Editing King County, Texas (section)

==Politics==
King County was once a strongly Democratic county even by [[Solid South]] standards. In 1948, 95.85 percent of voters supported [[Harry S. Truman]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/stats.php?year=1948&f=1&off=0&elect=0 |title=David Leip's Presidential Election Atlas - 1948 statistics |publisher=Uselectionatlas.org |access-date=November 26, 2012}}</ref> in 1960 76.9 percent of voters chose [[John F. Kennedy]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/datagraph.php?year=1960&fips=48&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs|access-date=November 28, 2014}}</ref> and in 1964, 84.1 percent of voters supported [[Lyndon Johnson]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/datagraph.php?year=1964&fips=48&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs|access-date=November 28, 2014}}</ref> The county also voted for [[Hubert Humphrey]] by a plurality in 1968, with 48.7 percent supporting Humphrey while 31.7 percent voted for [[George Wallace]] and a mere 19.6 percent voted for [[Richard Nixon]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/datagraph.php?year=1968&fips=48&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs|access-date=November 28, 2014}}</ref>

However, the county has shifted strongly Republican since the 1980s and is now almost unanimously Republican. The last Democratic presidential nominee to win over twenty percent of the vote in King County was Bill Clinton in 1996.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/datagraph.php?year=1996&fips=48&f=0&off=0&elect=0|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs|access-date=November 28, 2014}}</ref> In 2016, by percentage of votes, it was the second most Republican county in the entire country, only being surpassed by [[Roberts County, Texas]].

In the [[United States presidential election in Texas, 2004|2004 presidential election]], 87.8 percent (137 votes) supported incumbent [[U.S. President]] [[George W. Bush]], a Republican, whereas only 11.5 percent (18 votes) backed the Democratic challenger, [[U.S. Senator]] [[John Kerry]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2004&fips=48269&off=0&elect=0&f=0|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs|access-date=November 28, 2014}}</ref>

In the [[United States presidential election in Texas, 2008|2008 presidential election]], 92.6 percent (151 votes) supported the Republican, Senator [[John McCain]], whereas only 4.9 percent (8 votes) backed the Democrat, Senator [[Barack Obama]]. Of all United States counties, King had the largest percentage of support for McCain.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://elections.foxnews.com/states_map/index.html|title=America's Decision - Election Tracking Map|publisher=Fox News|access-date=November 7, 2008}}</ref>

In the [[2012 United States presidential election in Texas|2012 presidential election]], President Obama fared even worse in King County. His Republican challenger, [[Mitt Romney]], received 139 votes in the county (amounting to 95.9% of the county's total votes in the presidential election), while President Obama received only 5 votes — amounting to 3.4 percent of the total.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/2012-election/results/president/texas/ 2012 Texas Presidential Election Results], from [[Politico]]. Retrieved on November 15, 2012.</ref><ref name="cnntube">[[CNN]], [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vy6fYNiozJ4 Video: Visit the most anti-Obama county in the U.S.], from [[YouTube]].  {{Retrieved|access-date= December 4, 2012}}</ref>  That percentage was the smallest percentage that President Obama received in any county in the United States in 2012.<ref name="cnntube"/>

In addition, in the [[Democratic Party presidential primaries, 2012|2012 Democratic presidential primaries]] (in which President Obama faced no serious opposition nationwide), King County was one of two counties that voted for [[Bob Ely]] over President Obama. There were only 7 votes cast in the Democratic presidential primary in King County that year. Ely won 4 of them, Obama won 1, and two other minor candidates won 1 each.<ref>King County Race Summary for the 2012 Democratic presidential primary election, from the [http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe Historical Election Results] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109062336/http://elections.sos.state.tx.us/elchist.exe |date=January 9, 2014}} section of the website of the [[Texas Secretary of State]]. Retrieved on September 18, 2013.</ref>

