Editing Denton County, Texas (section)

===Politics===
Denton County, like most suburban counties in Texas, is reliably Republican in statewide and national elections, although becoming less so since the [[2018 United States Senate election in Texas|2018 election]], when [[Beto O'Rourke]] earned 45.52% of the county's votes and two Democrats were elected.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Denton County, TX Elections|url=https://www.votedenton.com/election-results/#Election|access-date=July 5, 2020|website=Votedenton.com}}</ref> The last Democratic presidential candidate to win the county was native Texan [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] in [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]],<ref>Sullivan, Robert David; [http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century ‘How the Red and Blue Map Evolved Over the Past Century’] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161116163625/http://www.americamagazine.org/content/unconventional-wisdom/how-red-and-blue-map-evolved-over-past-century |date=November 16, 2016 }}; ''America Magazine'' in ''The National Catholic Review''; June 29, 2016</ref> the only time since 1952 that the county has been carried by a Democrat. Denton swung rapidly into the Republican column at the federal level in the 1950s and 1960s as Dallas and Fort Worth's suburbs spilled into the county.

In 2018, former State Representative [[Michelle Beckley]] became the first Democrat elected to the state legislature from Denton County since 1984.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|author1=Peggy Heinkel-Wolfe|author2=Caitlyn Jones|author3=Dalton LaFerney|title=Five takeaways for Denton County voters after Tuesday's election|url=https://dentonrc.com/news/five-takeaways-for-denton-county-voters-after-tuesdays-election/article_9de4eaeb-ff76-54c0-b840-0785640f9831.html|access-date=July 5, 2020|newspaper=[[Denton Record-Chronicle]]|language=en}}</ref> Her district at the time, the former [[Texas's 65th House of Representatives district|65th]], was located entirely within Denton County, and included significant portions of [[Carrollton, Texas|Carrollton]], [[Highland Village, Texas|Highland Village]] and [[Lewisville, Texas|Lewisville]]. Beckley stepped down from the seat in 2022 to run for [[Lieutenant_Governor_of_Texas|Lieutenant Governor]], and ultimately it was won back by the Republican nominee. <ref>{{cite web |title=Texas House District 65 |url=https://www.texastribune.org/directory/districts/tx-house/65/ |website=Texas Tribune |access-date=July 12, 2019}}</ref> Also in 2018, Christopher Lopez was elected to Justice of the Peace, Precinct 6, and became the first Democrat elected at the county level since 2004; Lopez held the JP6 position until a Republican challenger unseated him in 2022.<ref name=":0" />

Despite a Republican advantage, Denton County has trended leftward, as [[Joe Biden]] managed to win 45.2% of the vote share (compared to [[Donald Trump]]'s 53.3%) in the 2020 presidential election, the best result for a Democrat since 1976. Many other suburban Texas counties, including its immediate neighbors in Collin and Tarrant Counties, as well as those around [[Houston]] and [[Austin, Texas|Austin]], showed similar swings between 2016 and 2020. However, in 2024 many of these swung back toward Trump, though Trump carried Denton County by a considerably smaller margin than in 2016.

{{PresHead|place=Denton County, Texas|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=United States Presidential Election Results |first=David|last=Leip|website=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections |access-date=April 25, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180323225526/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|archive-date=March 23, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|250,521|191,503|7,164|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|222,480|188,695|6,789|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|170,603|110,890|17,152|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|157,579|80,978|4,224|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|149,935|91,160|2,168|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|140,891|59,346|1,173|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|102,171|40,144|4,475|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|65,313|36,138|10,145|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|48,492|27,891|40,193|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|57,444|26,204|562|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|52,865|16,772|159|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|29,908|17,381|2,619|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1976|Republican|20,440|18,887|365|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|19,138|9,720|62|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1968|Republican|8,222|7,463|3,178|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|4,335|9,137|22|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1960|Republican|5,724|5,366|29|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1956|Republican|5,350|4,972|24|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1952|Republican|5,840|5,289|8|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|1,531|4,549|873|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|771|5,584|755|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|899|6,386|7|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|476|5,021|26|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|520|5,115|42|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|2,587|2,384|15|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|712|4,708|385|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|900|1,257|443|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|451|2,844|167|Texas}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|189|2,287|130|Texas}}
{{U.S. SenHead|place=Denton County, Texas|Seat=1|source=<ref>{{cite news |title=2024 Senate Election (Official Returns) |website=Commonwealth of Texas by county |date=November 5, 2024 |access-date=December 5, 2024 |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2024-elections/texas-senate-results}}</ref>}}
<!-- U.S. SenRow should be {{U.S. SenRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{U.S. SenRow|2024|Republican|237,978|200,676|9,805|Texas}}
{{U.S. SenFoot}}

