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Short answer: yes. Longer answer: yes, many times, depending on era, office, and how the word “blue” gets used. Texas has voted Democratic for president, elected Democrats statewide, and continues to deliver millions of Democratic votes today.
At the same time, modern statewide results paint a very different picture than the one Texans would have recognized 50 or 100 years ago. Nowadays, in the battle of Red vs Blue , Texas is a red state.
However, Party labels shift. Coalitions shift. Texas politics has never been static, even when election maps look deceptively stable. A clean answer requires context, timelines, and some uncomfortable honesty about how much political meaning changes over generations.
Let’s check out official Texas election records and historical analyses.
What People Usually Mean When They Ask the Question
When someone asks, “Has Texas ever been blue?” they usually mean one of three things, even if they do not phrase it that way.
Did Texas Ever Vote Democratic for President?
| Year | Winner | Republican | Democrat | Margin |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Republican | 56.1% | 42.5% | R+13.6% |
| 2020 | Republican | 52.1% | 46.5% | R+5.6% |
| 2016 | Republican | 52.2% | 43.2% | R+9.0% |
Texas has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1980.
Yes. Repeatedly. Although it is not one of the most liberal states in America, Texas spent long stretches voting Democratic in presidential elections, including as recently as 1976.
Did Texas Ever Elect Democrats Statewide?
Yes. Democrats controlled Texas statewide offices well into the 1990s. The modern Republican lock on statewide power is newer than many assume.
Is Texas Blue Anywhere Right Now?
Yes. According to PolitiFact, large parts of the state vote Democratic consistently, especially major metropolitan counties. Statewide outcomes do not erase local results.
Each version of the question has a different answer, and none of them fit neatly into modern red-versus-blue shorthand.
Texas Spent Decades as a Democratic Stronghold
For much of its post-Reconstruction history, Texas behaved like most of the South in national elections. Democrats dominated statewide races. Republican victories existed, but they were exceptions rather than the rule.
Historical presidential election tables maintained by the Texas Secretary of State show Texas voting Democratic across large portions of the late 19th century and early 20th century.
That dominance did not reflect modern liberal politics. Party ideology in Texas during that era bore little resemblance to current Democratic coalitions.
Political loyalty followed regional identity, post-Civil War alignment, and local power structures more than policy platforms recognizable today.
Party Labels Did Not Always Mean What They Mean Now
One of the biggest sources of confusion around Texas political history comes from assuming party labels stayed fixed. They did not.
Democratic dominance in early Texas politics did not signal progressive social views by modern standards. Republican growth later did not arrive overnight, nor did it follow a single election cycle.
The shift unfolded gradually through decades of national realignment, civil rights legislation, suburban growth, and changing voter coalitions.
Any honest answer requires separating historical party control from modern ideological assumptions.
Presidential Elections Show a Long Arc, Not a Straight Line
A snapshot of selected presidential elections helps show how fluid Texas voting patterns were before modern polarization hardened.
Notable Presidential Results in Texas
- 1928 : Texas voted Republican for Herbert Hoover over Al Smith
- 1952 and 1956 : Texas voted Republican for Dwight Eisenhower
- 1960 and 1964 : Texas voted Democratic for John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson
- 1976 : Texas voted Democratic for Jimmy Carter over Gerald Ford
Those outcomes came from official Texas Secretary of State election records and show a state willing to move between parties under the right conditions.
1976 Marks the Last Democratic Presidential Win
If “blue” means voting Democratic for president in the modern sense, 1976 stands as the dividing line.
In that election, Jimmy Carter received 2,082,319 votes in Texas. Gerald Ford received 1,953,300. Minor-party votes made up the remainder.
Two things make 1976 especially important:
- It represents the last Democratic presidential victory in Texas.
- Every presidential election since 1980 has gone Republican.
That does not mean margins stayed constant, or that competition disappeared entirely.
Modern Texas Stays Red Statewide, but Margins Move
Texas has voted Republican for president in every election since 1980. Within that streak, margins have tightened and widened based on turnout, candidates, and national climate.
Recent Presidential Results in Texas
| Year | Democratic nominee | Votes | Republican nominee | Votes | Approx. margin |
| 2016 | Hillary Clinton | 3,877,868 | Donald Trump | 4,685,047 | R +9.4 points |
| 2020 | Joe Biden | 5,259,126 | Donald Trump | 5,890,347 | R +5.7 points |
| 2024 | Kamala Harris | 4,835,250 | Donald Trump | 6,393,597 | R +13.9 points |
The narrowing margin in 2020 fueled widespread speculation about an imminent flip. The wider margin in 2024 pushed back hard against that storyline.
Texas does not move in straight lines.
