For the second presidential election in a row, Tarrant County can stake a claim as a microcosm of the state of Texas.

Last month, the percentage of Tarrant voters who backed Mitt Romney over President Obama (57.1 percent to 41.4 percent) mirrored the results in that race statewide (57.2 percent to 41.4 percent). Tarrant did the same trick in 2008, when it went 55.4 percent for John McCain to 43.7 percent for Obama. Overall in Texas, 55.5 percent voted for McCain and 43.7 percent for Obama.

The results add credence to the notion of Tarrant County as a bellwether of the state’s political shift, an assessment long made by Texas political observers and recently promoted by The New York Times’ much-read FiveThirtyEight blog.

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