 President Richard Nixon in 1972 became the first Republican to ever win the county in an election with 54% of the vote against Democrat George McGovern's 45.4%.After 1972, the county returned to voting Democrat, surviving the landslide elections of Republicans Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush in 1980, 1984, and 1988, respectively.In fact, Newton County was Walter Mondale's strongest county in East Texas in the 1984 election, winning 60.6% of the vote, and one of only four in the region to vote for him.