Editing Newton County, Texas (section)

===Political culture===
Newton County was once one of the most [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]]-leaning counties in East Texas and the Deep South altogether. Until 1968, the county had voted for the Democratic candidate in every election since Texas first participated [[United States presidential election in Texas, 1848|in 1848]] (excluding the [[1860 United States presidential election|1860]], [[1864 United States presidential election|1864]], and [[1868 United States presidential election|1868]] elections when the state had seceded). Even when [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] [[Herbert Hoover]] and [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] carried Texas in [[1928 United States presidential election|1928]], [[1952 United States presidential election|1952]], and [[1956 United States presidential election|1956]], respectively, Newton County remained Democratic, usually by wide margins.

The Democratic streak in Newton County was ended [[1968 United States presidential election|in 1968]] when [[American Independent Party]] candidate [[George Wallace]] narrowly won the county with 42.6% of the vote against Democrat [[Hubert Humphrey]]'s 41.7%. President [[Richard Nixon]] [[1972 United States presidential election|in 1972]] became the first Republican to ever win the county in an election with 54% of the vote against Democrat [[George McGovern]]'s 45.4%. After 1972, the county returned to voting Democratic, surviving the landslide elections of Republicans [[Ronald Reagan]] and [[George H. W. Bush]] in [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]], [[1984 United States presidential election|1984]], and [[1988 United States presidential election|1988]], respectively. In fact, Newton County was [[Walter Mondale]]'s strongest county in East Texas in the 1984 election, winning 60.6% of the vote, and one of only four in the region to vote for him. [[Michael Dukakis]] in 1988 remains the last Democratic presidential candidate to win over 60% of the vote in the county.<ref name="uselectionatlas.org">{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|title = Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections}}</ref>

Since 1988, the Democratic percentage in Newton County has decreased in every election, culminating in [[Al Gore]]'s narrow win [[United States presidential election in Texas, 2000|in 2000]] with 50.16% against Governor [[George W. Bush]]'s 48.56%. As of 2024, Gore remains the last Democrat to win the county's votes in a presidential election. Since 2004, the Republican candidate has comfortably carried the county in every election, with Bush winning 55.42% in [[United States presidential election in Texas, 2004|2004]], [[John McCain]] winning 65.51% in [[United States presidential election in Texas, 2008|2008]], [[Mitt Romney]] winning 70.06% in [[United States presidential election in Texas, 2012|2012]] and [[Donald Trump]] winning 77.48%, 80.11%, and 83.13% in 2016, 2020, and 2024 respectively.<ref name="uselectionatlas.org"/>

{{PresHead|place=Newton County, Texas|source=<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=July 28, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|4,781|952|18|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|4,882|1,173|39|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|4,288|1,156|90|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|4,112|1,677|80|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|3,446|1,751|63|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|3,159|2,513|28|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2000|Democratic|2,423|2,503|64|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1996|Democratic|1,409|2,554|493|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|1,212|3,249|1,047|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1988|Democratic|1,659|3,640|10|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1984|Democratic|2,123|3,296|20|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|1,379|3,284|51|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|1,011|3,468|23|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|1,946|1,636|23|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|555|1,476|1,510|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|738|2,211|6|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|756|1,815|19|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|1,030|1,037|9|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|917|1,630|1|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|110|957|332|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|187|910|127|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|174|1,940|2|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|93|1,111|2|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|46|1,586|3|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|397|564|1|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|145|782|21|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|58|420|190|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|34|493|31|Texas}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|11|278|64|Texas}}