Signs for the Republican and Democrat primary voting location at the Glass Recreation Center are pictured on Tuesday March 6, 2018. (Sarah A. Miller/Tyler Morning Telegraph)

Voter participation increased in Smith County in the Texas primary on Tuesday, and Democrats drove most of the increase.

A total of 28,718 ballots were cast in the election, according to complete, unofficial returns from the county’s elections division. The total includes 23,558 Republican ballots and 5,160 Democratic ballots.

The numbers represent an 18.5 percent increase in ballots over the 2014 primary, the last time there was a primary in Texas when gubernatorial candidates were on the ballot but presidential candidates were not.

By party, Republicans saw a 7.6 percent increase over 2014 numbers, and Democrats a 121.6 percent increase. That means Democratic turnout more than doubled in 2018 compared with 2014.

In terms of the overall electorate, 21.9 percent of the 131,160 Smith County voters registered for the 2018 primary cast ballots, compared with 19.6 percent of the 123,867 who were registered in 2014.

Michael Tolbert, chairman of the Smith County Democratic Party, said people voted in his party’s primary because of competitive races and dissatisfaction with the way Republicans are representing them.

Tolbert also credited U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-El Paso, who won the Democratic nomination for U.S. Senate on Tuesday, with increasing turnout. O’Rourke is seeking to unseat Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, who received 88.9 percent of the Smith County votes in the Republican primary.

He also cited the competitive local race between Shirley McKellar and Brent Beal for the Democratic nomination for a seat in Congress. Democrats chose McKellar, who will in November face popular incumbent Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Tyler, who received 89.7 percent of Republican votes in the primary.

“I’ve personally received calls from voters who say that not only are they fed up with the Republican leadership but they are disgusted with some of the things that they’re supporting,” Tolbert said. “People are fed up with that, and we’re doing our part to build a better option.”

Brent Thompson, chairman of the Smith County Republican Party, said he is proud of the increased turnout. He said any uptick is good considering 2018 is not a presidential election year.

“Typically the party out of power in Washington in the presidency … has enthusiasm, which is why typically your nonpresidential years the party in power typically doesn’t have upticks like that,” Thompson said.

“For Smith County we are very proud of the increase in turnout,” Thompson said. “We’re going to continue to showcase the reasons why the Republican Party is the party of results and solutions.”

In addition to choosing Cruz and Gohmert, Republican voters renominated Rep. Matt Schaefer, R-Tyler, for his seat in the Texas House, and selected Jacob Putman over Alicia Barkley to be the next Smith County district attorney.

Thompson called Smith County “one of the best-run, financially, counties in the state” and said that’s the result of Republican leadership. “I’m proud of all of them. They do their best job on the budget and key issues for us locally.

“We have a plan to continue to expose the qualities of our candidates as we go up to November to keep growth happening, to let our citizens know that our party is still the party to put their trust in for good governance,” Thompson said.

The general election is Nov. 6.

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