Source Details

{
    "source_type": "extension",
    "content_hash": "908e025566b99e0f2b7ac672bfc2712d8a15a5f70eed46839c3d57d97f9ebb6c",
    "submitted_via": "chrome_extension",
    "extension_version": "1.0.18",
    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/29\/us\/politics\/democrats-voter-turnout.html?emc=edit_nn_20260929&nl=the-morning&segment_id=227235",
    "parsed_content": "liveUpdatesThe Race for CongressNational Citizenship DatabaseWhen to Vote in Your StateLatest PollsCompetitive RacesAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTDemocratic Turnout Surged in the Primaries. Will It Matter in November?A voter enthusiasm gap provides another signal that Democrats are favored this fall, though Republicans still have key advantages.Listen \u00b7 4:54 min Share full articleBy Reid J. EpsteinAshley Wu and Christine ZhangSept. 29, 2026See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google From the first primaries in March through the final ones in September, Democrats\u2019 turnout outpaced Republican voters in many key states that will decide congressional majorities next year. In red states like Texas, battlegrounds like Georgia and bluer ones like New Hampshire, Democrats have raced to the polls to choose their nominees, while Republicans have not kept up.Primary ballots cast in 2026 in Senate battleground statesIncludes battleground states with contested partisan primaries across a single race\n Democratic Republican \n2.3 million ballots cast\nTexas\n2.2 million\n1.5 million\nMichigan\n932,000\n1.1 million\nGeorgia\n934,000\n828,000\nNorth\nCarolina\n627,000\n698,000\nMinnesota\n407,000\n372,000\nSouth\nCarolina\n473,000\n226,000\nKansas\n344,000\n192,000\nIowa\n206,000\n154,000\nNew\nHampshire\n110,000\n2.3 million ballots cast\nTexas\n2.2 million\n1.5 million\nMichigan\n932,000\n1.1 million\nGeorgia\n934,000\n828,000\nNorth Carolina\n627,000\n698,000\nMinnesota\n407,000\n372,000\nSouth Carolina\n473,000\n226,000\nKansas\n344,000\n192,000\nIowa\n206,000\n154,000\nNew Hampshire\n110,000\n Democratic Turnout Surged in the Primaries. Will It Matter in November? - The New York Times\nNotes: Figures are rounded and exclude write-in votes. In states with contested Senate and governor primaries, the contest with the most total votes is shown.Sources: The Associated Press; state election websites.The New York Times\u201cThere\u2019s been historic enthusiasm gaps this cycle, that are real reasons to be optimistic,\u201d said Meredith Kelly, who was a top official for the House Democratic campaign committee in 2018, the last midterm election with President Trump in office.Furious Democratic voters emerged during that campaign\u2019s primary season and maintained their energy into November. The party flipped 42 House seats, taking the majority. Republicans gained Senate seats that year in deep-red states like Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota where they ousted Democrats who had been elected during Barack Obama\u2019s second presidential campaign.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTThis primary season, perhaps the starkest example of Democratic enthusiasm came in Texas, a state Mr. Trump carried by 14 percentage points two years ago. Both parties had hard-fought and expensive Senate primary campaigns there this year.About 150,000 more people voted in the Democratic primary between James Talarico, the victor, and Representative Jasmine Crockett than in the Republican contest between Senator John Cornyn and the state\u2019s attorney general, Ken Paxton, who would go on to win in a runoff.That\u2019s a major change from four years ago, when there were 900,000 more votes in the state\u2019s Republican primaries for state offices than in its Democratic contests. Even in 2018, during the last Democratic wave election, 500,000 more people voted in the Republican Senate primary than in the Democratic one. That year, the last midterm election with Mr. Trump in office, Democrats flipped seats across Texas as Beto O\u2019Rourke came the closest any Democrat had gotten in decades to winning a Senate race in the state.The lopsided Democrat turnout didn\u2019t extend to every state, and was most notable in battleground states.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTCompare 2022 to 2026: Twenty-two states held contested primary elections in both parties for governor or Senate. Democratic turnout increased in three-quarters of those states this year over four years ago, while dropping in two-thirds of those states for Republicans.States with higher turnout in 2026 than in 2022Turnout is represented as ballots cast as a share of the voting-eligible population in the state.