Collin County Unofficial Returns Show Near-Record Democratic Primary Turnout

Collin County’s unofficial canvass shows 199,606 ballots were cast in the March 3 Republican and Democratic primaries, a turnout of 26.26% of the county’s 760,111 registered voters, with 86 of 86 vote centers reporting and the report timestamped 03/04/2026 1:56 AM. The county summary lists 132,390 early votes, 63,199 Election Day votes, and 4,017 ballots by mail.

The Democratic surge in raw votes is striking in the county totals. Collin County’s unofficial report records 95,756 Democratic ballots compared with 103,850 Republican ballots; Tx3dnews framed that rise as driven by Democratic participation growing from roughly 36,895 in 2022 and 36,060 in 2024 to 95,756 in 2026, a jump Tx3dnews called “nearly 60,000” additional Democratic voters and the highest total in the past three primary cycles.

Party shares narrowed after years of Republican dominance. The county raw counts show a roughly 52% Republican to 48% Democratic split; KERA described the turnout as “about 51% voting in the Republican primary and 49% participating in the Democratic primary,” while Retrogradenews reported that “only 52% of ballots were cast in the Republican primary.”

Collin County Democratic Chair Jeremy Sutka called the turnout transformational and pointed to ballot depth as a factor, saying, “We are seeing a much larger number than normal of voters that previously voted in the Republican primary that are voting in the Democratic primary.” Sutka also noted, “For the first time in Texas history, every single spot on the Democratic ballot for Congress, U.S. Senate, Texas Senate, Texas House, and State Board of Education has a Democratic candidate, and many of these races have competitive primaries, led by Jasmine Crockett vs. James Talarico at the top.” Tx3dnews reported Sutka described the turnout as “historic.”

Republican Michael Slaughter, identified by KERA as a Republican running unopposed for Collin County Commissioner, posted during early voting on Facebook that higher turnout matters for local strength, writing, “If we want to continue to keep Collin County strong and ensure we are positioned well for the fights that are coming in future elections, it starts with showing up now. Primary turnout sets the tone.” KERA also highlighted local context, noting Collin County is home to Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and to Rep. Mihaela Plesa, “who became the first Democrat elected to the statehouse from Collin County in thirty years when she was elected in 2022.”

Selected Democratic contest-level lines from the county report show large majorities on party propositions and uneven participation within contests. Democratic Proposition 1 recorded 90,168 Yes votes and 2,274 No votes, with total votes cast 92,442, 32 overvotes and 3,272 undervotes; Proposition 2 showed 90,315 Yes and 1,912 No, total votes cast 92,227 and 3,495 undervotes. In Democratic statewide contests, Clayton Tucker received 74,386 votes while Jon Rosenthal received 73,777 votes, with contest undervotes of 21,360 and 21,969 respectively.

These figures are labeled “UNOFFICIAL RESULTS” in the Collin County Government Summary Results Report and were generated with Electionware. Runoff elections for any contests that require them are scheduled for May 26, 2026. The county report lists registered voters as 760,111; Retrogradenews used a different registration series in a four-year comparison that cited 752,502, a discrepancy reflected in contemporaneous coverage and in broader reporting on registration growth across recent cycles.

With nearly 200,000 ballots cast and a dramatic increase in Democratic primary participation, local campaigns and state contests such as Jasmine Crockett vs. James Talarico on the Democratic side and the high-profile Republican matchup involving Ken Paxton will watch Collin County’s returning electorate closely as runoffs approach.