Early voting has been underway for weeks and Republican-affiliated voters have outpaced their Democratic-affiliated counterparts in seven closely watched states – Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Montana, Tennessee, and Texas, according to data provided by TargetSmart. The information suggests that Republican voters have increased enthusiasm heading into Election Day to put a considerable dent in the Democratic hopes for a “blue wave.”
Although Republicans typically dominate early voting with absentee ballots, Democrats, on average, tend to have the upper hand with in-person early voting.
According to NBC News, women voters have outpaced men in early voting – Florida (55 percent to 45 percent), Georgia (54 percent to 46 percent), Indiana (53 percent to 46 percent), Montana (49 percent to 48 percent), Tennessee (52 percent to 48 percent), and Texas (59 percent to 41 percent).
Male voters have only outpaced women voters so far in Nevada (49 percent to 47 percent), where Democratic-affiliated voters have exceeded Republican-affiliated voters so far in early voting, as stated by the data.
When it comes to geographical location, suburban voters have outpaced rural and urban voters in Florida (43 percent suburban, 34 percent urban, 22 percent rural), Georgia (57 percent suburban, 31 percent rural, 12 percent urban), Indiana (45 percent suburban, 39 percent rural, 16 percent urban), and Tennessee (56 percent suburban, 33 percent rural, 11 percent urban).
In Virginia, early voting has vastly increased since last year’s gubernatorial race. As of October 30, 211,642 votes have been cast, a 104.6 percent jump from 2017’s 103,450 votes, according to figures provided by the Virginia Public Access Project (VPAP).
The biggest year-over-year gains have been seen in Northern Virginia’s Tenth Congressional current represented by Republican Barbara Comstock – up 135 percent – and in Central Virginia’s Seventh Congressional District currently represented by Republican Dave Brat.
Early voting in Virginia’s Fifth Congressional District is also up 105 percent since last year. The current representative, Tom Garrett, is retiring, and former gubernatorial candidate and distillery owner Denver Riggleman is running for the seat as a Republican.
Youth turnout in Virginia has also increased sevenfold in Virginia since 2017, up from 0.5 percent to 3.6 percent.