Women running for Congress surged to big wins and Democrats smashed recent turnout levels in Texas’s first-in-the-nation 2018 primary elections.

The results left Republicans on Wednesday with a potential glimpse of what might be to come in the first mid-terms under President Donald Trump.

Texas Primary
Supporters watch results on a screen during a Democratic watch party following the Texas primary election in Austin (Eric Gay/AP)

Energised and angry Democrat voters in Texas came out in force to surpass one million on Tuesday – a level not achieved in a mid-term primary since 2002.

Equally striking was the showing by women on the ballot. Of the nearly 50 women running for Congress in Texas, more than half won their primaries outright or advanced to May run-offs.

Texas Primary
Kathaleen Wall, Republican candidate to replace Ted Poe in Congress, hugs supporters at her watch party at the Adobe Cafe in Houston (Michael Wyke/Houston Chronicle/AP)

At least three of those run-offs will feature women going head to head, including a key race for Democrats in their bid to take control of Congress.