{| class="wikitable" style="float:center; margin:1em; font-size:95%;"
|+Denton County vote by party in Class I Senate elections<ref name="votedenton.gov">{{cite web |title=votedenton.gov |url=https://www.votedenton.gov |access-date=January 26, 2023}}</ref>
!Year
![[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
![[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
![[Third party (United States)|Other]]
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2024 United States Senate election in Texas|2024]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |44.75% ''200,676''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''53.07%''' ''237,978''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |2.18% ''9,805''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2018 United States Senate election in Texas|2018]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |45.52% ''134,649''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''53.67%''' ''158,744''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |0.81% ''2,409''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2012 United States Senate election in Texas|2012]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |32.17% ''77,314''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''64.17%''' ''154,208''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |3.66% ''8,805''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2006 United States Senate election in Texas|2006]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |28.05% ''30,198''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''69.64%''' ''74,977''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |2.32% ''2,495''
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:center; margin:1em; font-size:95%;"
|+Denton County vote by party in Class II Senate elections<ref name="votedenton.gov"/>
!Year
![[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
![[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
![[Third party (United States)|Other]]
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2020 United States Senate election in Texas|2020]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |41.38% ''170,984''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''55.91%''' ''231,025''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |2.71% ''11,202''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2014 United States Senate election in Texas|2014]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |27.68% ''39,488''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''67.68%''' ''96,561''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |4.65% ''6,634''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2008 United States Senate election in Texas|2008]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |34.31% ''81,939''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''62.97%''' ''150,389''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |2.73% ''6,511''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2002 United States Senate election in Texas|2002]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |29.07% ''11,523''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''69.88%''' ''27,697''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |1.04% ''413''
|}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:center; margin:1em; font-size:95%;"
|+Denton County vote by party in gubernatorial elections<ref name="votedenton.gov"/>
!Year
![[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]
![[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]]
![[Third party (United States)|Other]]
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2022 Texas gubernatorial election|2022]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |42.92% ''136,389''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''55.70%''' ''177,017''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |1.37% ''4,375''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2018 Texas gubernatorial election|2018]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |38.65% ''113,808''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''59.25%''' ''174,472''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |2.10% ''6,194''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2014 Texas gubernatorial election|2014]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |32.80% ''47,238''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''65.05%''' ''93,683''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |2.15% ''3,089''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2010 Texas gubernatorial election|2010]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |32.84% ''43,073''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''63.84%''' ''83,726''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |3.31% ''4,344''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2006 Texas gubernatorial election|2006]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |23.18% ''25,156''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''46.90%''' ''50,888''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |29.91% ''32,469''
|-
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |[[2002 Texas gubernatorial election|2002]]
| align="center" {{Party shading/Democratic}} |25.73% ''10,167''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Republican}} |'''72.34%''' ''28,591''
| align="center" {{Party shading/Independent}} |1.92% ''763''
|}

==== United States Representatives ====
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |District
!Name
!Party
!Residence
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas's 4th congressional district|4th Congressional District]]
|[[Pat Fallon]]
|Republican
|Sherman
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas's 13th congressional district|13th Congressional District]]
|[[Ronny Jackson]]
|Republican
|Amarillo
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas's 26th congressional district|26th Congressional District]]
|[[Brandon Gill]]
|Republican
|Flower Mound
|-
|bgcolor=blue|&nbsp;
|[[Texas's 32nd congressional district|32nd Congressional District]]
|[[Julie Johnson (politician)|Julie Johnson]]
|Democrat
|Farmers Branch
|-
|}

==== Texas state representatives ====
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |District<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Who Represents Me? |url=https://wrm.capitol.texas.gov/map?address=&city=&zip=&county=61 |access-date=2025-02-18 |website=wrm.capitol.texas.gov}}</ref>
!Name
!Party
!Residence
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas's 57th House of Representatives district|District 57]]
|[[Richard Hayes (Texas politician)|Richard Hayes]]
|Republican
|Denton
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas's 63rd House of Representatives district|District 63]]
|[[Ben Bumgarner]]
|Republican
|Flower Mound
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas's 64th House of Representatives district|District 64]]
|[[Andy Hopper (politician)|Andy Hopper]]
|Republican
|Decatur
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas's 65th House of Representatives district|District 65]]
|[[Mitch Little]]
|Republican
|Lewisville
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas's 106th House of Representatives district|District 106]]
|[[Jared Patterson]]
|Republican
|Frisco
|}

==== Texas state senators ====
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |District<ref name=":1" />
!Name
!Party
!Residence
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas Senate, District 12|District 12]]
|[[Tan Parker]]
|Republican
|Flower Mound
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas Senate, District 30|District 30]]
|[[Brent Hagenbuch]]
|Republican
|Denton
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|}

==== State Board of Education members ====
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |District
!Name
!Party
!Residence
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas State Board of Education|District 12]]
|Pam Little
|Republican
|Fairview
|-
|bgcolor=red|&nbsp;
|[[Texas State Board of Education|District 14]]
|Evelyn Brooks
|Republican
|Frisco
|}