Two "faithless electors" from Texas refused to vote for President-elect Donald Trump Donald John TrumpArizona GOP Senate candidate defends bus tour with far-right activist Alyssa Milano protests Kavanaugh in 'Handmaid's Tale' costume Bomb in deadly Yemen school bus attack was manufactured by US firm: report MORE on Monday, leaving his official Electoral College vote two shy of what he earned on Election Night. 
 
 Despite a concerted push from liberals to convince Republican electors to go rogue, all remained united around their party's nominee until Texas, the final Republican state to report results. 
 
 All but two of Texas' 38 electors followed suit. One elector, Dallas's Christopher Suprun, had already declared his intent to vote for Ohio Republican Gov. John Kasich, who briefly emerged as a compromise pick for anti-Trump electors before rejecting their support. Suprun followed through on that pledge. 
 
 But a second elector chose to back former Texas Republican Rep. Ron Paul instead of Trump. 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT That brings Trump's Electoral College vote total to 304, two shy of the 306 he would have won without the defections. 
 
 Texas conducts its electoral votes by a secret ballot, so the identity of the second defector will be unknown unless he or she comes forward. The defections bothered Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. He tweeted moments after the vote that he will push the legislature to pass a bill to bind electors to the state's popular vote winner during the next legislative session, which begins in January. 
 
 Three Washington state electors chose to vote for former Secretary of State Colin Powell, presumably in response to the push for Democrats to unite around a compromise Republican that wasn't Trump. And one additional Washington elector voted for Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American activist. 
 
 Three other Democrats—one in Maine, Colorado and Minnesota—had attempted to vote for another candidate. Two were replaced based on state laws that bind electors to the popular vote result, while one changed his mind. ||||| Democratic elector Robert Satiacum stands to speak during a meeting of Washington state's Electoral College on Dec. 19, in Olympia, Wash. | AP Photo Electoral College sees record-breaking defections 
 
 The seven so-called “faithless” votes cast by members of the Electoral College on Monday may go down as a noisy footnote to an otherwise chaotic 2016 election. But they also represent a historic breach between electors and the candidates they were expected to vote for. 
 
 The number of faithless votes has now become the most-ever cast in a single presidential election. The record was set in 1808, when six Democratic-Republican electors opposed James Madison. It’s also the first time since 1832 in which more than a single elector cast a faithless vote. 
 
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 The bulk of the votes came from Washington state, where three Democratic electors bucked Hillary Clinton and cast votes for Colin Powell, a retired general, an African-American — and a Republican. These Democrats were supporting a failed effort meant to block the election of Donald Trump and unite behind an alternative Republican candidate. Powell turned out to be their choice. 
 
 A fourth Washington state elector — Robert Satiacum — cast his ballot for Native American activist Faith Spotted Eagle. And a fifth vote against Clinton came late Monday in Hawaii, where one elector voted for Bernie Sanders. 
 
 The only two anti-Trump votes occurred in Texas. One, cast by elector Chris Suprun for Ohio Gov. John Kasich, was expected. But a second, cast by an unknown elector for libertarian former Rep. Ron Paul, was a surprise. 
 
 As remarkable as the level of faithless voting turned out to be, the numbers could have been even higher. Three additional Democratic electors — one each in Maine, Minnesota and Colorado — attempted to buck Clinton as well but they were denied the chance to do so by state election officials. 
 
 Maine’s David Bright initially cast his vote for Sanders, Clinton’s primary rival. But after he was told his vote was improper, based on a state law, he changed his mind and supported Clinton. Minnesota elector Muhammad Abdurrahman also attempted to back Sanders but he was quickly replaced under a similar Minnesota law with an elector who voted for Clinton. 
 
 In Colorado, elector Micheal Baca — a leader of the anti-Trump Electoral College effort — was removed as he attempted to cast a vote for Kasich. He says he intends to fight his removal and cast the vote as he intended. 
 
 Monday marked the first time any state laws that bind electors have been enforced. Though many have been on the books for decades, electors have nearly unanimously backed their party’s candidate throughout history — when there have been single stray votes in recent history, they’ve typically gone unchallenged and unenforced. 
 
 Only 157 faithless votes have ever been recorded in total, and most came before the turn of the 20th century. 
 
 The last faithless electoral vote occurred in Minnesota in 2004, when an unknown elector cast a ballot for John Kerry’s running mate, John Edwards. ||||| Amid protests and intense media coverage, Texas members of the Electoral College mostly stuck to the script Monday, casting the votes that gave Donald Trump a majority and officially elected him president. 
 
 Gathered in the state House chamber as a small group of protesters shouted, “Save our democracy,” from outside the Capitol, the Texas electors cast 36 votes for Donald Trump, one for former U.S. Rep. Ron Paul, R-Surfside, and one for Ohio Gov. John Kasich. 
 
 The Electoral College, typically a footnote in the process of choosing a president, received unusual attention this year as opponents of Trump on both sides of the aisle grappled with his unexpected victory. Members from Texas played a central role in the uncertainty over whether electors would decline en masse to vote in accordance with their states’ election results. 
 
 In the end, only a handful of electors pledged to Trump or Democrat Hillary Clinton broke with their states’ voters. 
 
 Texas elector Bill Greene voted for Paul, and the Kasich vote came from Christopher Suprun, who made national headlines in the run-up to Monday’s vote after announcing he would be a so-called faithless elector in an opinion article in The New York Times. 
 
