The 2026 November midterm election may be months away, but local political party leaders are still soaking in the results from the March primaries held two weeks ago.
Lampasas County Republican Party Chair Wendy Daugherty and Lampasas County Democratic Party Chair Cyndy Burleson provided their thoughts on the primary season that saw Democrats statewide outnumber Republicans at the ballot box for the first time in over 20 years during a non-presidential election year.
In Lampasas County, Republicans posted their second-largest turnout ever and the most in a nonpresidential cycle with 4,379 votes.
Lampasas Democrats experienced an exponential jump, from 463 in 2022 to 919 in 2026. Burleson was pleased to see a strong presence from local Democrats at the polls.
“We worked very hard to get people motivated to turn out for the primary, to make them realize how important a primary can be toward November, because this is your chance to say, hey, I want this person to represent me in November,” Burleson said.
Statewide, 2,311,826 Democrats voted in their primary for the U.S. Senate race compared to 2,165,744 for Republicans – a difference of 3.2%. The last time Republican Primary voters were outnumbered by Democrats at the polls came in 2020, but that was a presidential year.
The last time Republicans were outpaced by Democrats in a nonpresidential year primary season came in 2002, when 965,655 Democrats cast their ballot for U.S. Senate versus just 619,302 for Republicans. Eight months later, Republican nominee John Cornyn was elected to the Senate with 2,496,243 votes, while Democratic Party nominee Ron Kirk captured 1,955,758 votes.
Although Daugherty was pleased to see strong turnout among Lampasas Republican voters, she knows the party will have to match Democratic Party enthusiasm.
“The Republicans, we still voted over 80% in Lampasas,” she said. “Some of the other places, the Republicans didn’t show up, and they need to when it comes down to the General Election in November. I think a lot of that, as far as the Democrats, had to do with the Senate race with James Talarico and Jasmine Crockett.”
Talarico, an Austin-area state representative, is gaining the reputation as a rising star among Texas Democrats. However, Burleson isn’t so sure he will match up stronger against whichever Republican emerges from the upcoming candidate runoff.
“I think they are both very fine candidates,” Burleson said of Talarico and Crockett. “Jasmine Crockett, she is a fighter, a proven fighter. She has stood up for us and defended us. I don’t know if he would have a better chance than she. It’s kind of hard to say, because we are not going to have that scenario to see what would happen.”
Talarico’s opponent will be either Cornyn, a fourterm U.S. senator, or his challenger Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Daugherty believes it would be in President Donald Trump’s best interest to stay out of the race in Texas. Last week, Trump declared he would not make an endorsement until the SAVE -- Safeguard American Voter Eligibility -- America Act, a top Republican priority, passes the U.S. Senate where it currently is held up.
Cornyn’s campaign spent nearly $70 million to challenge Paxton in the March 3 primary election, including millions spent on TV advertisements attacking Paxton’s character and recent impeachment case.
Daugherty believes the runoff election slated for May 26 will feature more of the same political infighting.
“The two are very different,” she said of Cornyn and Paxton. “Cornyn has been there for so long and in lots of ways he has disappointed the [Republican] base. I think he is going to have a tough time.
“As dirty as it was for the primary, I think the runoff will get worse,” Daugherty said. “All of the things Ken Paxton was impeached for – I think every bit of that is going to come out, and we will find out more about Ken Paxton than what we knew.”
While the U.S. Senate seat remains up in the air, Lampasans already know the two nominees for the 31st Congressional District: Rep. John Carter, a 12-term incumbent, and Democratic challenger Justin Early, an Army veteran and cybersecurity specialist.
During the March primary, a total of 77,355 ballots were cast for Carter and other Republican candidates, versus 55,307 cast for Democrats Early and Stuart Whitlow.
The new redistricting map approved by Texas lawmakers in 2025 has given Burleson a bit more optimism that Early could secure the win in November.
“I think he has an interesting background, is a pretty good speaker,” Burleson said. “He brings a lot of enthusiasm and is a family man – he likes to include that in his talks. I think he is relatable, is excited, energetic and a smart guy. I think he is a fine candidate.”
Daugherty does not anticipate an upset for the District 31 congressional seat this fall.
“I wouldn’t say it’s an easy win, but I think he [Carter] will do better than Justin Early will,” Daugherty said.
If Republicans are going to have a successful November statewide, the Lampasas County Republican Party chair emphasized that voters will need to be ready to overpower any Democratic Party energy.
“All the Republicans are going to have to show up,” Daugherty said. “If they don’t show up, anything can happen, of course. They have to decide that this is important enough to come out for. I hope in the next few months people will realize it is important and need to show up.
“Hopefully it is a wakeup call to those that are down in Austin that are Republicans they need to get out and move their voters,” she said.
Although no Democrat has been elected to statewide office since 1994, Burleson is optimistic Democrats can make gains in November, but she is not ready to make any predictions.
“I don’t want to make any real guesses on what is going to happen in November, because I’m going to be focused on working toward November,” she said. “I’m going to be focused on the here and now, and taking positive steps in our organization to make November a good result for us.”
