Editing Martin County, Texas (section)

==Government and politics==

=== Government ===
Martin County, like all counties in Texas, is governed by a [[Commissioners Court|commissioners' court]]. This court consists of the [[county judge]] (the chairperson of the court), who is elected county-wide, and four commissioners who are elected by the voters in each of four precincts.

The Commissioners' Court is the policy-making body for the county; in addition, the county judge is the senior executive and administrative position in the county. The Commissioners' Court sets the county tax rate, adopts the budget, appoints boards and commissions, approves grants and personnel actions, and oversees the administration of county government. Martin County is one of only a few Texas counties where the county and district clerks have been combined into one position.

Martin County is represented in the United States Congress as part of [[Texas's 19th congressional district]], represented by Republican [[Jodey Arrington]] of [[Lubbock, Texas|Lubbock]]. Its two senators are [[Ted Cruz]] and [[John Cornyn]], both Republicans. At the state level, Limestone County is represented in the Texas State Legislature as part of [[Texas's 82nd House of Representatives district]], represented by Republican [[Tom Craddick]] of [[Midland, Texas|Midland]], and [[Texas Senate, District 31]], represented by Republican [[Kevin Sparks]] of Midland.

==== County Commissioners ====
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |Office<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |date=November 5, 2024 |title=Martin County Texas General Election 2024 |url=https://www.martincountytx.com/DocumentCenter/View/1443/November-5-2024-General-Election-Uncertified-Final-Vote-Total |website=Martin County, TX}}</ref>
!Name
!Party
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|County Judge
|Bryan Cox
|Republican
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|Commissioner, Precinct 1
|Kenny Stewart
|Republican
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|Commissioner, Precinct 2
|Auggie Ramos
|Republican
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|Commissioner, Precinct 3
|Brian Snellgrove
|Republican
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|Commissioner, Precinct 4
|Koy Blocker
|Republican
|}

==== County Officials ====
{| class="wikitable"
! colspan="2" |Office<ref name=":0" />
!Name
!Party
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|District/County Attorney
|James Napper
|Republican
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|County/District Clerk
|Linda Gonzalez
|Republican
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|Sheriff
|Randy Cozart
|Republican
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|Tax Assessor-Collector
|Lori Pardue
|Republican
|-
| bgcolor="red" |&nbsp;
|Treasurer
|Cynthia O'Donnell
|Republican
|}

=== Politics ===
Martin County, like most other Southern counties, was once deeply Democratic. It continuously gave over 70% of the vote to the Democratic candidate, and only voted twice for Republicans (both during national landslides) between statehood and 1980, after which it swung sharply to the right. Since then, it has followed the rest of West Texas in becoming one of the most loyally Republican areas in the state and has only swung further towards Republicans in the 21st century due to the rapidly liberalizing social policies of the Democratic Party as well as concerns over Democratic climate policy, which is considered unattractive by West Texans due to their predominantly fossil-fuel production based economy.<ref>Cohn, Nate (April 24, 2014). [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/upshot/southern-whites-loyalty-to-gop-nearing-that-of-blacks-to-democrats.html 'Demographic Shift: Southern Whites' Loyalty to G.O.P. Nearing That of Blacks to Democrats']. ''[[The New York Times]]''.</ref> In 2024, Republican Donald Trump received 87.6% of the vote, the best a Republican has ever received in the county.

Until November 2018, Martin County was one of six<ref name="tabc_201809_listcounties" /> entirely [[dry county|dry]] counties in Texas. During that month, Martin County changed from a dry county to a partially wet<ref name="tabc_20181106_countymap" /> county after Stanton residents voted to approve the sale of beer and wine within city limits.<ref name="mcm_20181109_stantonwet" /> Five dry counties remain.<ref name="tabc_201811_listcounties" /><ref name="kera_20181214_fivedry" />{{PresHead|place=Martin County, Texas|source=<ref name="leip_uselectionatlas" />}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|1,825|247|11|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2020|Republican|1,857|288|15|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|1,455|266|41|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|1,368|248|8|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|1,389|314|12|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|1,514|288|5|Texas}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|1,520|415|14|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|973|643|157|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1992|Republican|986|641|361|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|1,017|632|2|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|1,218|512|10|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1980|Republican|1,093|605|18|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|698|907|13|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|935|287|21|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|343|373|539|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1964|Democratic|402|892|3|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|350|831|22|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|318|903|6|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|562|952|2|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|77|945|55|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|131|758|97|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|136|1,044|1|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|70|775|9|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|44|694|6|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1928|Republican|330|213|0|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|92|327|7|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|33|136|6|Texas}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|14|125|22|Texas}}
{{PresFoot|1912|Democratic|9|50|3|Texas}}