Harris County early voting begins Oct. 19 for Nov. 3, 2026 election

Who's involved

• Teneshia Hudspeth · Harris County Clerk^[4]
• Ken Paxton · Republican candidate for U.S. Senate^[4]
• James Talarico · Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate^[4]
• Ted Brown · Libertarian candidate for U.S. Senate^[4]
• Greg Abbott · Republican Governor seeking fourth term^[4]
• Gina Hinojosa · Democratic candidate for Governor^[4]
• Pat Dixon · Libertarian candidate for Governor^[4]
• Letitia Plummer · Democratic candidate for Harris County Judge^[4]
• Orlando Sanchez · Republican candidate for Harris County Judge^[4]
• Lina Hidalgo · Current Harris County Judge, not seeking reelection^[4]
• Lacey Derrington · Candidate for Tomball ISD Board Position 1^[3]
• Patrick Beecher · Incumbent candidate for Tomball ISD Board Position 1^[3]
• Joseph Ferguson · Candidate for Tomball ISD Board Position 3^[3]
• John McStravick · Incumbent candidate for Tomball ISD Board Position 3^[3]
• Michael Pratt · Candidate for Tomball ISD Board Position 2^[3]
• Mark Lewandowski · Candidate for Tomball ISD Board Position 4^[3]

The facts

1. Early voting runs from October 19–30, 2026, with October 19–24 and October 26–30 open 7 a.m.–7 p.m., and Sunday, Oct 18, 2026, October 25 open noon–7 p.m. [1]^[1]
2. Harris County has 75 early voting locations open during early voting, and over 600 polling locations on Election Day, November 3, 2026. [1,2]^[1,2]
3. Voters in Harris County can cast ballots at any polling location across the county, regardless of where they live. [1]^[1]
4. As of October 22, 2026, 415,730 voters have cast ballots in Harris County during early voting, representing about 15% of the county's more than 2.7 million registered voters. [2]^[2]
5. On the first day of early voting, October 19, 2026, more than 104,000 in-person votes were counted, breaking the previous midterm record set in 2018. [2]^[2]
6. In 2022, Harris County had 750,349 people participate in early voting. [2]^[2]
7. The state-imposed deadline to register for the November 3 midterm election was October 5, 2026. [1]^[1]
8. Four positions on the Tomball Independent School District Board of Trustees are scheduled for election on November 3, 2026, with Positions 1 and 3 having contested races, while Positions 2 and 4 each have only one candidate. [3]^[3]
9. Tomball ISD trustees serve four-year terms and are elected at-large, representing the district as a whole rather than individual neighborhoods. [3]^[3]

Who said what

• University of Texas/Texas Politics Project poll A poll released the week before October 19, 2026 showed Talarico at 50% and Paxton at 47% in the U.S. Senate race, highlighting a close contest.^[4]
• Harris County Elections Department Recent polling suggests a competitive race between Abbott and Hinojosa as voters prepare to cast their ballots.^[4]