Politics of Texas
Encyclopedia
For approximately 100 years, from the end of Reconstruction until the 1970s, the Democratic Party
was dominant in Texas
politics. However, since the 1950s the Republican Party
has grown more prominent within the state, and became the state's dominant political party in the mid-1990s. This trend mirrors a national political realignment that has seen the once solidly Democratic South
become increasingly dominated by Republicans.
as well as the patron system once prevalent (and still somewhat present) in northern Mexico and South Texas. In these societies the government's primary role was seen as being the preservation of social order. Solving of individual problems in society was seen as a local problem with the expectation that the individual should resolve his or her own issues. These influences continue to affect Texas today. Indeed in their book Texas Politics Today 2009-2010 authors Maxwell, Crain, and Santos attribute Texas' traditionally low voter turnout to these influences.
was virtually nonexistent in much of the South, including Texas. What little Republican support there was in Texas was almost exclusively in the free black communities, particularly in Galveston, and the so-called "German counties" - the rural Texas Hill Country
inhabited by liberal German American
s who had opposed slavery in the antebellum period. Some of the most important American political figures of the 20th Century, such as President Lyndon B. Johnson
, Vice-President John Nance Garner
, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn
and Senator Ralph Yarborough
were Texas Democrats. However, the Texas Democrats were rarely united, being divided into conservative
, moderate
and liberal
factions that vied with one another for power.
Two of the most important Republican figures of the post-Civil War era were George T. Ruby and Norris Wright Cuney
. Ruby was a black community organizer, director in the federal Freedmen's Bureau, and leader of the Galveston Union League
. His protégé Cuney was a freed Texas mulatto
who had been educated in Pennsylvania. Cuney settled in Galveston and became active in the Union League
and the Republican party and eventually rose to the leadership of the party. He became influential in Galveston and then Texas politics and is widely regarded as one of the most influential black leaders in the South during the 19th century.
clashed with the Truman Administration over the claim on the Tidelands
, which subsequently led to his work in helping Dwight D. Eisenhower
carry the state. Beginning in the 1960s, Republican strength increased in Texas, particularly in the growing suburbs around Dallas and Houston. The election of Republicans like George H. W. Bush
and John Tower
to Congress during the 1960s reflected this trend. Nationally, Democrats became increasingly liberal and Republicans became increasingly conservative. During the late 20th century, conservative Southern Democrats began to leave the party and join the Republicans. Unlike the rest of the South, however, Texas was never especially supportive of the various third-party candidacies of Southern Democrats, and was the only state in the former Confederacy to back Democrat Hubert Humphrey
in 1968
(albeit by a very narrow margin). The 1980s saw a number of defections by conservative Democrats to the GOP, including Senator Phil Gramm
, Congressman Kent Hance
, and current GOP Governor Rick Perry
, who was a Democrat during his time as a state lawmaker.
John Tower
's 1961 election to the U.S. Senate made him the first statewide GOP officeholder since Reconstruction. Governor Bill Clements
and Senator Phil Gramm
(also a former Democrat) followed. Republicans became increasingly dominant in national elections in Texas. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win the state was Jimmy Carter
in 1976. Previously, a Democrat had to win Texas to win the White House, but in the 1992 election, Bill Clinton
won the Oval Office while losing Texas electoral votes. This significantly delined the power of Texas Democrats at the national level as party leaders believed the state had become unwinnable.
, Texas Democrats still controlled both houses of the State Legislature and most statewide offices. As a result, they were able to direct the redistricting process. Although Congressional Texas Democrats only received an average of 40 percent of the votes, Democrats consistently had a majority in the state delegation, as they had in every election since at least the end of Reconstruction.
In 1994, popular Democratic Governor Ann Richards
lost her bid for re-election against Republican George W. Bush
, ending a era in which Democrats controlled the governorship all but eight of the past 120 years. Republicans have held the governorship ever since. In 1998, Bush won re-election in a landslide victory, with Republicans sweeping to victory in all the statewide races.
After the 2000 census, the Republican-controlled state Senate
sought to draw a congressional district map that would guarantee a Republican majority in the state's delegation. The Democratic-controlled state House
desired to retain a plan similar to the existing lines. Not surprisingly, this created an impasse. With the Legislature unable to reach a compromise, the matter was settled by a panel of federal court judges, who ruled in favor of a district map that largely retained the status quo.
