At a Harris County Democratic Party gala, U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar Zoomed in from Minnesota and delivered a message about boosting civic participation as a structural imperative in Houston.
Klobuchar, who recently filed paperwork to run for governor after Gov. Tim Walz ended his campaign for a third term, framed Minnesota as “the center of America’s heartbreak” but also “the center of America’s courage and hope.”
She pointed to mass civic action in the face of federal immigration enforcement and political unrest.
She connected those experiences to Texas.
Voter turnout: Minnesota vs. Texas
A University of California, San Diego report states that Minneapolis is an outlier when it comes to voter turnout in “off-cycle” or odd-year elections.
- In 2021, Minneapolis and Seattle were the two American cities that had more than 50% of voters show up for a municipal election.
- In the 2023 municipal elections, Minneapolis’ 55% turnout stands out compared to cities like Houston, which had a 14% voter turnout, Columbus, Philadelphia, Tucson and Charlotte.
- In 2025, more than 147,000 Minneapolis voters (55% of registered voters) turned out, the highest turnout since 1968.
By comparison, recent elections in Harris County and across Texas have been plagued by lower participation.
In statewide contests, Texas routinely ranks near the bottom of turnout tables.
In the 2024 presidential race, the state recorded one of the lowest turnout rates in the nation, with less than 58% of eligible voters participating, lower than the national average.
Even localized elections in Harris County have not bucked that trend.
Turnout in off-year races—those without high-profile marquee contests tends to be particularly weak.
A recent congressional runoff in one Houston district drew participation from less than 6% of registered voters.
Houston GOTV advocates weigh in
For advocates like RoShawn Evans, organizing director and co-founder of Pure Justice, Klobuchar’s remarks underscored the importance of voter turnout.
He added that Pure Justice has been working alongside Texas Civil Rights Project and People’s Council to “reduce harmful interactions between law enforcement and communities of color.”
One of the most effective ways to increase voter turnout in Houston is for candidates to move away from traditional politics, Evans explained.
“People aren’t disengaged because they don’t care—they’re disengaged because they’ve lost faith in a political process that continues to recycle the same ideas with different faces,” he told the Defender. “We are demanding a fundamental shift in how politics is done. What communities keep getting is the same old traditional politics from a different politician. If leaders truly want higher turnout, they must start speaking the language of the underserved, the oppressed, and the cast out. People are searching for real representation—and it’s largely absent.”
Sunnyside resident and South Park civic club president, Travis McGee, echoed that sentiment.
“It has to be everybody job to get people to get out and vote. Not just the grassroots people,” McGee said, stressing that election officials and precinct judges all share responsibility. “If everybody does something, everything will get done.”
McGee added that considering how “historic” the 18th Congressional District elections were, the turnout was not up to the mark.
“Those are horrible numbers for so many registered voters,” he said. “People have to come out and vote for more than just presidential elections. Local races affect you first.”
McGee also pointed to voter confusion after redistricting, but said residents have tools to get informed, such as harrisvotes.com.
Still, he said, awareness remains low.
“People just vote by name recognition,” McGee said. “I don’t think that’s just a good reason to vote for anyone. They have to do some research. A person you vote for should align with what your beliefs are, your interests.”
Klobuchar based her broader argument on civic engagement as a form of resistance.
“Ordinary people have been doing extraordinary things,” she said. “They have stood up, marched, brought food to their neighbors, and they have not blinked.”
Her message to Texans echoed that theme, which is that participation is power, especially when democratic norms feel strained.
Understanding the turnout gap
While Minnesota’s statewide election data indicates turnout in major elections regularly exceeds 50% of eligible voters, Texas tells a different story.
Structural factors, including a large population of young residents and state laws affecting the ease of casting a ballot, contribute to lower participation rates, especially in non-presidential cycles.
Minnesota, on the other hand, has more convenient voting laws that make it easy to cast a ballot, including the ability to register on election day.
Texas has a registration deadline 30 days before an election,the longest permitted period under federal law.
A University of Massachusetts study found that Black voter turnout is on average 2-17% higher in states with Same-Day Registration (SDR).
Texas also has restrictions that make it more difficult for third-party organizations to conduct registration drives, the Brennan Center for Justice argues. The state government says that the measure was taken to curb “unsolicited voter registration applications mailed by an array of entities across the state.”
Registering to vote despite ineligibility, such as being a felon or a noncitizen, is a crime. Further, local governments entering into contracts with third-party vendors to mail out unsolicited voter registration forms exceed their authority and violate Texas law,” says a 2024 advisory from Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Klobuchar’s virtual visit came at a moment of local political recalibration.
With redistricting and legislative debates on voting access simmering across Texas, the issue of turnout is gaining more attention from grassroots organizers and elected officials alike.
“And what I told the people of my state is that don’t look down,” Klobuchar said. “Don’t look away. Don’t avert your eyes. We must continue to look at each other. We must continue to look, in our case, at the North Star, in your case, the Lone Star.For more information on upcoming elections, follow the Defender’s coverage.
