On the Records: Mapping the Governor's Race

Bill White was, in the end, a lot like President Barack Obama in one important way: Both men won over similar Texas voters. The county-by-county map of voting results in the 2010 governor's race looks remarkably similar to the partisan split during in 2008, when Republican nominee John McCain won all but 28 counties over Obama. That's precisely how many counties Democrat Bill White secured in his loss to Gov. Rick Perry, the Republican.

Below is the 2010 map, which reflects Perry's 54-percentage point victory over White, who, unlike Obama, picked up Trinity, Falls and Foard counties. (Obama won three counties White didn't: Jefferson, Brewster and Kenedy).

These two-category thematic maps are interesting, but they don't show each candidates' performance ranges by county. So I made two more maps with graduated colors based on vote percentage for each candidate.

Perry had support all over Texas, of course, but especially in the west and in suburbs like Montgomery and Rockwall counties. He was weakest, as expected, in counties along the border (and in Travis County):

White's map shows the opposite, though it's interesting to see he received a decent amount of support in Swisher County and in pockets of northeast Texas.

And, last, I created this turnout map. Not sure what to make of it, except that voters in the Hill Country (not surprisingly) went to the polls in higher percentages than other parts of the state: 

Let us know if you have feedback or ideas for more visualizations. Be sure to follow @TribData on Twitter.