However, the Republicans dominated the Legislative Redistricting Board, which draws the lines for the state legislative districts, by a majority of four to one. The Republicans on this board used their voting strength to adopt a map for the state Senate that was even more favorable to the Republicans and a map for the state House that also strongly favored them as Democrats had before.
In 2002, Texas Republicans gained control of the Texas House of Representatives for the first time since Reconstruction. The newly elected Republican legislature engaged in an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting
plan. Democrats said that the redistricting was a blatant partisan gerrymander, while Republicans argued that it was a much-needed correction of the partisan lines drawn after the 1990 census. The result was a gain of six seats by the Republicans in the 2004 elections, giving them a majority of the state's delegation for the first time since Reconstruction.
In December 2005, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal that challenged the legality of this redistricting plan. While largely upholding the map, it ruled the El Paso
-to-San Antonio 23rd District, which had been a protected majority-Latino district until the 2003 redistricting, was unconstitutionally drawn. The ruling forced nearly every district in the El Paso-San Antonio corridor to be reconfigured. Partly due to this, Democrats picked up two seats in the state in the 2006 elections. The 23rd's Republican incumbent was defeated in this election—the first time a Democratic House challenger unseated a Texas Republican incumbent in 10 years.
Republicans control all statewide Texas offices, both houses of the state legislature and have a majority in the Texas congressional delegation. This makes Texas one of the most Republican states in the U.S.
Despite overall Republican dominance, however, there remain some cities and regions with strong Democratic power. Austin
, the state capital, is a Democratic stronghold and a center of progressive political activism. El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley
also remain loyal to the Democratic Party. It should be noted though in the Rio Grande Valley during the 2004 Presidential Election that President George W. Bush carried Camron County, which went to Vice President Gore in 2000 Presidential Election prior. In addition, the mayors of most major Texas cities, though running in "nonpartisan" races, are affiliated with the Democratic Party. Cities like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio usually support Democrats, while their suburbs are heavily Republican. During the 2004 election, despite heavy losses in congressional races, the Texas Democrats made a net gain in the state legislature for the first time since 1974 (albeit only of a single seat).
During the 2006 election cycle, the Democrats scored major successes by winning six state House seats (five in the general election and one in an earlier special election), cutting the Republican majority in the House by half. They also gained two federal Congressional seats. The Democrats failed to win any statewide offices, however. 2008 saw further Democratic gains. Although the Republicans regained a congressional seat they had lost to the Democrats in 2006, the Democrats gained six state house seats (reducing the Republican majority there to a single seat) and one state senate seat.
The 2010 elections saw a reversal of this trend, with the Republicans taking a 101 to 49 supermajority in the State House. Republicans also captured 3 house seats, one central-Texas seat and two Hispanic-Majority seats in south Texas (one being the 23rd district lost in 2006).
" sentencing. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, of the 21 counties in the United States where more than a fifth of residents are prison inmates, 10 are in Texas. Texas leads the nation in executions, with 464 executions from 1974 to 2011. The second-highest ranking state is Virginia
, with 108. A 2002 Houston Chronicle
poll of Texans found that when asked "Do you support the death penalty?" 69.1% responded that they did, 21.9% did not support and 9.1% were not sure or gave no answer.
. However, neither the ordinance of The Texas Annexation of 1845
nor The Annexation of Texas Joint Resolution of Congress March 1, 1845 included provisions giving Texas the right to secede. Texas did originally retain the right to divide into as many as five independent States, and as part of the Compromise of 1850
continues to retain that right while ceding former claims westward and northward along the full length of the Rio Grande
in exchange for $10 million from the federal government.
The United States Supreme Court's primary ruling on the legality of secession involved a case brought by Texas involving a Civil War era bonds transfer. In deciding the 1869 Texas v. White
case, the Supreme Court first addressed the issue of whether Texas had in fact seceded when it joined the Confederacy. In a 5-3 vote the Court "held that as a matter of constitutional law, no state could leave the Union, explicitly repudiating the position of the Confederate States that the United States was a voluntary compact between sovereign states." In writing the majority opinion Chief Justice Salmon Chase opined that:
However, as the issue of secession per se was not the one before the court, it has been debated as to whether this reasoning is merely dicta
or a binding ruling on the question.
