2008
Reading the 2008 result in Texas
Texas backed McCain (Republican) in the 2008 presidential election, casting 34 electoral votes for the ticket. Nationally the result broke the other way — Barack Obama (Democratic) won the presidency, leaving Texas among the states he did not carry.
It marked the 8th consecutive election in which Texas backed the Republican party, a streak reaching back to 1980. The region divided — Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana joined Texas for the Republican ticket, while New Mexico did not. Across the 44 presidential elections Texas has taken part in, it has most often sided with the Democratic party (28 times). The vote fell within the Modern Polarization — Close elections in a divided country.
In the national count, Barack Obama took 365 of the 538 electoral votes, against John McCain's 173. Barack Obama led the national popular vote with 52.93% of the ballots cast.
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