TEXAS 34 Electoral Votes
Population 
(Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Texas Secretary of State) 
Total Population, July 1, 2008 est.       24,326,974
Registered Voters, Nov. 2008              13,575,062
Texas has: 254 Counties.
Largest counties: Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, El Paso. >
Largest cities: Houston, San Antonio, Dallas, Austin, El Paso. >

Government
Governor: Rick Perry (R) re-elected in 2006.
State Legislature: Texas Legislature - Texas House of Representatives: 150 seats  Texas Senate: 31 seats
Local: Cities, Counties, Regional Councils of Government   NACO Counties
U.S. House: 19R, 13D - 1. L.Gohmert (R) | 2. T.Poe (R) | 3. S.Johnson (R) | 4. R.Hall (R) | 5. J.Hensarling (R) | 6. J.Barton (R) | 7. J.Culberson (R) | 8. K.Brady (R) | 9. A.Green (D) | 10. M.McCaul (R) | 11. M.Conaway (R) | 12. K.Granger (R) | 13. M.Thornberry (R) | 14. R. Paul (R) | 15. R. Hinojosa (D) | 16. S.Reyes (D) | 17. C.Edwards (D) | 18. S.Jackson Lee (D) | 19. R.Neugebauer (R) | 20. C.Gonzalez (D) | 21. L.Smith (R) | 22. N.Lampson (D) | 23. C.Rodriguez (D) | 24. K.Marchant (R) | 25. L.Doggett (D) | 26. M.Burgess (R) | 27. S.Ortiz (D) | 28. H.Cuellar (D) | 29. G.Green (D) | 30. E.B.Johnson (D) | 31. J.Carter (R) | 32. P.Sessions (R)
U.S. Senate: Kay Bailey Hutchison (R) re-elected in 2006, John Cornyn (R) up for re-election in 2008. 
2008 update   
U.S. Senate:  Sen. John Cornyn (R) defeated State Rep. Rick Noriega (D) and Yvonne Schick (L) in his bid for a second term by 54.82% to 42.83% and 2.34%.
U.S. House
In the 22nd CD (seat formerly held by Tom DeLay) Rep. Nick Lampson (D) lost to attorney Pete Olson (R) by 52.42% to 45.35% and 2.21% for the Libertarian.  Another interesting race occurred in the 17th CD (Waco, College Station ...64% Republican), where Rep. Chet Edwards (D) defeated businessman Rob Curnock (R) by 52.98% to 45.50%.  The House delegation in the 111th Congress goes to 20R, 12D.
    >
Republicans pick up one U.S. House seat.  MORE

 State of Texas
Texas Secretary of State

Constitution Party of TX
Green Party of TX
Libertarian Party of TX
Republican Party of TX
TX Democratic Party

Dallas Morning News
Houston Chronicle
San Antonio Express-News
Newspapers
TV, Radio

Burnt Orange Report
Right of Texas

Politics1-TX


The Lone Star State
General Election -- Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Voting Eligible Population*: 14,780,857.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 54.7%.

According to the unofficial tabulation 5.35 million people (about 66.5%) voted early.


                           Official Results >


+McCain/Palin (Rep.) 4,479,328
(55.45)
Obama/Biden (Dem.) 3,528,633 (43.68)
Barr/Root (Lib.)
56,116 (0.69)
Baldwin/Castle (w/in)
5,708
(0.07)
Hill/Bailey (w/in)
216
 -
Allen/Stath (w/in)
104
 -
Keyes/Sprouse, Jr. (w/in)
895
(0.01)
Nader/Gonzalez (w/in)
5,751
(0.07)
McKinney/Clemente (w/in)
909
(0.01)
Moore/Alexander (w/in)
135
-
Total........8,077,795

2008 Overview
The major candidates made a few visits to Texas, almost all of which were for fundraising. McCain-Palin caried the state with a plurality of 950,795 votes (11.77 percentage points).
Obama/Allies  |  McCain/Allies  |  Nader Barr

Presidential Primary Election -- Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Registered Voters, Feb. 2008: 12,752,417    Early voting Feb. 19-29, 2008.
Democrats
228 Delegates (193 Pledged and 35 Unpledged) and 32 Alternates
5.63% of the 4,049 Delegate Votes. 

Unique system with presidential primary and precinct conventions on the same day.  The primary determines 126 of the 288 national convention delegates.  The convention/caucus process determines 67 delegates. FAQ. More

Clinton  |  Obama
former: Edwards  |  Richardson

Debate:
Feb. 21, 2008 in the LBJ Auditorium at the University of Texas in Austin.

1. PRIMARY
Official Results   
Joe Biden
5,290
0.18%
+Hillary Clinton
1,462,734
50.87%
Chris Dodd
3,777
0.13%
John Edwards 29,936
1.04%
Barack Obama
1,362,476
47.39%
Bill Richardson
10,773
0.37%
Total
2,874,986

Early votes: 1,284,009  ...44.76% of 2,868,454 votes. 
Note: Obama finished ahead in early voting 649,001 (50.54%) to 613,344 (47.76%).
The primary resulted in 65 delegates for Clinton and 61 for Obama.