While the state's organized secessionist movement is relatively small, a notable minority of Texans hold secessionist sentiments. A 2009 poll found that 31% of Texans believe that Texas has the legal right to secede and form an independent country and 18% believe it should do so.
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
was dominant in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
politics. However, since the 1950s the Republican Party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
has grown more prominent within the state, and became the state's dominant political party in the mid-1990s. This trend mirrors a national political realignment that has seen the once solidly Democratic South
Solid South
Solid South is the electoral support of the Southern United States for the Democratic Party candidates for nearly a century from 1877, the end of Reconstruction, to 1964, during the middle of the Civil Rights era....
become increasingly dominated by Republicans.
Cultural background
The traditional culture of the state was heavily influenced by the plantation culture of the Old SouthSouthern United States
The Southern United States—commonly referred to as the American South, Dixie, or simply the South—constitutes a large distinctive area in the southeastern and south-central United States...
as well as the patron system once prevalent (and still somewhat present) in northern Mexico and South Texas. In these societies the government's primary role was seen as being the preservation of social order. Solving of individual problems in society was seen as a local problem with the expectation that the individual should resolve his or her own issues. These influences continue to affect Texas today. Indeed in their book Texas Politics Today 2009-2010 authors Maxwell, Crain, and Santos attribute Texas' traditionally low voter turnout to these influences.
Early Democratic dominance
From 1848 until Richard M. Nixon's victory in 1972, Texas voted for the Democratic candidate for president in every election except 1928, 1952, and 1956 (it did not vote in 1864 and 1868 due to the Civil War and Reconstruction). In the post Civil War era, the Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
was virtually nonexistent in much of the South, including Texas. What little Republican support there was in Texas was almost exclusively in the free black communities, particularly in Galveston, and the so-called "German counties" - the rural Texas Hill Country
Texas Hill Country
The Texas Hill Country is a vernacular term applied to a region of Central Texas featuring tall rugged hills consisting of thin layers of soil atop limestone or granite. It also includes the Llano Uplift and the second largest granite monadnock in the United States, Enchanted Rock, which is located...
inhabited by liberal German American
German American
German Americans are citizens of the United States of German ancestry and comprise about 51 million people, or 17% of the U.S. population, the country's largest self-reported ancestral group...
s who had opposed slavery in the antebellum period. Some of the most important American political figures of the 20th Century, such as President Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon B. Johnson
Lyndon Baines Johnson , often referred to as LBJ, was the 36th President of the United States after his service as the 37th Vice President of the United States...
, Vice-President John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner
John Nance Garner, IV , was the 32nd Vice President of the United States and the 44th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives .- Early life and family :...
, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn
Sam Rayburn
Samuel Taliaferro Rayburn , often called "Mr. Sam," or "Mr. Democrat," was a Democratic lawmaker from Bonham, Texas, who served as the Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives for seventeen years, the longest tenure in U.S. history.- Background :Rayburn was born in Roane County, Tennessee, and...
and Senator Ralph Yarborough
Ralph Yarborough
Ralph Webster Yarborough was a Texas Democratic politician who served in the United States Senate and was a leader of the progressive or liberal wing of his party in his many races for statewide office...
were Texas Democrats. However, the Texas Democrats were rarely united, being divided into conservative
American conservatism
Conservatism in the United States has played an important role in American politics since the 1950s. Historian Gregory Schneider identifies several constants in American conservatism: respect for tradition, support of republicanism, preservation of "the rule of law and the Christian religion", and...
, moderate
Moderate
In politics and religion, a moderate is an individual who is not extreme, partisan or radical. In recent years, political moderates has gained traction as a buzzword....
and liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
factions that vied with one another for power.
Two of the most important Republican figures of the post-Civil War era were George T. Ruby and Norris Wright Cuney
Norris Wright Cuney
Norris Wright Cuney, or simply Wright Cuney, was an American politician, union leader, and African American activist in Texas in the United States. He became active in Galveston politics serving as an alderman and a national Republican delegate...
