Lucio Vasquez/Houston Public Media
Pictured is a sign outside a Houston polling location that says “voting this way” in multiple languages.
The Democratic and Republican nominations for November’s midterm election will be finalized Tuesday as voters in the Houston area and across Texas head to the polls to make their picks in a series of primary runoffs.
Polls are open from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. There are more than 160 Election Day voting locations across Harris County, which includes Houston.
More than 40,000 votes had been cast in Harris County as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to a spokesperson for the county’s elections office.
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Party nominations are up for grabs in several local congressional districts. The Democratic primary runoff in the 18th Congressional District pits two sitting congressmen against each other in U.S. Rep. Christian Menefee and U.S. Rep. Al Green, a longtime Houston representative who last summer was drawn out of the 9th Congressional District by Texas Republicans.
In the newly drawn 9th, which now figures to favor the GOP, Alex Mealer and state Rep. Briscoe Cain are vying for the Republican nomination.
Voters confused by congressional boundaries
The shift in congressional districts caused confusion Tuesday for some voters at Houston City College Southeast. It’s located within the new 9th District, just outside the boundaries of the old 9th District.
RELATED: Who is on the May 26 primary runoff ballots in the Houston area
Two Democrats came to vote and said they planned to vote for Green and Menefee — candidates in the 18th District — only to discover they didn’t recognize any of the candidates listed as their potential representatives.
The voters used Google to check which district they belonged to and discovered they had been looking at the old district map. The new map was “impossible to find,” one of them said.
Brenda Valdivia/Houston Public Media
Campaign signs are situated outside of Houston City College Southeast, a Harris County polling location, during Election Day for the party primary runoffs on May 26, 2026.
A Spanish-speaking voter at HCC Southeast, who asked to be identified only as Alejandro, said he was voting for Mealer in the Republican primary runoff in the 9th District. There were a few signs showing Mealer, a former Harris County judge candidate, was endorsed by President Donald Trump. When asked whether Trump’s endorsement was a plus for him, Alejandro said no, he simply liked Mealer and wanted a change.
Other key races
There’s also a GOP primary runoff in the 38th Congressional District, where Jon Bonck and Shelly deZevallos are competing to succeed U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt. Hunt resigned so he could run for U.S. Senate, although he placed third in the March 3 primary and did not qualify for a runoff.
That matchup is between incumbent Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is considered the favorite after picking up an endorsement last week from Trump.
There also are marquee statewide races to succeed Paxton as attorney general. The Republican primary runoff features U.S. Rep. Chip Roy and state Sen. Mayes Middleton of Galveston, while former Galveston Mayor Joe Jaworski and state Sen. Nathan Johnson are vying for the Democratic nomination.
Gregg Gilliam was among the early morning rush of voters Tuesday at the Cinco Ranch library in Katy, west of Houston. He said he was motivated to vote because he wants to ensure Republicans can continue to achieve Trump’s agenda.
“John Cornyn lost my vote during Trump’s first administration,” Gilliam said. “So Ken Paxton for sure and Mayes Middleton, all of them. Like I said, I’m here to support the Republican candidates.”
Houston-area labor organizer Marcos Vélez is facing state Rep. Vikki Goodwin in the Democratic primary runoff for lieutenant governor, with the winner taking on incumbent Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in November.
On the Republican side, incumbent Texas Railroad Commissioner Jim Wright is in a primary runoff against Bo French. The race has drawn attention because culture-war issues have become a focus of the campaign, even though the primary role of the railroad commission is to regulate the state’s oil and gas industry.
RELATED: Here are the key races in Texas’ May primary runoff election
More locally, primary runoff voters also will weigh in on judicial races and seats in the Texas House. There also are key county-level races on local ballots.
In Harris County, voters will pick the party nominees for county judge. Former Houston Mayor Annise Parker is facing former city council member Letitia Plummer for the Democratic nomination, while the GOP runoff pits former county treasurer Orlando Sanchez against William Howell.
Battle for nomination in Fort Bend
Vying for the Democratic nomination for Fort Bend County judge are Rachelle Carter and Dexter McCoy, the Precinct 4 commissioner. The winner advances to face interim County Judge Daniel Wong, the Republican nominee, in November.
At the polling station at the Cinco Ranch library in Katy, De’Karr Bradshaw came to cast his ballot. Bradshaw campaigned for Lawrence Brandyburg, who won the Democratic primary for Texas House of Representatives District 85, which covers several rural counties west of Houston.
Bradshaw said he’s been following several federal and local races, including the Democratic runoff for Fort Bend County judge, where he voted for McCoy.
“I’ve met him once. I liked his demeanor,” Bradshaw said. “I think we’re aligned.”
Democratic voters in Fort Bend County, located southwest of Houston, also are weighing in on races such as county clerk and county treasurer.
Republicans drive turnout during early voting
In Harris County, more than 165,500 votes were cast during the early voting period from May 18-22. Nearly 58% of those votes, a total of 95,602, were cast in Republican primary runoffs.
Democrats drove turnout during the first round of primary voting in early March, when nearly 367,000 votes were cast in Democratic primaries in Harris County compared to more than 200,000 votes in GOP primaries.
The county has more than 2.7 million registered voters, according to the Harris County Tax Office.
Houston Public Media’s Brenda Valdivia and Natalie Weber contributed to this report.