Early Voting Ends Friday, March 1

CAPITAL Highlights 

Early voting in the March 5 primary election ends Friday with a host of candidates on the ballot in both parties, including president, U.S. Senate, all 38 Texas U.S. representatives, all 150 Texas House representatives, and down to local races for district attorney, sheriff and other positions.

Check with your local elections office for more information or go to votetexas.gov.

A record number of Texans are registered to vote ahead of the primary election, according to Texas Secretary of State Jane Nelson. More than 17.9 million people are registered to vote in Texas, which is one million more than were registered ahead of the March 2020 primaries.

The increase is being attributed to population growth and does not necessarily mean a higher voter turnout. Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor, said most people “register to vote out of reflex,” the San Antonio Express-News reported.

“Just because a person’s registered doesn’t mean they’re going to vote,” Rottinghaus said. “They may be registered for all kinds of reasons that are disassociated from their desire to actually go vote.”

It May Be Time To Say Adios To El Niño 

El Niño, the weather pattern that has brought wetter and cooler weather to the state over the past several months, appears to be weakening, giving its counterpart, La Niña, a 55% chance of returning soon, according to the Houston Chronicle. The result could be a drier, hotter summer, if February’s weather is any indication. All across the state, temperatures in February are the warmest they have been since 2017, the Express-News reported. That might mean the state will have a hotter summer than usual, but not necessarily, according to meteorologists. Out of the past 25 years with a warm February, above-average temperatures were recorded in 18 of the following summers.

Meteorologist Anthony Franze says the state probably will not experience record temperatures like Texans endured last summer, but it isn’t likely we will get a break this summer from intense heat.