. Ruby was a black community organizer, director in the federal Freedmen's Bureau, and leader of the Galveston Union League
Union League
A Union League is one of a number of organizations established starting in 1862, during the American Civil War to promote loyalty to the Union and the policies of Abraham Lincoln. They were also known as Loyal Leagues. They comprised upper middle class men who supported efforts such as the United...
. His protégé Cuney was a freed Texas mulatto
Mulatto
Mulatto denotes a person with one white parent and one black parent, or more broadly, a person of mixed black and white ancestry. Contemporary usage of the term varies greatly, and the broader sense of the term makes its application rather subjective, as not all people of mixed white and black...
who had been educated in Pennsylvania. Cuney settled in Galveston and became active in the Union League
Union League
A Union League is one of a number of organizations established starting in 1862, during the American Civil War to promote loyalty to the Union and the policies of Abraham Lincoln. They were also known as Loyal Leagues. They comprised upper middle class men who supported efforts such as the United...
and the Republican party and eventually rose to the leadership of the party. He became influential in Galveston and then Texas politics and is widely regarded as one of the most influential black leaders in the South during the 19th century.
Increasing Republican strength: 1960 to 1990
The rebirth of the Republican Party in Texas can be traced back to 1952, when Democratic Governor Allan ShiversAllan Shivers
Robert Allan Shivers was a Texas politician who led the conservative faction of the Texas Democratic Party during the turbulent 1940s and 1950s...
clashed with the Truman Administration over the claim on the Tidelands
Tidelands
Tidelands are the territory between the high and low water tide line of sea coasts, and lands lying under the sea beyond the low-water limit of the tide, considered within the territorial waters of a nation. The United States Constitution does not specify whether ownership of these lands rests with...
, which subsequently led to his work in helping Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower was the 34th President of the United States, from 1953 until 1961. He was a five-star general in the United States Army...
carry the state. Beginning in the 1960s, Republican strength increased in Texas, particularly in the growing suburbs around Dallas and Houston. The election of Republicans like George H. W. Bush
George H. W. Bush
George Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
and John Tower
John Tower
John Goodwin Tower was the first Republican United States senator from Texas since Reconstruction. He served from 1961 until his retirement in January 1985, after which time he was the chairman of the Reagan-appointed Tower Commission that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair. He was George H. W...
to Congress during the 1960s reflected this trend. Nationally, Democrats became increasingly liberal and Republicans became increasingly conservative. During the late 20th century, conservative Southern Democrats began to leave the party and join the Republicans. Unlike the rest of the South, however, Texas was never especially supportive of the various third-party candidacies of Southern Democrats, and was the only state in the former Confederacy to back Democrat Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Humphrey
Hubert Horatio Humphrey, Jr. , served under President Lyndon B. Johnson as the 38th Vice President of the United States. Humphrey twice served as a United States Senator from Minnesota, and served as Democratic Majority Whip. He was a founder of the Minnesota Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party and...
in 1968
United States presidential election, 1968
The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected...
(albeit by a very narrow margin). The 1980s saw a number of defections by conservative Democrats to the GOP, including Senator Phil Gramm
Phil Gramm
William Philip "Phil" Gramm is an American economist and politician, who has served as a Democratic Congressman , a Republican Congressman and a Republican Senator from Texas...
, Congressman Kent Hance
Kent Hance
Kent "The Hancellor" Ronald Hance is a lobbyist and lawyer who was a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives from West Texas, having served from 1979 to 1985...
, and current GOP Governor Rick Perry
Rick Perry
James Richard "Rick" Perry is the 47th and current Governor of Texas. A Republican, Perry was elected Lieutenant Governor of Texas in 1998 and assumed the governorship in December 2000 when then-governor George W. Bush resigned to become President of the United States. Perry was elected to full...
, who was a Democrat during his time as a state lawmaker.
John Tower
John Tower
John Goodwin Tower was the first Republican United States senator from Texas since Reconstruction. He served from 1961 until his retirement in January 1985, after which time he was the chairman of the Reagan-appointed Tower Commission that investigated the Iran-Contra Affair. He was George H. W...
's 1961 election to the U.S. Senate made him the first statewide GOP officeholder since Reconstruction. Governor Bill Clements
Bill Clements
William Perry "Bill" Clements, Jr. was the 42nd and 44th Governor of Texas, serving from 1979 to 1983 and 1987 to 1991. Clements was the first Republican to have served as governor of the U.S. state of Texas since Reconstruction...
and Senator Phil Gramm
Phil Gramm
William Philip "Phil" Gramm is an American economist and politician, who has served as a Democratic Congressman , a Republican Congressman and a Republican Senator from Texas...
