Donald Trump handily won Texas and its 38 electoral votes on Tuesday, despite polling that at one point last month showed Trump only a few points ahead of Democrat Hillary Clinton.
The race was called shortly after 9 p.m. Democrats hope to turn Texas blue and could get there with the help of the state’s steadily growing Hispanic population, but not this year.
Texas this year became a symbol of GOP vulnerability this year when Democrats began investing resources in the state in an effort to boost down-ballot races. Clinton even aired television ads in Texas in October.
According to the NALEO Education Fund, Latinos voters were expected to increase by 10.5 percent between 2012 and 2016.
In 2012, Republican Mitt Romney won the state 57-41, improving on Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who bested President Obama in the Lone Star State by a margin of 56-44 in 2008.
Texas last voted for a Democrat in 1976, choosing Jimmy Carter over President Gerald Ford.
