Heck, even Texas was closer than I expected, Dallas and Houston are permanently Blue, I’m afraid.
I was watching that too and it spooked the crap out of me.
Houston has been blue for a long time. The last Republican mayor was Jim McConn, who went out of office in 1982. Since then, we have endured the likes of Kathy Whitmire, Lee Brown, Anise Parker and now Sylvester Turner (who was ably supported in his mayoral bid by Sheila Jackson Lee). The city is a sanctuary city, so new democrats are popping up all the time.
Dallas, Houston, Austin, San Antonio, and El Paso are Democrat, but overall about 41 percent in those cities vote Republican. That provides enough cushion right now to still carry the state with the rural and small-town people, but the million-vote margins are now a thing of the past.
Agreed, Dallas and Houston are permanently blue.
But the relatively closer vote for President is, I believe, a temporary manifestation. Cruz still has a very strong following in the state and there was some genuine resentment about the personal attacks that characterized Trump's anti-Cruz strategy.
However, now that a measure of disapproval has been registered, I'd expect things to return to normal and Texas voters to fully support President Trump.
Recall that the statewide GOP candidates in 2014 received record numbers of Hispanic votes. It would appear that the legal Hispanics are converting to conservatism faster than the illegals are moving in.
I think a lot of Texans didn’t vote as Florida had more voters than Texas turn out. People see Texas as a red state but to many folks better not set at home. I thought Trump would win by 1.4 to 1.5 million he only won by 900,000 or so. Those extra votes could have helped the popular vote total some.
There’s nothing wrong that can’t be fixed with anti-vote fraud action.