(also a former Democrat) followed. Republicans became increasingly dominant in national elections in Texas. The last Democratic presidential candidate to win the state was Jimmy Carter
Jimmy Carter
James Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
in 1976. Previously, a Democrat had to win Texas to win the White House, but in the 1992 election, Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
won the Oval Office while losing Texas electoral votes. This significantly delined the power of Texas Democrats at the national level as party leaders believed the state had become unwinnable.
Redistricting Disputes and the 1990s
Despite increasing Republican strength in national elections, after the 1990 censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
, Texas Democrats still controlled both houses of the State Legislature and most statewide offices. As a result, they were able to direct the redistricting process. Although Congressional Texas Democrats only received an average of 40 percent of the votes, Democrats consistently had a majority in the state delegation, as they had in every election since at least the end of Reconstruction.
In 1994, popular Democratic Governor Ann Richards
Ann Richards
Dorothy Ann Willis Richards was an American politician from Texas. She first came to national attention as the state treasurer of Texas, when she delivered the keynote address at the 1988 Democratic National Convention. Richards served as the 45th Governor of Texas from 1991 to 1995 and was...
lost her bid for re-election against Republican George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, ending a era in which Democrats controlled the governorship all but eight of the past 120 years. Republicans have held the governorship ever since. In 1998, Bush won re-election in a landslide victory, with Republicans sweeping to victory in all the statewide races.
After the 2000 census, the Republican-controlled state Senate
Texas Senate
The Texas Senate is the upper house of the Texas Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing 31 single-member districts across the state with populations of approximately 672,000 per constituency. There are no term limits, and each term is four years long. The Senate meets at the...
sought to draw a congressional district map that would guarantee a Republican majority in the state's delegation. The Democratic-controlled state House
Texas House of Representatives
The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the Texas Legislature. The House is composed of 150 members elected from single-member districts across the state. The average district has about 150,000 people. Representatives are elected to two-year terms with no term limits...
desired to retain a plan similar to the existing lines. Not surprisingly, this created an impasse. With the Legislature unable to reach a compromise, the matter was settled by a panel of federal court judges, who ruled in favor of a district map that largely retained the status quo.
However, the Republicans dominated the Legislative Redistricting Board, which draws the lines for the state legislative districts, by a majority of four to one. The Republicans on this board used their voting strength to adopt a map for the state Senate that was even more favorable to the Republicans and a map for the state House that also strongly favored them as Democrats had before.
In 2002, Texas Republicans gained control of the Texas House of Representatives for the first time since Reconstruction. The newly elected Republican legislature engaged in an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting
2003 Texas redistricting
The 2003 Texas redistricting refers to a controversial mid-decade congressional redistricting plan appealed to the United States Supreme Court in League of United Latin American Citizens v. Perry...
plan. Democrats said that the redistricting was a blatant partisan gerrymander, while Republicans argued that it was a much-needed correction of the partisan lines drawn after the 1990 census. The result was a gain of six seats by the Republicans in the 2004 elections, giving them a majority of the state's delegation for the first time since Reconstruction.
In December 2005, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal that challenged the legality of this redistricting plan. While largely upholding the map, it ruled the El Paso
El Paso
El Paso, a city in the U.S. state of Texas, on the border with Mexico.El Paso may also refer to:-Geography:Colombia:* El Paso, CesarSpain:*El Paso, Santa Cruz de TenerifeUnited States:...
-to-San Antonio 23rd District, which had been a protected majority-Latino district until the 2003 redistricting, was unconstitutionally drawn. The ruling forced nearly every district in the El Paso-San Antonio corridor to be reconfigured. Partly due to this, Democrats picked up two seats in the state in the 2006 elections. The 23rd's Republican incumbent was defeated in this election—the first time a Democratic House challenger unseated a Texas Republican incumbent in 10 years.
