Texas voters didn’t just set a record for early voting in a primary during a non-presidential election.

They obliterated the records.

More than 885,000 people voted in the Texas primaries through early voting or by mail in the state’s most populous counties, according the the Texas Secretary of State’s office. That is a 50 percent increase from the previous high of 592,000 in 2014, the last election cycle with the governor on the ballot.

For the first time in a decade more people voted in a Democratic Primary than a Republican Primary in the state’s largest counties. The last time Democrats beat Republicans was in 2008 when the battle between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton drove record turnout in the primary battle for president.

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Just over 465,000 people voted in the Democratic Primary in the state’s 15 largest counties, compared to about 420,000 Republicans. In fact, more people voted in this year’s Democratic Primary than they did in even the presidential election in 2016, when turnout is typically much higher.

Harris County voters also shattered records. In 2014, about 105,000 people voted in the primaries. This year more than 169,000 people participated in one of the primaries. About 88,000 people voted in the Democratic Primary, versus about 82,000 in the Republican Primary. It’s the first time more people voted in the Democratic primaries in Harris County during a major election cycle than in the Republican primaries in 10 years.

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Democratic turnout has been boosted this year by a combination of factors. Opposition to President Donald Trump has been a big factor in turning out voters nationwide, but Democrats also have been aided by more candidates running for office and more competitive primaries than four years ago. Four years ago, in the nine congressional districts that make up parts of Harris County, just two had competitive primaries for Democrats. This year, seven of the nine have Democratic primaries.

Democrats say the early voting shows their voters are engaged and have a lot of enthusiasm heading into the mid-term elections in which Democrats are trying to regain control of Congress.

Election Day for both the Democratic and Republican primaries is on Tuesday throughout Texas.

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More Information Early Voting Totals through March 3 compared to 2014 Statewide 2018 - 885,5774 Statewide 2014 - 592,153 Harris County 2018 - 169,453 Harris County 2014 - 105,508 Fort Bend County 2018 - 36,676 Fort Bend County 2014 - 20,822 Montgomery County 2018 - 32,992 Montgomery County 2014 - 26,505 SOURCE: Texas Secretary of State