The Republican Party had scheduled President Donald Trump to headline a midterm rally on Thursday, Oct. 1, at the Choctaw Event Center in Durant, Oklahoma, according to the party's event page. That date fell four days before the deadline for Cooke County residents to register for the Nov. 3 general election.
The GOP listing set doors to open at 2 p.m. and the president's remarks to begin at 6 p.m. Central.
Texans who have not registered have until Monday, Oct. 5, according to the Texas secretary of state. In-person early voting opens Oct. 19 and closes Oct. 30. A mail-ballot application must arrive by Oct. 23.
The party listed Durant as one stop in a run of midterm rallies for the president. Its event pages placed him at the Mitchell Center in Mobile, Alabama, on Oct. 2 and at Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio on Oct. 7. Both listings gave 6 p.m. Central start times.
Oklahoma's Republican edge on the voter rolls predates the scheduled rally. State election figures put Republicans at about half of registered voters in November 2020 and Democrats at about a third. Oklahoma election officials reported that, as of Jan. 15, 2026, Republicans represented 53.2% of registered voters and Democrats 25.3%.
Republicans' lead on Oklahoma's voter rolls keeps widening
Each party's share of Oklahoma's registered voters. The 2026 figures are as of Jan. 15.
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| Point | Republicans (%) | Democrats (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2020-11 | 50.01 | 33.23 |
| 2024-11 | 52.33 | 26.98 |
| 2026-01 | 53.2 | 25.3 |
Source: Oklahoma State Election Board (November 2024 and February 2026 registration reports)
On the Texas side of the river, a little more than half of Cooke County's registered voters cast ballots in the 2022 midterm, about 15,300 people, according to the secretary of state's historical figures. Turnout had run higher in the 2018 midterm. It was higher still in the 2020 presidential race, when nearly seven in 10 registered voters in the county took part.
Neighboring Grayson County posted lower turnout than Cooke in each of those three elections, the state's records show. Just under half of Grayson's registered voters cast ballots in 2022.
Cooke turnout ran ahead of Grayson's in each election
Share of registered voters who cast ballots. 2018 and 2022 were midterm elections; 2020 was a presidential election.
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| Election year | Cooke County (%) | Grayson County (%) |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 58 | 55 |
| 2020 | 69.58 | 67.74 |
| 2022 | 53.4 | 48.88 |
Source: Texas Secretary of State, historical election figures for Cooke and Grayson counties
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that about 52% of voting-age citizens nationwide voted in the 2022 congressional elections, the second-highest midterm rate since 2000. The bureau counts voting-age citizens rather than registered voters, so its rate does not match the Texas county figures directly. The bureau also reported that the share voting before Election Day rose from 37.8% in 2018 to 47.1% in 2022. Mail voting grew over the same span, to nearly a third of voters.
Oklahoma voters follow a different calendar. The state's voter information calendar lists Oct. 9 as the registration deadline for the November election and Oct. 19 as the last day to request an absentee ballot. Early voting there runs Oct. 28 through Oct. 31, with polls closing at 2 p.m. on the final day.
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