Current situation
| Year | Republican Republican Party (United States) The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S... |
Democratic Democratic Party (United States) The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous... |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 United States presidential election, 2008 The United States presidential election of 2008 was the 56th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on November 4, 2008. Democrat Barack Obama, then the junior United States Senator from Illinois, defeated Republican John McCain, the senior U.S. Senator from Arizona. Obama received 365... |
55.48% 4,467,748 | 43.72% 3,521,164 |
| 2004 United States presidential election, 2004 The United States presidential election of 2004 was the United States' 55th quadrennial presidential election. It was held on Tuesday, November 2, 2004. Republican Party candidate and incumbent President George W. Bush defeated Democratic Party candidate John Kerry, the then-junior U.S. Senator... |
61.09% 4,526,917 | 38.30% 2,832,704 |
| 2000 United States presidential election, 2000 The United States presidential election of 2000 was a contest between Republican candidate George W. Bush, then-governor of Texas and son of former president George H. W. Bush , and Democratic candidate Al Gore, then-Vice President.... |
59.30% 3,799,639 | 38.11% 2,433,746 |
| 1996 United States presidential election, 1996 The United States presidential election of 1996 was a contest between the Democratic national ticket of President Bill Clinton of Arkansas and Vice President Al Gore of Tennessee and the Republican national ticket of former Senator Bob Dole of Kansas for President and former Housing Secretary Jack... |
48.80% 2,736,166 | 43.81% 2,459,683 |
| 1992 United States presidential election, 1992 The United States presidential election of 1992 had three major candidates: Incumbent Republican President George Bush; Democratic Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton, and independent Texas businessman Ross Perot.... |
40.61% 2,496,071 | 37.11% 2,281,815 |
| 1988 United States presidential election, 1988 The United States presidential election of 1988 featured no incumbent president, as President Ronald Reagan was unable to seek re-election after serving the maximum two terms allowed by the Twenty-second Amendment. Reagan's Vice President, George H. W. Bush, won the Republican nomination, while the... |
56.01% 3,036,829 | 43.41% 2,352,748 |
| 1984 United States presidential election, 1984 The United States presidential election of 1984 was a contest between the incumbent President Ronald Reagan, the Republican candidate, and former Vice President Walter Mondale, the Democratic candidate. Reagan was helped by a strong economic recovery from the deep recession of 1981–1982... |
63.58% 3,433,428 | 36.18% 1,949,276 |
| 1980 United States presidential election, 1980 The United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent... |
55.30% 2,510,705 | 41.51% 1,881,148 |
| 1976 United States presidential election, 1976 The United States presidential election of 1976 followed the resignation of President Richard Nixon in the wake of the Watergate scandal. It pitted incumbent President Gerald Ford, the Republican candidate, against the relatively unknown former governor of Georgia, Jimmy Carter, the Democratic... |
50.08% 2,082,319 | 47.97% 1,953,300 |
| 1972 United States presidential election, 1972 The United States presidential election of 1972 was the 47th quadrennial United States presidential election. It was held on November 7, 1972. The Democratic Party's nomination was eventually won by Senator George McGovern, who ran an anti-war campaign against incumbent Republican President Richard... |
66.20% 2,298,896 | 33.24% 1,154,291 |
| 1968 United States presidential election, 1968 The United States presidential election of 1968 was the 46th quadrennial United States presidential election. Coming four years after Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson won in a historic landslide, it saw Johnson forced out of the race and Republican Richard Nixon elected... |
41.14% 1,266,804 | 39.87% 1,227,844 |
| 1964 United States presidential election, 1964 The United States presidential election of 1964 was held on November 3, 1964. Incumbent President Lyndon B. Johnson had come to office less than a year earlier following the assassination of his predecessor, John F. Kennedy. Johnson, who had successfully associated himself with Kennedy's... |
63.32% 1,666,185 | 36.49% 958,566 |
| 1960 United States presidential election, 1960 The United States presidential election of 1960 was the 44th American presidential election, held on November 8, 1960, for the term beginning January 20, 1961, and ending January 20, 1965. The incumbent president, Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower, was not eligible to run again. The Republican Party... |
50.25% 1,167,567 | 48.52% 1,121,130 |
Republicans control all statewide Texas offices, both houses of the state legislature and have a majority in the Texas congressional delegation. This makes Texas one of the most Republican states in the U.S.
Despite overall Republican dominance, however, there remain some cities and regions with strong Democratic power. Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...
