GOP Gaining in Early Voting in Gov, Senate Races

States that permit early voting are reporting that some 642,831 ballots have already been cast in advance of the Nov. 4 elections, according to Michael McDonald, a political scientist at the University of Florida, writing in the Huffington Post.

Turnout is greatest in competitive races where Senate or governors seats are at stake.

In Iowa, where Republican state Sen. Joni Ernst is battling Democratic Rep. Bruce Braley, some 119,141 voters had cast ballots. By a 47 to 37 percent margin, Democrats had sent back more ballots than Republicans.

But Republicans lead in new mail ballot requests thanks to a voter mobilization campaign by Americans for Prosperity, according to McDonald.

Independents have also upped their early ballot requests. A Des Moines Register poll suggests that voters without party registration are Democratic-leaning, writes McDonald.

In Florida, Republican incumbent Gov. Rick Scott  is battling Charlie Crist, the Republican-turned-independent-turned-Democrat. Some 33 percent of the electorate are expected to vote by mail, 33 percent in-person early, and the 33 percent on Election Day.
Already, 406,275 voters have cast ballots.

Republicans tend to be strong in mail voting and lead 48 percent to 34 percent in ballots returned, McDonald reports.

In North Carolina, incumbent Democratic Sen. Kay Hagan is fighting for her political life against state House Speaker Thom Tillis. Democrats had the lead in mail ballots returned. By Friday, Republicans picked up the pace, exceeding Democrats in new ballots returned and requested.

The overall numbers are in the low thousands in North Carolina, McDonald wrote.

Georgia will begin early in-person voting in the coming week. Republican David Perdue  is fighting it out with Democrat Michelle Nunn for an open Senate seat. Controversy has arisen because of fraudulent voter registration forms submitted by the Democratic-leaning "New Georgia Project." The validity of the thousands of voters the group has signed up is unclear, according to McDonald.

Early in-person voting is permitted in 33 states and Washington D.C., with early mail voting allowed by 27 states and the District of Columbia.

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