Early youth vote explodes in Texas: Hope for Beto O'Rourke in key Senate race?

[jpak]

https://www.salon.com/2018/11/03/early-youth-vote-explodes-in-texas-hope-for-beto-orourke-in-key-senate-race/

Early voting by Texans under 30 is up more than 500 percent compared to the 2014 midterms in what can only be described as great news for Democratic Senate hopeful Rep. Beto O'Rourke, who has a huge lead over incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz among young voters.

The Independent reports that early voting by Texans between 18 and 29 years old is up by 508 percent this year compared to the last midterm election, which featured a gubernatorial race between Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis. Abbott won that race by more than 20 points.

Early voting among African-American and Hispanic Texas voters is also up more than 200 percent. Hispanic voter registration is also up more than 200 percent since 2014. Early voting by white voters and those over 65 is up as well, though not at the same level.

Overall, more than 200,000 Texans voted for the very first time this year.

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[BlueintheSTL]

1. It is more than that

Link to tweet

[nycbos]

2. Maybe not for a statewide win.

TX is probably two or three cycles away from a Democratic victory statewide. It might make a difference for House elections.

[Wintryjade]

3. national pollster in Washington to call Texas the Bible belt of Hispanics.

In that poll, self-identified white voters in this poll expressed support for President Trump’s handling of his job by a margin of 63 percent to 36 percent. Self-identified Hispanics, however, disapproved of President Trump’s job in office by a margin of 65 percent to 33 percent. Because immigration has been at the forefront of Trump’s policies this year, it’s reasonable to infer that Hispanics do not necessarily approve of the president’s policies on that issue.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/politics/texas-hispanic-vote-no-guarantee-democrats-heres/

This Hispanic community is pretty conservative in Texas, and does not automatically vote Democratic.

[Vinca]

4. Beto is such a good candidate, I don't see how he loses to Cruz.

My theory is that sane people have Caller ID and don't pick up the phone when the pollsters call.