, the state capital, is a Democratic stronghold and a center of progressive political activism. El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley
Rio Grande Valley
The Rio Grande Valley or the Lower Rio Grande Valley, informally called The Valley, is an area located in the southernmost tip of South Texas...
also remain loyal to the Democratic Party. It should be noted though in the Rio Grande Valley during the 2004 Presidential Election that President George W. Bush carried Camron County, which went to Vice President Gore in 2000 Presidential Election prior. In addition, the mayors of most major Texas cities, though running in "nonpartisan" races, are affiliated with the Democratic Party. Cities like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio usually support Democrats, while their suburbs are heavily Republican. During the 2004 election, despite heavy losses in congressional races, the Texas Democrats made a net gain in the state legislature for the first time since 1974 (albeit only of a single seat).
During the 2006 election cycle, the Democrats scored major successes by winning six state House seats (five in the general election and one in an earlier special election), cutting the Republican majority in the House by half. They also gained two federal Congressional seats. The Democrats failed to win any statewide offices, however. 2008 saw further Democratic gains. Although the Republicans regained a congressional seat they had lost to the Democrats in 2006, the Democrats gained six state house seats (reducing the Republican majority there to a single seat) and one state senate seat.
The 2010 elections saw a reversal of this trend, with the Republicans taking a 101 to 49 supermajority in the State House. Republicans also captured 3 house seats, one central-Texas seat and two Hispanic-Majority seats in south Texas (one being the 23rd district lost in 2006).
Capital punishment
Texas has a reputation for strict "law and orderLaw and order (politics)
In politics, law and order refers to demands for a strict criminal justice system, especially in relation to violent and property crime, through harsher criminal penalties...
" sentencing. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, of the 21 counties in the United States where more than a fifth of residents are prison inmates, 10 are in Texas. Texas leads the nation in executions, with 464 executions from 1974 to 2011. The second-highest ranking state is Virginia
Virginia
The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...
, with 108. A 2002 Houston Chronicle
Houston Chronicle
The Houston Chronicle is the largest daily newspaper in Texas, USA, headquartered in the Houston Chronicle Building in Downtown Houston. , it is the ninth-largest newspaper by circulation in the United States...
poll of Texans found that when asked "Do you support the death penalty?" 69.1% responded that they did, 21.9% did not support and 9.1% were not sure or gave no answer.
Secessionist sentiment
Many Texans believe that because it joined the United States as a country, Texas retains the right to secedeSecession in the United States
Secession in the United States can refer to secession of a state from the United States, secession of part of a state from that state to form a new state, or secession of an area from a city or county....
. However, neither the ordinance of The Texas Annexation of 1845
Texas Annexation
In 1845, United States of America annexed the Republic of Texas and admitted it to the Union as the 28th state. The U.S. thus inherited Texas's border dispute with Mexico; this quickly led to the Mexican-American War, during which the U.S. captured additional territory , extending the nation's...
nor The Annexation of Texas Joint Resolution of Congress March 1, 1845 included provisions giving Texas the right to secede. Texas did originally retain the right to divide into as many as five independent States, and as part of the Compromise of 1850
Compromise of 1850
The Compromise of 1850 was a package of five bills, passed in September 1850, which defused a four-year confrontation between the slave states of the South and the free states of the North regarding the status of territories acquired during the Mexican-American War...
continues to retain that right while ceding former claims westward and northward along the full length of the Rio Grande
Rio Grande
The Rio Grande is a river that flows from southwestern Colorado in the United States to the Gulf of Mexico. Along the way it forms part of the Mexico – United States border. Its length varies as its course changes...
in exchange for $10 million from the federal government.
The United States Supreme Court's primary ruling on the legality of secession involved a case brought by Texas involving a Civil War era bonds transfer. In deciding the 1869 Texas v. White
Texas v. White
Texas v. White, was a significant case argued before the United States Supreme Court in 1869. The case involved a claim by the Reconstruction government of Texas that United States bonds owned by Texas since 1850 had been illegally sold by the Confederate state legislature during the American...
case, the Supreme Court first addressed the issue of whether Texas had in fact seceded when it joined the Confederacy. In a 5-3 vote the Court "held that as a matter of constitutional law, no state could leave the Union, explicitly repudiating the position of the Confederate States that the United States was a voluntary compact between sovereign states." In writing the majority opinion Chief Justice Salmon Chase opined that:
When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States.