\n 17 states with higher Democratic turnout Wisconsin Minnesota Texas Kentucky Alabama South Carolina Georgia Illinois New Hampshire Rhode Island North Carolina Arkansas Iowa Nebraska Wyoming Idaho Nevada 7 states with higher Republican turnout South Carolina Minnesota Oregon Oklahoma Texas Iowa Rhode Island \nNote: In states with contested Senate and governor primaries, the contest with the most total votes is shown. Charts include states with contested partisan primaries across a single race.Sources: The Associated Press, state election websites (votes); U.S. Census Bureau (voting-eligible population).The New York TimesGoing back farther, Michigan and Wisconsin held competitive Democratic primaries in both 2018 \u2014 which drew record turnouts at the time \u2014 and 2026, and both saw huge turnout increases this year.Sign up for the On Politics newsletter. It's a pivotal moment for American politics. Join us for 2026 and beyond. Get it sent to your inbox.In Wisconsin, David Crowley, the Milwaukee County executive, narrowly defeated Francesca Hong, a state legislator from Madison, in a race that saw turnout jump by more than 250,000 votes \u2014 a 47 percent increase. Both the winning and losing candidates got more votes than the winner in the 2018 primary.Michigan\u2019s numbers were nearly as striking. The state\u2019s 2018 competitive Democratic primary for governor drew 1.1 million voters. The Senate contest last month had 1.5 million.Eight years ago, on the eve of the 2018 primaries, Nate Cohn wrote in The Times that the vote in primary races generally provides \u201ca rough if imperfect indicator of the national political environment.\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTBut Republicans are better prepared for a wave of Democratic enthusiasm than they were during the \u201cblue wave\u201d in 2018. Republicans redrew House districts across the country to create more potentially safe seats for their candidates, and the party has a large cash advantage. As in 2018, this year\u2019s Senate battleground is being fought in red states Mr. Trump carried two years before, giving his party a distinct advantage.Tom Perez, who was the Democratic National Committee chairman in 2018, acknowledged that voter enthusiasm among Democrats wouldn\u2019t go as far in the new political environment.\u201cI really do believe that people are going to come out in abundance,\u201d he said, but he added that it would require more financial investment in potentially competitive races.\u201cYou don\u2019t want to wake up the day after and see that you lost by three points somewhere because you didn\u2019t do anything,\u201d he said.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-29T09:01:57+00:00",
    "author_name": "Reid J. Epstein, Ashley Wu, Christine Zhang",
    "site_name": "The New York Times",
    "section": "US Politics",
    "publisher": "The New York Times Company",
    "ai_headline": "Democratic Turnout Surged in the Primaries. Will It Matter in November?",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Democrats Primary Turnout Surges 2026",
    "ai_excerpt": "Democratic voter turnout in the 2026 primaries outpaced Republicans in many key states, signaling potential enthusiasm for the upcoming November elections. However, Republicans have advantages in redistricting and campaign funding.",
    "ai_subject_tags": [
        "US Politics",
        "Elections",
        "Voter Turnout",
        "Democratic Party",
        "Republican Party",
        "Midterm Elections",
        "Primary Elections"
    ],
    "ai_context_type": "Analysis",
    "ai_context_details": {
        "tone": "analytical",
        "perspective": "neutral",
        "audience": "general",
        "credibility_indicators": [
            "data_cited",
            "expert_quotes",
            "statistical_analysis"
        ]
    },
    "ai_source_vector": null,
    "ai_confidence_score": 0.9999999999999999,
    "ai_extraction_metadata": {
        "extracted_at": "2026-09-30T07:00:40.365935Z",
        "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
        "extraction_method": "automated",
        "content_length": 6923,
        "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 6923,
        "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
        "url": "https:\/\/nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/29\/us\/politics\/democrats-voter-turnout.html",
        "existing_metadata": {
            "author_name": null,
            "published_at": null,
            "domain_name": "nytimes.com",
            "site_name": null,
            "section": null,
            "publisher": null
        },
        "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false
    }
}

{
    "extracted_at": "2026-09-30T07:00:40.365935Z",
    "ai_model": "gemini-2.5-flash",
    "extraction_method": "automated",
    "content_length": 6923,
    "metadata_prompt_body_chars": 6923,
    "metadata_prompt_truncated": false,
    "url": "https:\/\/nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/29\/us\/politics\/democrats-voter-turnout.html",
    "existing_metadata": {
        "author_name": null,
        "published_at": null,
        "domain_name": "nytimes.com",
        "site_name": null,
        "section": null,
        "publisher": null
    },
    "openai_refusal_gemini_fallback": false
}