Is Tarrant County going for Donald Trump or Kamala Harris?
.JPG "Campaign signs are shown at the Cumberland County Democratic Party Headquarters, above, on Raeford Road in Fayetteville, NC, and the Republican Candidates Resource Center on Owen Drive in Fayetteville, NC. Both sites planned debate parties for the televised presidential debate between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump on Sept. 10, 2024.")
Will Tarrant County swing for a Democratic presidential candidate for only the second time in six decades?
Voters said “no” when they cast their ballots in the presidential election between former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat.
With all vote centers reporting, Trump won Tarrant County with 51.9% of votes to Harris’ 46.7%, according to unofficial results from the county’s election department.
Statewide, with 99% of polling places reporting, Trump also won Texas with 56.3% of votes to Harris’ 42.4%.
By a little after 8 p.m. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott had already declared Trump victorious in the Lone Star State.
“Congratulations to President Donald Trump on his overwhelming victory in Texas,” Abbott said in a written statement. “Texans know who will slash inflation, secure our southern border, unleash American energy, and crack down on violent crime — and that’s Donald Trump. Texans rejected Kamala Harris’ radical leftist agenda and voted to restore freedom, prosperity, and opportunity for all Americans.”
The presidential election has been anything but ordinary as Trump, the first former president convicted of felony crimes and the subject of other criminal cases, sought a second four-year term against Harris, who became the nominee through a Democratic delegate vote after President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Polls and election experts predicted that Texas would go in Trump’s favor ahead of Election Day, but Tarrant County has flipped in the past, despite its reputation as a rare Republican urban county.
Trump won Texas in 2020 but lost Tarrant County by less than a percentage point against President Joe Biden. It was the first time a Democratic presidential candidate won the county since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964. With the close margins of the 2020 election, a winner in Tarrant County wasn’t clear on election night, and votes continued to be tallied in the days after the election.
Former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke, an El Paso Democrat, also won Tarrant County in 2018 in the U.S. Senate race against Sen. Ted Cruz, the Republican incumbent who was on the ballot again this election cycle, this time against Rep. Colin Allred, a Dallas Democrat.
In 2016, Trump beat Democratic nominee and former United States Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Tarrant County by 8.6 points.
Harris and Trump were in Texas ahead of Election Day, holding dueling events on Friday, Oct. 25. Harris held a rally in Houston focused on abortion access where she was joined by celebrities like musicians Beyoncé and Kelly Rowland. Trump visited Austin to go on “The Joe Rogan Experience” podcast. He also held an event billed as “remarks to the press” where he discussed border security.
Abortion and immigration policies have been top campaign issues in the presidential election, with Texas often serving as a focal point given the state’s strict abortion laws and its proximity to the U.S.-Mexico border.
Presidential candidates are elected through the electoral college, with electors in each state meeting Dec. 17 to cast their votes for president. (Typically they vote for the candidate that won the state’s popular vote.) Congress certifies the electoral votes on Jan. 6.
This story was originally published November 5, 2024 at 7:10 PM.
