Collin County GOP Lead Drops to 53% After First Three Days

After the first three days of early voting, Collin County’s Republican share fell to 53% with 13,283 votes versus 11,508 votes for Democrats, a preliminary snapshot that the original report says represents a fall from 76% in 2024. Those totals cover the “first three days of early voting” as officials prepared for the March 3, 2026 primary.

The March 3 primary is Collin County’s first primary since the county returned to hand-marked paper ballots and its second election overall using that format, following the November constitutional amendment election. Officials emphasize the ballots are “hand-marked, not hand-counted.” Elections Administrator Kaleb Breaux said the first day of early voting, Tuesday, Feb. 17, 2026, “drew twice as many voters as the county’s previous primary,” and Breaux worked alongside longtime Elections Administrator Bruce Sherbet during the November election before Sherbet retired.

At the North Texas McKinney Collin County Elections Administration building on Redbud Boulevard, voters moved steadily through the line on Wednesday as collars of voters put pen to paper. Voter Juanita Donahue said, “I came out to exercise my right to vote. I like to vote early. The process went great. In and out, no problems.” One man who declined to give his name said he is “not crazy” about the paper ballots, and a senior voter noted, “I'm a senior. I've heard people say, not with me, but that if you make a mistake, you have to go and do a whole new ballot. And the small print. I just prefer the ballots the way they used to be.”

Local partisan organizing is already visible. The Collin County Republican Party site declares, “The CollinGOP is dedicated to protecting our liberty by supporting and electing officials who are firmly grounded in the founding principles of our country,” and features calls to action including “Get Involved,” “Volunteer,” “Donate,” and the exhortation “VOTE REPUBLICAN.” The party site also states, “Texas Values are Republican Values” and that “Elected Republicans have lead Collin County and Texas into prosperity for more than 20 years.”

For local context on turnout, Collin County’s UNOFFICIAL Electionware report for the Frisco/Plano Special Election dated 01/31/2026 4:14 PM shows Registered Voters - Total 258,429; Ballots Cast - Total 5,682 (Ballots By Mail: 175; Early Voting: 5,507); and Voter Turnout - Total 2.20%. The same UNOFFICIAL report lists Frisco Place 1 totals as Ann Anderson 820 and Mark Piland 813, and Plano Place 7 totals as Shun Thomas 2,370 and Colleen Aguilar-Epstein 1,671, with minor overvote and contest-totals formatting noted in the file.

The early-vote snapshot is preliminary and covers only the initial three days of early voting beginning Feb. 17, 2026. Updated vote totals and party breakdowns are expected as Collin County elections officials post additional returns ahead of the March 3 primary.