Barack Obama and Texas Presidential Election History

Barack Obama failed to win Texas in 2008. How did he do compared to other democratic presidential candidates in Texas? This article is a brief overview of how Texas has voted in presidential elections since 1928.

2008

John McCain won Texas with 55.39% of the vote. Barack Obama polled 43.64%. Texas was a solid victory for McCain. Obama had the highest percentage a democrat has received since 1996. McCain's percentage was the lowest for a republican since 1996.

Voting for the winner

Texas has voted for the candidate who has become president in 17 of 21 elections since 1928. The four elections when they sided with the losing candidate were 1968, 1992, 1996 and 2008.

Voting republican

Republicans have carried Texas in 12 of the last 21 presidential elections. They have won Texas is 8 straight elections. They have also won in 9 of the last 10. The only democrat to carry Texas in that period was Jimmy Carter in 1976.

Voting democratic

The democrats have not carried Texas since 1976. They have won 10 of the last 21 presidential votes in Texas. 5 of those wins were in the period of 1932 to 1948. Texas was the only southern state won by Humphrey in 1968

Highest winning percentage

What presidential candidate had the highest winning percentage in Texas? Several names may come to mind. George Bush, Ronald Reagan or Lyndon Johnson probably come to mind. Bush polled 61.09% in 2004. Reagan won with 63.61% in 1984. Johnson scored 63.32% in 1964. Most candidates would be happy with those numbers. Roosevelt beat those percentages four times in Texas. He received 88.06% in 1932, 87.08% in 1936, 80.92% in 1940 and 71.42% in 1944. Truman followed that with 65.96% in 1948.

Third party voting

Texas has provided third party candidates totals of over 2% in 7 of the last 22 presidential contests. In 1944 the Texas regulars won almost 12% of the vote. Strom Thurmond won over 9% in 1948.1968 brought George Wallace almost 19% of the vote. John Anderson polled around 2.5% in 1980. Ross Perot won 22.01% in 1992 and 6.75% in 1996. Ralph Nader pulled in 2.15% in 2000.

Winners by year in Texas

1928 Herbert Hoover(R)

1932 Franklin Roosevelt(D)

1936 Franklin Roosevelt(D)

1940 Franklin Roosevelt(D)

1944 Franklin Roosevelt(D)

1948 Harry Truman(D)

1952 Dwight Eisenhower(R)

1956 Dwight Eisenhower(R)

1960 John Kennedy(D)

1964 Lyndon Johnson(D)

1968 Hubert Humphrey(D)

1972 Richard Nixon(R)

1976 Jimmy Carter(D)

1980 Ronald Regan(R)

1984 Ronald Reagan(R)

1988 George Bush(R)

1992 George Bush(R)

1996 Bob Dole(R)

2000 George Bush(R)

2004 George Bush(R)

2008 John McCain(R)