Early voting for the Nov. 6 General Election is brisk, with higher-than-usual numbers hitting the polls. Both the Republican and Democratic parties said they see this as a good sign.

The total for Monday was 4,733 with Rogers Park in Beaumont and the Hughes Library seeing the most voters.

Theresa Goodness, Jefferson County chief deputy clerk, said Monday’s tally outnumbers the first day of early voting in the last mid-term election in 2014, which saw 3,131 ballots cast. In comparison, the first day of early voting in 2016’s presidential election saw 7,844 in Jefferson County.

Republican Party

Judy Nichols, chairperson of the Jefferson County Republican Party, was still hyped up from Monday’s rally in Houston, where she and three other board members stood behind President Donald Trump as he stumped for U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas.

This was just days after Cruz’s visit to Beaumont, where more than 1,000 people turned out to see him.

But Nichols does not believe the successful rallies are the reason for the high early voter turnout.

“In my opinion the key is the offense so many people took to the way Justice (Brett) Kavanaugh was treated and the POTUS (President of the united States), after a year and three quarters in office, has ushered in an economic revival that many people in their lifetime have never seen,” Nichols said. “POTUS doesn’t divide us, he multiplies us and the sum of that equation showed up at the polls yesterday (Monday) and that has more to do with it than the turnout at our rallies, that’s just the icing on the cake.”

Nichols is also excited that the Jefferson County Republican Party will host Gov. Greg Abbott for a “Get Out the Vote” rally at 2:30 p.m. Wednesday at the Mid County Headquarters, 2825 Nall St., No. 22, Port Neches. RSVP to jcrpchair@gmail.com

Democratic Party

Cade Bernsen, chairman of the Jefferson County Democratic Party, also sees the high early voting turnout as a positive.

“The higher the turnout the better the Democrats do, it’s a rule of thumb,” Bernsen said. “You see it across Texas. I think this will be an historic election.”

Bernsen said the Democrats have been working “very, very hard” and they have great candidates on the ballot. In addition, they have gone into neighborhoods and hear the concerns of the voters.

Last week Lupe Valdez, Democratic candidate for governor and former Dallas County sheriff, visited Port Arthur while on a tour of Texas cities.

Early voting for the Nov. 6 general, special and joint election ends Nov. 2 with polling locations across Jefferson County.