Democrats overwhelmingly outvoted Republicans in Southwest Louisiana during the early voting period as the race for the U.S. Senate revs up going into the Nov. 4 primary election.

Early voting was held in Louisiana from Oct. 21 through Tuesday. According to the secretary of state’s website, 4,173 Democrats voted early in Calcasieu Parish, compared with 3,297 Republicans, and 1,432 other or no party votes.

In Cameron Parish, 276 voters were Democrats, 101 were Republicans, and 63 were other or no party. Jeff Davis Parish had 1,413 votes cast by Democrats, 978 votes cast by Republicans, and 530 votes for other or no party.

In Allen Parish, 622 voters were Democrats, 240 were Republicans, and 144 were other or no party.

Vernon Parish showed 1,013 Democrat voters, 894 Republican voters, and 404 other or no party voters.

Beauregard Parish was the only Southwest Louisiana parish that had more Republicans voting early. There were 736 Republican votes cast, compared with 722 for Democrats and 260 other or no party votes.

The regional turnout mirrored that in much of the state. Of the 236,000 residents who voted early statewide, 124,050 were Democrats, 79,700 were Republicans, and 32,338 were other or no party votes.

Secretary of State Tom Schedler on Wednesday noted that not all registered voters actually vote along party lines. He said the data correlate with the number of registered voters in the state. Of the 2.9 million registered voters in Louisiana, about 1.5 million, or 50 percent, are Democrats.

“The early vote is pretty much along registration lines, but maybe a little bit over,” Schedler said. “Obviously, Louisiana is a very conservative state, red state, so the ‘D’ is not necessarily a ‘D’ vote. You have a lot of conservatives who vote Republican.”

Henry Sirgo, professor of political science at McNeese State University, said Democrats historically do better with get-out-the-vote drives, especially locally.

Schedler said an average of 30,000 voters per day cast early ballots, with Tuesday’s total jumping to about 47,000 voters — “a significant increase.”

Schedler predicted a 52 percent statewide voter turnout as incumbent U.S. Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., faces off against U.S. Rep. Bill Cassidy, R-Baton Rouge, and Rob Maness, a Republican.(MGNonline)