In the [[United States presidential election in Texas, 2016|2016 presidential election]], former [[United States Secretary of State|Secretary of State]] [[Hillary Clinton]] continued the downward trend. Her Republican challenger, [[Donald Trump]], received 149 votes in the county (93.7% of the county's total votes), while Secretary Clinton received only 5 votes — amounting to 3.1 percent of the total.  [[Libertarian Party (United States)|Libertarian Party]] candidate [[Gary Johnson]] also received 5 votes.<ref>[http://www.politico.com/2016-election/results/map/president/texas/ Texas results in the 2016 presidential election], from [[Politico]]. Retrieved November 22, 2016.</ref>

In [[2020 United States Presidential election|2020]], Trump did even better, earning 95% of the vote while [[Joe Biden]] slightly improved on Clinton's margin, earning eight votes for 5%. There were no votes for third-party candidates. Biden's 5% of the vote was the highest percentage of the vote a Democrat has received in King County since 2004, when [[John Kerry]] took 11.5%. Kerry remains the last Democrat to receive at least a double-digit number of votes in the county.

In [[2024 United States presidential election|2024]], Trump improved his margins again, garnering 95.6% of the vote. This made King County the third most Republican county in Texas by vote share, narrowly behind [[Roberts County, Texas|Roberts]] and [[Borden County|Borden]].<ref name=leip/>

{{PresHead|place=King County, Texas|whig=no|source1=<ref name=leip>{{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 26, 2018}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP/Whig vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|129|6|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|151|8|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|149|5|5|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|139|5|1|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|151|8|4|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|137|18|1|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|120|14|3|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|97|46|39|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|79|54|56|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|111|64|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|141|53|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|144|55|6|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|96|100|1|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|143|75|1|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1968|Democratic|44|109|71|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|34|180|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|39|133|1|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|46|177|1|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|66|189|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|6|231|4|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|13|228|15|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|23|266|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|13|211|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|4|224|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|85|45|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|4|83|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|0|157|3|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|3|47|0|Texas}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|2|77|3|Texas}}

In the [[United States Senate election in Texas, 2012|2012 U.S. Senate election]], Republican candidate [[Ted Cruz]] received 117 votes (amounting to 95.9% of the county's total vote), while Democratic candidate [[Paul Sadler]] received 4 votes, or 3.3 percent of the total.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2012&fips=48269&f=0&off=3&elect=0&class=1|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs|access-date=November 28, 2014}}</ref>

In the [[2014 United States Senate election in Texas|2014 U.S. Senate election]], Republican incumbent Senator [[John Cornyn]] received 87 votes (amounting to 96.7% of the county's total vote), while Democratic candidate [[David Alameel]] received 1 vote or 1.1 percent of the total. Libertarian Party candidate Rebecca Paddock received 2 votes or 2.2 percent of the total.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2014&fips=48269&f=0&off=3&elect=0&class=2|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs|access-date=November 28, 2014}}</ref>

In the [[Texas gubernatorial election, 2014|2014 Texas gubernatorial election]], Republican candidate [[Greg Abbott]] received 90 votes (amounting to 96.8% of the county's total vote), while Democratic candidate [[Wendy Davis (politician)|Wendy Davis]] received 1 vote or 1.1 percent of the total. Libertarian Party candidate Kathie Glass received 2 votes or 2.2 percent of the total.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/statesub.php?year=2014&fips=48269&f=0&off=5&elect=0|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections - Data Graphs|access-date=November 28, 2014}}</ref>

[[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[James Frank]], a businessman from [[Wichita Falls, Texas|Wichita Falls]], has since January 2023 represented King County in the [[Texas House of Representatives]] as the representative for House District 69. <ref>{{cite web|url=https://redistricting.capitol.texas.gov/docs/88th_House_Tabloid_2023_05_09.pdf|title=Current Texas House Districts}}</ref>  King County was previously represented by then-Representative (now Senator) [[Drew Springer, Jr.]], and briefly by [[David Spiller (politician)|David Spiller]] after Springer's successful election to the [[Texas Senate]].  Republican [[Charles Perry (Texas politician)|Charles Perry]] represents King County and Senate District 28.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://redistricting.capitol.texas.gov/docs/22RXXXX_88th_Senate_Tabloid_2023_01_10.pdf|title=Current Texas Senate Districts}}</ref>