The Austin Community College District’s Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS) reveals straight ticket voting was at its highest level in more than a decade among 40 major counties in the November 2 gubernatorial election.

CPPPS analysis shows straight ticket votes accounted for nearly 58 percent of the ballots cast in the counties that made up approximately 80 percent of the overall vote. That’s a marked increase over other gubernatorial votes in the past 12 years.

• 2010: 57.7 percent
• 2006: 45 percent
• 2002: 49.6 percent
• 1998: 47.6 percent

“This year’s election was highly nationalized. When that’s the case, we see more straight ticket votes,” says Peck Young, CPPPS director. “Voting straight party is about voting a brand, and Texas voters showed their preference for the Republican brand.”

Republicans won 57 percent of the straight ticket votes in those counties, while Democrats garnered 41 percent.

Straight ticket votes made up an even greater percentage of ballots cast, 61 percent, in the eight Texas counties (Harris, Dallas, Tarrant, Bexar, Travis, Collin, Lubbock, and Fort Bend) that represented 51 percent of the vote in the governor’s race. In those areas, Republicans won the straight ticket vote by a margin of 54.6 percent, compared with 44.8 percent for Democrats.

Texans cast nearly 5 million votes for governor.

CPPPS will issue a more detailed report on straight ticket voting next month.