Nearly 50,000 cast early votes in Fort Worth, most in last decade for a mayor’s race
Early voting turnout in Fort Worth was up 45% over the period before the May election and the highest for a mayor’s race in at least 10 years, with 48,082 voters casting ballots.
That compares to the 32,774 who voted early in the May 1 election, which saw Deborah Peoples and Mattie Parker advance to Saturday’s runoff for mayor. Overall, 66,658 voted for the May election, representing a 14% turnout.
In 2019, 4% of registered voters cast ballots early with about a 9% total turnout. In 2011, turnout reached 10% with 6% of the city’s voters going to the polls early.
Emily Farris, a political science professor at TCU, said interest in Fort Worth potentially electing its first Black mayor and the attention to municipal policies and policing might lead to turnout exceeding expectations.
“Historically, Fort Worth has had low turnout in elections, given the off-cycle timing of the elections, incumbents running, and general low interest,” Farris said. “But this one looks like it is going to be a high turnout for Fort Worth, although it is still much lower than what we see in the presidential or congressional races.”
City Council District seats 6, 7, 8 and 9 are also on the ballot as well as District 9 in the Fort Worth school district. The May 1 election drew in the most candidates in recent memory with nearly 50 vying for the city’s eight districts.
Countywide, 73,560 have cast ballots, representing a turnout of 8%. Nearly 92,000 voted early in Tarrant County for the May election.
In Arlington, early voting turnout was at 6%. Voters there are choosing between Jim Ross and Michael Glaspie for mayor. There is also a runoff for a City Council seat.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday. Voters may cast ballots at any vote center.
This story was originally published June 4, 2021 at 5:30 AM.
