Early voting surges in Texas Senate District 4 special election

More than 25,800 early ballots were already cast in Texas Senate District 4, a sign that a special election usually decided by a thin slice of voters had drawn real attention in Harris and Montgomery counties. By the end of early voting April 28, just over 31,000 people across the district had voted early, with 81% of the eventual early-voting total already banked before Election Day.

The numbers show where the energy was strongest. In the district’s two biggest pieces by registered voters, only 2.06% of registered Harris County voters in the district had voted early, compared with 5.55% of registered Montgomery County voters in the district. That gap suggests Montgomery County was overperforming in participation, even as Harris County remained a major factor because its voters can cast ballots at any polling location.

The race was set after Brandon Creighton resigned from the Texas Senate to become chancellor and CEO of the Texas Tech University System. Gov. Greg Abbott scheduled the special election for Saturday, May 2, to fill the seat through January 2027, with voters set to return to the district again in November for a full four-year term. That means the winner would not just inherit a temporary post, but also enter a second campaign almost immediately.

On the ballot were Republican Brett W. Ligon, the longtime Montgomery County district attorney, and Democrat Ron Angeletti, an educator and small-business owner. The district stretches beyond Harris and Montgomery into parts of Galveston, Chambers and Jefferson counties, but the Harris County contest mattered because the county is one of the region’s biggest turnout engines and often helps determine whether suburban voters are engaged or simply waiting out another crowded election season.

Unofficial results later showed Ligon defeating Angeletti 26,068 votes to 8,662, or 75% to 25%. The margin fit a district that has been described as strongly Republican, with one post-election analysis putting it at about 69% Republican. Even so, the early-voting totals underscored how a relatively small group of voters can settle a seat with consequences for schools, roads, taxes and public safety in one of the region’s most politically watched Senate districts.