WASHINGTON — With Election Day quickly approaching, Texas set a voter registration record this week.
- A record of nearly 15.6 million people registered to vote
- Texas is one of 12 states without online voter registration
- Deadline for voter registration was October 9
Texas completed registration for the midterms on Tuesday. The number of Texans who registered to vote reached a record of nearly 15.6 million people by the end of September, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s office.
All of this comes as the highly anticipated Senate race between Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Democratic Rep. Beto O'Rourke tightens. Republicans and Democrats are working feverishly to excite their bases in hopes that they will turn out in large numbers in November.
Democrats have warned for months of the consequences of Republicans maintaining control of both the House and Senate, arguing health care coverage is at risk and that President Donald Trump is running a corrupt administration and needs a Democratic Congress to keep him in check.
Republicans have in recent weeks been trying to portray Democrats as scary socialists. They seized on the liberal protesters that came out during the Supreme Court confirmation process, calling them "unhinged with no respect for the rule of law."
“The Democrats have become too extreme. And they've become frankly too dangerous to govern. They've gone wacko,” Trump said at a campaign rally in Iowa Tuesday.
If history is any guide, a majority of eligible voters will stay home on Election Day. That means that at this point, the midterms are a contest of which party can get more of its voters to turn out.