However, as the issue of secession per se was not the one before the court, it has been debated as to whether this reasoning is merely dicta
Dictum
In United States legal terminology, a dictum is a statement of opinion or belief considered authoritative though not binding, because of the authority of the person making it....
or a binding ruling on the question.
While the state's organized secessionist movement is relatively small, a notable minority of Texans hold secessionist sentiments. A 2009 poll found that 31% of Texans believe that Texas has the legal right to secede and form an independent country and 18% believe it should do so.
Current State Political Parties
- Texas Democratic PartyTexas Democratic PartyThe Texas Democratic Party is one of the two major political parties in Texas and the local branch of the United States Democratic Party. It is headquartered in Downtown Austin within close proximity to the Texas State Capitol.-19th century:...
(State Affiliate of Democratic PartyDemocratic Party (United States)The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
) - Republican Party of TexasRepublican Party of TexasThe Republican Party of Texas is one of the two major political parties in the U.S. State of Texas. It is affiliated with the United States Republican Party. The State Chairman is Steve Munisteri, a retired attorney and businessman from Houston, and the Vice-Chair is Melinda Fredricks of Conroe....
(State Affiliate of Republican PartyRepublican Party (United States)The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
) - Libertarian Party of TexasLibertarian Party of TexasThe Libertarian Party of Texas is the state affiliate of the Libertarian Party in Texas, USA. The state chair is Patrick Dixon.- Overview :In 1971, Texas was one of the 13 original founding state parties at the first LP convention in Denver, Colorado...
(State Affiliate of Libertarian PartyLibertarian Party (United States)The Libertarian Party is the third largest and fastest growing political party in the United States. The political platform of the Libertarian Party reflects its brand of libertarianism, favoring minimally regulated, laissez-faire markets, strong civil liberties, minimally regulated migration...
) - Constitution Party of TexasConstitution Party of TexasThe Constitution Party of Texas is the Texas affiliate of the national Constitution Party. The party has been organized in Texas dating back to 1996 under the U.S. Taxpayer's Party, the precursor to the Constitution Party. It achieved a ballot line only once in Texas, in 1996, as the U.S...
(State Affiliate of Constitution PartyConstitution Party (United States)The Constitution Party is a paleoconservative political party in the United States. It was founded as the U.S. Taxpayers' Party by Howard Philips in 1991. Phillips was the party's candidate in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 presidential elections...
) - Texas Independence Party (State Affiliate of Independence Party of AmericaIndependence Party of AmericaThe Independence Party of America is a political party in the United States, founded on September 23, 2007 by activists from the Independence Party of New York. Its current National Chairman is Frank MacKay...
) - Green Party of TexasGreen Party of TexasThe Green Party of Texas is the state party organization for Texas of the Green Party of the United States.-History:The Green Party of Texas began to organize a serious, statewide, grassroots effort in the late 1990s...
(State Affiliate of Green Party of the United States) - Reform Party of Texas (State Affiliate of Reform Party of the United States of AmericaReform Party of the United States of AmericaThe Reform Party of the United States of America is a political party in the United States, founded in 1995 by Ross Perot...
) - Socialist Party of TexasSocialist Party of TexasThe Socialist Party of Texas is the state chapter of the Socialist Party USA in the U.S. state of Texas.The Socialist Party of America voted 73:34 to change its name to Social Democrats, USA in December of 1972...
(State Affiliate of Socialist Party USASocialist Party USAThe Socialist Party USA is a multi-tendency democratic-socialist party in the United States. The party states that it is the rightful continuation and successor to the tradition of the Socialist Party of America, which had lasted from 1901 to 1972.The party is officially committed to left-wing...
) - Texas Communist Party (State Affiliate of Communist Party of the United States of America)
- Southern Independence Party (State Specific)
External links
- Texas Politics, the TxP project at the University of Texas at AustinUniversity of Texas at AustinThe University of Texas at Austin is a state research university located in Austin, Texas, USA, and is the flagship institution of the The University of Texas System. Founded in 1883, its campus is located approximately from the Texas State Capitol in Austin...