Starr County, Texas is a rural county located in the Rio Grande Valley along the U.S.-Mexico border. It is known for its unique cultural heritage, which has been shaped by generations of Mexican immigrants and Native Americans. The population of Starr County is comprised mainly of Hispanics and Native Americans who have lived there for decades, many since before it was even formed into a county. Politically, Starr County is part of District 34 in the Texas House of Representatives and is currently represented by Eddie Lucio III. At the local level, political positions are held by elected officials from Starr County including the County Judge and Justices of the Peace among others. There are also several municipal governments located in Starr County that are responsible for providing services to their respective communities. Public education is a major issue in Starr County due to its large Hispanic population whose median household income is below the state average. As such, local politicians must work to ensure that schools have adequate resources and that students have access to quality educational opportunities.
The political climate in Starr County, TX is leaning liberal.
In Starr County, TX 52.1% of the people voted Democrat in the last presidential election, 47.1% voted for the Republican Party, and the remaining 0.9% voted Independent.
In the last Presidential election, Starr county remained Democratic, 52.1% to 47.1%.
Starr county voted Democratic in every Presidential election since 2000.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index
Starr County, TX is leaning liberal.
Rio Grande City-Roma Metro Area is leaning liberal.
Texas is leaning conservative.
The BestPlaces liberal/conservative index is based on recent voting in national elections, federal campaign contributions by local residents, and consumer personality profiles.
VoteWord™
Displaying 20 years of Presidential voting, visualized in one word.
Starr, Texas: D D D D D d
How It Works:
Here at BestPlaces, we were looking at the voting patterns since the 2000 election and realized that we could express the results of each election as one letter. R if the Republican Party candidate won, D for the Democrat and I for the Independent. The six elections (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020) would be expressed as six-letter word (R R D R R).
Then we went a little further and added the dimension of magnitude. If the difference of victory was greater than 10 percent, the letter is upper case, and lower case if the difference was less than 10 percent. This allows us to see interesting voting patterns at just a glance.
Here's the VoteWord for Iowa d r d d r. In the last six elections the state has been closely contested, voting narrowly for the Republican Party candidate in 2016 and 2020 after voting for the Democratic Party in 2008 and 2012. Virginia (r r d d d D) has voted for the Democratic Party in the last three elections.
Individual Campaign Contributions in Starr County, TX
In the last 4 years (2018-2021), there were 237 contributions totaling $62,848 to the Democratic Party and liberal campaigns, averaging $265 per contribution.
In the last 4 years, there were 100 contributions totaling $39,080 to the Republican Party and conservative campaigns, averaging $391 per contribution.
(source: Federal Election Commission)