Landslides to nail-biters: A history of presidential elections in Texas

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Texas has been a Republican stronghold over the past several presidential election cycles, having voted for the Republican candidate in every election since 1980. But that wasn’t always the case.

Texans have voted in 38 presidential elections since the state was readmitted to the Union in 1870, following the Civil War. Since 1872, the state has seen landslide victories and nail-bitingly close races.

The chart below shows the margin of victory in each election since 1872. Elections colored blue were won by the Democratic candidate, while those in red were won by Republicans.

Of the 38 presidential elections in Texas since 1872, Democrats have won 23, while Republicans have won 15. Democrats dominated in the 1800s and the first half of the 20th Century, frequently claiming victory with a margin of more than 40 percentage points.

Since party realignment seen in the 1960s and 70s, Republicans have taken over as the dominant party in the state, often winning elections with margins of 10-20 points.

The biggest landslides and tightest contests

The largest landslide came in 1932, when Democrat Franklin D. Roosevelt won 88.1% of the vote, compared to 11.4% for Republican Herbert Hoover, a margin of 76.7 points. For Republicans, the largest margin of victory came in 1972, when Richard Nixon claimed 66.3% of the vote, compared to 33.3% for Democrat George McGovern, a margin of 33 points.

That Republican landslide came just one cycle after the closest presidential election in state history. In 1968, Democrat Hubert Humphrey’s margin over Republican Richard Nixon was just 1.27 points. Far-right American Independent Party candidate George Wallace won 19% of the vote that year, helping make the election the closest the state has ever seen.

History of presidential election results

The table below shows the results of every presidential election in Texas since 1872.

In 2020, both Donald Trump and Joe Biden became the first candidates to win more than 5 million votes in a single election. Prior to that, the record was almost 4.7 million votes for Trump in 2016.

In 1952, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the first candidate in state history to win more than 1 million votes, while Richard Nixon was the first to win more than 2 million votes, in 1972.

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