters also need to decide on a new Dallas County commissioner’s seat as well as a new Dallas County Sheriff. In Tarrant County, the primaries cover constables, judges and a new tax assessor.
While the primaries decide on party candidates for the bigger elections in November, Riddlesperger said it's important for voters to know that who they vote for in the next few days will have major impacts on the outcome of key issues in Texas like border security and immigration, school choice, and women’s reproductive rights.
Riddlesperger added an observation – where anyone lies on those issues is seemingly starkly aligned with one party or the other with very little gray area.
“Trying to find an issue that differentiates one Republican candidate from another or one democratic candidate from another is a very difficult thing to do in our current polarized politics – where our candidates tend to be on the wings of their party rather than centrists,” he said.
“And because turnout is so low in these primary elections, the appeals that these candidates are making are to the most hot-blooded members of their political parties because those are the ones who are likely to vote."
The fervent supporters see these primaries as high stakes, Riddlesperger added.
"They think that the polarization that we have in the United States has raised the stakes so that it's no longer a situation where, ‘yes, I might prefer the Democrat to the Republican or I might prefer the Republican to the Democrat, but we're going to be OK either way,” he said. “Now, I think both sides feel that the stakes are very high, such that if the Democrat wins and I'm a Republican, I think our very republic is jeopardized – and vice versa."
Click here to view NBC 5's voter guide, with information on where to vote by county and what you need before you visit the polling site.
