How Southeast Texas has voted in past Senate elections

With majority control of the United States Senate in play this election, eyes have been glued to the Texas race between incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Colin Allred.

Democrats have seen the race as one they believe they can win despite no Democrat being elected to a statewide office since 1994.

A Republican candidate for the United States Senate has been able to bank on a majority of votes in Montgomery County over the past decade.

While they were once able to claim the same for Harris and Fort Bend Counties, recent elections show a shift towards Democratic candidates.

When Ted Cruz defeated Paul Sadler in 2012, he won Harris, Fort Bend and Montgomery counties. His margin of victory in Montgomery County was 60 points. Cruz gained 49.5 percent of the vote in Harris County, which was enough for a 1.5 point victory. 

He had 53 percent of the vote in Fort Bend County during that same election. Good enough for an eight point win in the county.

Cruz won the election with 56 percent of the statewide vote.

John Cornyn had an even greater margin of victory in those three counties when he won the 2014 election over David Alameel.

Cornyn amassed 82 percent of the Montgomery County vote. He won in Harris County and Fort Bend County that year with 54 and 58 percent of the votes, respectively. Cornyn's statewide margin of victory of 27 points is the largest by a Senate candidate in the past decade.

Since then, Montgomery County has remained Republican, but both Fort Bend and Harris counties have gone to Democrats in the past two Senate elections.

Beto O'Rourke won in Harris County in 2018 with 58 percent of the votes and in Fort Bend County with 56 percent of the vote. 

Cruz had 72 percent of the Montgomery County vote on his way to a 1.5 point victory.

Cornyn's 2020 opponent, Mary Hegar, won in Harris County with 53 percent of the vote in 2020.

  (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY / AFP) (Photo by JEFF KOWALSKY/AFP via Getty Images)

Fort Bend County also went to the Democratic challenger with 51.5 percent of the vote.

Cornyn won in Montgomery County with 72 percent of the county's vote. Cornyn would win reelection in 2020 with a nine-point win over Hegar.

Shifts in voting trends have Democrats hopeful for 2024.

READ MORE: Cruz-Allred Senate race the most expensive of 2024 election cycle

Early voting is underway through Friday for the 2024 general election.

Election day is Tuesday.