March 4, 2008 (2008-03-04) 2012 → 518,002 66,360 38.02% 4.87% Location Texas, United States | 697,767 518,002 51.22% 38.02% Date 4 March 2008 | |
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← 2004 March 4, 2008 (2008-03-04) | ||
The 2008 Texas Republican primary took place on March 4, 2008. John McCain won the primary election, giving him enough delegate votes to guarantee his nomination at the 2008 Republican National Convention.
Contents
Process
The Texas Republican primary process allocates delegates solely through the primary process. In addition to the candidates shown on the ballot, the ballot also shows a spot for "uncommitted".
Texas does not require a primary voter to be a registered party member – primaries are open to all voters, but a voter cannot vote in both the Republican and Democrat primaries; s/he must choose one or the other. In addition, voters who vote in a primary election cannot later sign a petition for a third-party or independent candidate to appear on the November general election ballot.
In 2008, Texas had 140 Republican delegates available for the taking, divided into three categories:
The delegate split for the congressional delegates uses a modified proportional methodology:
The delegate split for the at-large delegates uses a similar methodology. If a candidate receives over 50% of the vote, s/he receives all 41 delegates. Otherwise, the split is proportional to the statewide vote; however, a candidate must receive at least 20% of the statewide vote to earn any delegates.
The three "party leader" delegates are officially uncommitted.
The actual delegates are selected at precinct conventions on the date of the primary, which are held after the polls close at the site where voters in a precinct cast ballots (not always the same as early voting sites). Unlike the process in the Texas Democratic Party, these conventions only select the persons who will go to the state senatorial district, state, and the national conventions. All delegates are bound by the popular vote.
Results
The results of the Texas primary, along with the other three states (Ohio, Rhode Island, and Vermont), gave McCain the number of delegates needed to secure the Republican nomination. After these primaries, Mike Huckabee ended his presidential campaign.