Turnout Matters as Much as Demographics
Texas election data provides useful turnout context, especially for 2024.
2024 Texas Turnout Figures
- Registered voters: 18,623,931
- Total votes cast: 11,388,674
- Turnout as a percent of registered voters: 61.15%
- Turnout as percent of voting-age population: 49.65%
Total votes cast match official Federal Election Commission totals for Texas in 2024.
Turnout swings can reshape margins without changing the underlying population makeup. High-growth states amplify that effect.
The “Texas Is Turning Blue” Narrative Had Real Fuel
What’s the #1 REASON Republicans want their WALL with México?
As the % of Texas Latinos grows, so does the probability of Texas turning blue in the next Presidential election. According to projections, Texas will give its 38 electoral votes to the Demo… https://t.co/GoAxIYC5D0 pic.twitter.com/gbzg4Wp8H2
— Michael Warner (@mjdwarner) February 19, 2018
During the late 2010s, several elections supported the idea that Texas was entering swing-state territory.
- Narrower presidential margins in 2016 and 2020
- Strong Democratic performance in suburban counties
- A nationally visible Senate race in 2018
None of that was invented. It reflected real movement during that period.
What failed was the assumption that movement would continue in a single direction without interruption.
Statewide Offices Tell a Different Story From Presidential Races
Presidential results answer only one version of the “blue” question. Statewide executive offices and U.S. Senate races reveal a separate timeline.
Ann Richards and the End of Democratic Governorships
Ann Richards served as governor from 1991 to 1995. She remains a central figure in modern Texas political memory because her tenure marked the closing chapter of Democratic statewide leadership.
Her loss in the 1994 election coincided with accelerating Republican gains across Texas.
That election is often cited as a turning point, not because Democrats disappeared overnight, but because statewide competitiveness faded quickly afterward.
The Statewide Drought Since 1994
Texas Democrats have not won a statewide election since 1994. That includes races for governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and U.S. Senate.
The length of that drought matters. It separates Texas from states that flip regularly at the statewide level.
At the same time, it does not mean Democratic voters vanished.
County Results Show Where Democratic Strength Lives
Statewide losses can hide enormous pockets of Democratic dominance. County-level results reveal where Democratic votes actually concentrate.
The 2018 U.S. Senate race offers a clean example because official county-by-county totals are publicly available.
2018 Texas Senate Race Totals
- Ted Cruz (R): 4,260,553
- Beto O’Rourke (D) : 4,045,632
- Total votes: 8,371,655
- Turnout: 53.01%
That margin was close enough to show genuine competitiveness statewide.
County data tells the rest of the story.
Counties That Voted Democratic in 2018
- Dallas County
- Harris County (Houston area)
- Travis County (Austin area)
- Bexar County (San Antonio area)
Those counties contain a massive share of the Texas population. Winning statewide without them requires substantial margins elsewhere.
Texas Contains Some of the Largest Democratic Vote Blocs in the Country
Find more statistics at Statista
Texas often produces more Democratic votes than many reliably blue states. The difference lies in Republican margins outside urban cores and suburban turnout patterns.
That reality complicates simplistic red-versus-blue labels. Texas elections are less about the absence of Democratic voters and more about coalition balance.
Why Texas Shifted Toward Republican Dominance
No single election flipped Texas. The shift unfolded across decades.
Several forces overlapped:
- National party realignment
- Growth of conservative suburban coalitions
- Economic expansion reshaping voter priorities
- Regional cultural shifts
- Candidate-driven turnout differences
Early cracks appeared mid-century, with Republican presidential wins alongside Democratic statewide control. Consolidation arrived later, especially during the 1990s.
By the early 2000s, Republican statewide dominance had solidified.
Has Texas Been Blue in Any Meaningful Sense Recently?
That depends on how “blue” gets defined.
Blue as Democratic Presidential Victories
No. The last win came in 1976.
Blue as Democratic Statewide Control
No. The last statewide wins occurred in 1994.
Blue as Democratic Strength Inside Texas
Yes. Consistently. Large metro counties continue to vote Democratic by wide margins.
Blue as Potential to Flip
Sometimes. The 2018 Senate race and 2020 presidential margin demonstrated real competitiveness under specific conditions. The 2024 results showed how quickly that window can narrow.
Summary
Texas has been blue many times across its history. Texas has not been blue statewide in the modern era. Both statements can coexist without contradiction.
Party dominance changed, coalitions evolved, and voter behavior continues to shift with turnout and context.
The most accurate answer avoids absolutes. Texas political history shows movement, pauses, reversals, and regional divergence rather than a permanent color assignment.
Texas was blue before. Texas could show competitiveness again. For now, statewide results remain Republican, while millions of Democratic votes shape elections inside the state every cycle.
