Question: Who was the first Republican to carry Texas in a presidential election?
Answer: Herbert Hoover, who won 51.77% of the vote and earned the state’s 20 Electoral College votes. While Hoover’s margin of victory was relatively close in Texas, he won the national election in a landslide, earning over 58% of the popular vote. Many Texans objected to the Democratic candidate, New York Governor Al Smith, on account of his being Catholic and his opposition to Prohibition.
In 1932, FDR handily won Texas, and the state would not vote for the Republican presidential candidate again until Denison native and World War II hero Dwight Eisenhower’s election in 1952.
