Texas has for decades — for better or worse — been counted among the reddest of the red states.
— blake (@bl4kes) February 20, 2015
— Waking Up (@juliawolfe) February 20, 2015
— Texas Pride (@TheTexasPride) February 12, 2015
So it may come as quite a shock to learn that, as demographics shift, it’s not among the most Republican states anymore.
— Waking Up (@juliawolfe) February 20, 2015
Gallup, as a part of their annual States of the States series, recently conducted a poll based on party affiliation. Some results were less surprising: New York, California, Delaware and Massachusetts still show solidly Democratic. Others, such as a Lousiana and the Lone Star State itself, revealed themselves to be more politically split.
Gallup asked people about their party membership, or which way they leaned if they identified as Independent. Turns out, the Texas Republican advantage there shrunk to 3.9%, below the 10% that would indicate a Solid Republican lead and the 5% that would indicate a so-called Republican lean.
The small percentage still means millions of voters.
Texas, thus, has been reclassified by the polling giant as a competitive state, one of 18 in the country. 15 are considered solid or leaning Republican, and 17 solid or leaning Democrat.
Gallup noted a “significant move away from the Democratic Party” across the country since 2008, when 29 states were solidly Democratic and another six were Democrat-leaning.
Pollsters say Democrats still have the advantage nationwide because of densely populated left-leaning states like New York and California; many of the solidly Republican states are more sparsely populated.
The survey revealed that the most Republican states are Utah and Wyoming.
