In the 2026 general midterm election, many state and federal offices in the midterm were called late Tuesday night, but some ballot items in Lubbock County remained unknown until early Wednesday morning.
Delays came as the Lubbock County Elections Office dealt with discrepancies that triggered a recount.
According to unofficial results from the office, more than 105,000 voters in Lubbock County cast a ballot, an estimated more than 51% voter turnout.
That’s more than the previous midterm in 2022, which saw almost 45% of voters, but not quite as high as 2018, which had more than 52%. That was during President Donald Trump's first term, and in a time when Lubbock County had about 30,000 fewer registered voters than it does now.
For more than a decade, Republicans have consistently earned close to 70% of voter support in Lubbock County. That remained true for most races in this year’s midterm.
Lubbock County voters favored Republican candidates in every major federal and statewide race on the ballot – most of them earning in the ballpark of 62% of votes.
An exception to that trend came in the race for Texas State House District 84 between incumbent Republican Carl Tepper and Democrat opponent Margaret Durham. Tepper came out on top with 53% of the vote, making him the second-lowest supported Republican in the county.
Republican U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton also came in on the lower end with about 57%.
Meanwhile, State Representative for District 83 Dustin Burrows earned the most support in the county at more than 71%, his overall support in the race was 73%.
Incumbent Republican senator, Charles Perry, for State Senate District 28 earned 70% of the vote overall, but his support in Lubbock County was lower, at almost 63%.
Perry told KTTZ that the major shift toward Democratic candidates in this election is a “wake-up call” for the Republican Party.
Similar numbers were reported for U.S. Congressional District 19. First-time candidate Republican Tom Sell also earned almost 70% of the overall vote and nearly 63% of Lubbock County.
The one partisan race in Lubbock County that was won by a Democrat, according to initial results, is Marina Garcia for Justice of the Peace, Precinct 3, who earned almost 60% of the votes.
Across ballots in Lubbock County, there were 16 races in which Republican candidates were uncontested and won their positions by default.