News 155K views since yesterday

Texas tops 4 million early ballots in the Talarico-Paxton Senate race

ABC News and Houston reporter Tom Abrahams walk through the issues driving Texas voters, from gas prices and data centers to Elon Musk's money behind the Republican nominee.

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ABC News Story of October 27, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of ABC News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 155,499 views.

Texas early voting tops 4 million ballots

More than 4 million Texans voted in the first week of early voting, ABC News reports. The on-screen count put the figure at just over 4.17 million. Most of the attention is on one race: Democrat James Talarico against Republican Ken Paxton for a seat in the U.S. Senate.

The video's description sets the stakes. Texas has not sent a Democrat to the Senate in 33 years, and Democrats say this could be the year that changes. ABC calls the contest the most expensive Senate race in history. Paxton has been the state's attorney general since 2015. Talarico, a former teacher, has served in the Texas House since 2018.

Anchor Kyra Phillips puts the questions to Tom Abrahams of KTRK-TV, ABC's Houston station. Abrahams says Donald Trump and JD Vance have made frequent stops across the state ahead of election day. On the issues, he answers plainly: "I think the economy." He adds the cost of living and gas prices.

He also points to a less obvious issue: data centers. According to Abrahams, rural pushback over the facilities has led Governor Greg Abbott to shift his position.

The last question is about money. An ABC graphic puts Elon Musk's midterm spending for the 2025-2026 cycle at $445 million. Abrahams says Musk's backing has substantially expanded Paxton's advertising reach against Talarico's own fundraising. "I think it certainly has an impact on the Senate race, no doubt," he says.

The short report drew about 155,000 views in its first ten hours. That made it the second most watched of ABC News' new videos.

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The facts

Channel: ABC News
Subscribers: 19,900,000
Channel views, last 7 days: 54,367,406
Channel views, pace per day: 5,979,947 (on a normal day: 7,860,677)
Video published: October 26, 2026
Video views so far: 155,499 (less than a day online)
Video views, pace per day: 271,674

The numbers

A two-minute turnout report drew a large audience within hours of going online.

subscribers

19,900,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

19,242,447,881

views per day

5,979,947

typical day: 7,860,677

the video

views

155,499

likes

1,124

comments

368

days online

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

20,200,000

20,000,000

19,900,000

15,500,000

13,800,000

12,700,000

As of October 27, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.

💡 Test your knowledge

KTRK-TV, the station of reporter Tom Abrahams, is ABC's affiliate in which Texas city?