2. PRECINCT CONVENTIONS:
Estimates are that nearly a million voters participated in the March 4 precinct conventions. 

Charge, Countercharge, More

Observations of a Texas Obama Volunteer

2a. DISTRICT CONVENTIONS:
March 29, 2008 - 284 district conventions.  Releases

Republicans
140 Delegates (3 RNC; 41 at-large; 96 by CD (3 x 32) and 170 alternates. 
5.88% of the 2,380 Delegates. 

Huckabee  |  McCain  |  Paul
Congressman Ron Paul (R) formed a presidential exploratory committee on Jan. 11, 2007 and announced his candidacy on March 12; by the time of the March 4, 2008 primary he had shifted his focus to his re-election campaign. >
former: 
Giuliani
Hunter: endorsed by U.S. Rep. Ralph Hall (TX-4) and U.S. Rep. John Culberson (TX-7) 
Romney
F.Thompson

Official Results 
Hugh Cort
728
0.05%
Rudy Giuliani
6,038
0.44%
Mike Huckabee
518,002
38.02%
Duncan Hunter
8,222
0.60%
Alan Keyes
8,260
0.60%
+John McCain 697,767
51.21%
Ron Paul
66,360
4.87%
Mitt Romney
27,360
2.00%
Fred Thompson
11,503
0.84%
Hoa Tran
604
0.04%
Uncommitted
17,574
1.29%
Total
1,362,322

Early votes: 559,753   ...40.43% of 1,384,662 votes.

Setting the Primary Date
Texas Came Close to Joining the Stampede to Feb. 5:  On April 13, 2007 by a vote of 123 to 12 with 1 present and not voting the Texas House approved HB 2017, a bill to move the general primary and the presidential primary from first Tuesday in March to the first Tuesday in February.  However, the identical Senate bill, SB 1843, failed to advance and its sponsor, Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas), removed it from the Senate intent calendar on May 23.  Stefan D. Haag, a professor of government at the Pinnacle Campus of Austin Community College, noted in an e-mail that one concern with this legislation was "the burden on election officials in conforming to new dates (registration deadlines, sending new registration cards, filing dates for candidates, etc.), many of which fall over the holiday season."  (Note: In addition to HB 2017, two similar bills HB 993 and HB 996, were also introduced in late January 2007).


General Election -- Tuesday, November 2, 2004
Voting Eligible Population*: 13,796,256.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 53.7%.


According to the unofficial tabulation a bit fewer than 3.8 million people (over 51% of voters) voted early. 
Official Results

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
4,526,917
(61.09)
Kerry/Edwards (Dem.)
2,832,704
(38.22)
Badnarik/Campagna (Lib.) 38,787 (0.52)
Peroutka/Baldwin (w/in) 1,636
(0.02)
Brown/Herbert (w/in)
111
Cobb/LaMarche (w/in)
1,014
 (0.01)
Nader/Camejo (w/in)
9,159
(0.12)
more write ins (3)
437
 - 
Total........7,410,765
 

more write-ins: Kennedy/Rezac 126; Allen/Senegals 92; Falk/Peterman 219

Total Number of Voters: 7,482,947 
23,246 provisional ballots

2004 Overview
Bush won his home state with a plurality of 1,694,213 votes (22.87 percentage points), carrying 236 of the 254 counties.
General Election Details
Kerry/Allies  |  Bush-Cheney '04

General Election -- Tuesday, November 7, 2000
Voting Eligible Population*: 13,033,081.
VEP Highest Office Turnout Rate: 49.2%.


Early voting in person: Oct. 23-Nov. 3, 2000.

According to the unofficial tabulation more than 2.4 million people (over 38% of voters) voted early.

+Bush/Cheney (Rep.)
3,799,639
(59.30)
Gore/Lieberman (Dem.)
 2,433,746
(37.98)
Browne/Olivier (Lib.)
23,160
(0.36)
Nader/LaDuke (Grn.)
137,994
(2.15)
Buchanan/Foster (Ind.)
12,394
(0.19)
Phillips/Frazier (w/in)
567
(0.01)
McReynolds/Hollis (w/in)
74
 - 
Wright/Foster (w/in)
63
Total........6,407,637

2000 Overview
Gov. Bush won handily in his home state, gaining a plurality of 1,365,893 votes (21.32 percentage points) and carrying 230 of 254 counties.

General Election Activity

1992 and 1996 General Elections

1992
Bush (Rep.).........2,496,071 (40.56)
Clinton (Dem.).....2,281,815 (37.08)
Perot (Ind.)..........1,354,781
 (22.01)
Others (1+w/ins)...... 21,351
(0.35)
Total........6,154,018

1996
Dole (Rep.)..........2,736,167 (48.75)
Clinton (Dem.).....2,459,683 (43.83)
Perot (Ind.).............378,537
 (6.74)
Others (3+w/ins).......37,259
(0.66)
Total........5,611,644

2004 page >
2000 page >


Copyright © 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 Eric M. Appleman/Democracy in Action.