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 After Monday’s vote, Suprun said the effort to get electors to join him in voting against Trump was an “uphill battle” but he doesn’t regret it. 
 
 “I consider Mr. Trump still to be a demagogue. He continues to divide us based on whether or not you’re male or female, and if you’re a female, are you a 4 or a 10; where you worship; the color of your skin, ” said Suprun, who supported U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in the primaries but now objects to the Texas senator over his September endorsement of Trump. 
 
 Another Texan, Art Sisneros of Dayton, also opposed Trump but resigned rather than vote for him or break a pledge he made at the Republican Party of Texas convention to vote for the candidate who wins the popular vote of the state. 
 
 Elector Mary Lou Erben of New Braunfels said she also voted for Cruz in the primary but likes Trump and believes electors should follow the wishes of their states’ voters. 
 
 Trump won by 9 percentage points in Texas. 
 
 “I agreed to vote for our nominee,” Erben said after the vote. “I started out with Cruz, but I support both.” 
 
 For vice president, 37 Texans chose Trump’s running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, and Suprun chose Austin native Carly Fiorina, whose presidential candidacy never gained traction. In the waning days of his campaign, Cruz announced Fiorina would be his running mate if he secured the nomination. 
 
 Trump lost the national popular vote by about 2.9 million votes but won a majority of enough states to give him a 306-232 advantage in the Electoral College, if all of those states’ electors had voted unanimously for the winner of the state’s popular vote. 
 
 Twenty-nine states have laws requiring their electors to do so. The others, including Texas, do not. There is debate over whether laws that bind electors would survive legal challenges because the Constitution does not require members of the Electoral College to vote a certain way. 
 
 Gov. Greg Abbott on Monday said he will support a bill that would bind Texas electors to their states’ election result. “I look forward to signing it and ending this circus,” Abbott wrote on Twitter. 
 
 Texas’ 38 electors were chosen at the state GOP convention in July. They were greeted outside the Capitol on Monday by several hundred demonstrators chanting, “Dump Trump,” and before the proceedings began they were met by Abbott; Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick; and U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas. 
 
 Daniel Brezenoff, the creator of a national online petition calling on the electors to pick Clinton that gained 4.9 million signatures, came to the Capitol on Monday morning to deliver the names of 265,000 Texans who had signed. 
 
 Four of the electors who were appointed at the Texas GOP convention were absent Monday, including Sisneros. The other three discovered they were ineligible because they either have a federal job or hold an elected office, said Alicia Pierce, spokeswoman for the secretary of state’s office. Their vacancies were filled on the floor by a vote of the other electors. ||||| Electoral vote 46th out of 58 elections Trump 57% Popular vote margin 47th in the last 49 elections Trump –2.1% The popular vote was not officially reported before the 1824 election. 
 
 Mr. Trump won 30 states, gathering 306 of 538 electoral votes. There have been 45 presidential elections in which the winning candidate won a larger share of the electoral vote. 
 
 Percent of electoral vote won 
 
 1. George Washington (1789) George Washington (1792) 3. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1936) 4. James Monroe (1820) 5. Ronald Reagan (1984) 6. Richard Nixon (1972) 7. Thomas Jefferson (1804) 8. Abraham Lincoln (1864) 9. Ronald Reagan (1980) 10. Lyndon B. Johnson (1964) 11. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1932) 12. Dwight Eisenhower (1956) 13. Franklin Pierce (1852) 14. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1940) 15. James Monroe (1816) 16. Herbert Hoover (1928) 17. Dwight Eisenhower (1952) 18. Woodrow Wilson (1912) 19. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1944) 20. Ulysses Grant (1872) 21. William H. Harrison (1840) 22. George Bush (1988) 23. Warren G. Harding (1920) 24. Andrew Jackson (1832) 25. Ulysses Grant (1868) 26. Calvin Coolidge (1924) 27. Theodore Roosevelt (1904) 28. Bill Clinton (1996) 29. James Madison (1808) 30. Bill Clinton (1992) 31. Andrew Jackson (1828) 32. Barack Obama (2008) 33. William Taft (1908) 34. William McKinley (1900) 35. Grover Cleveland (1892) 36. James K. Polk (1844) 37. Barack Obama (2012) 38. William McKinley (1896) 39. Abraham Lincoln (1860) 40. James Madison (1812) 41. James Buchanan (1856) 42. Benjamin Harrison (1888) 43. James Garfield (1880) 44. Martin Van Buren (1836) 45. Harry Truman (1948) 46. Donald J. Trump (2016) 47. John F. Kennedy (1960) 48. Zachary Taylor (1848) 49. Richard Nixon (1968) 50. Jimmy Carter (1976) 51. Grover Cleveland (1884) 52. George W. Bush (2004) 53. Thomas Jefferson (1800) 54. Woodrow Wilson (1916) 55. John Adams (1796) 56. George W. Bush (2000) 57. Rutherford B. Hayes (1876) 58. John Quincy Adams (1824)* 100% 100% 98.5% 98.3% 97.6% 96.7% 92.0% 91.0% 90.9% 90.3% 88.9% 86.1% 85.8% 84.6% 84.3% 83.6% 83.2% 81.9% 81.4% 81.3% 79.6% 79.2% 76.1% 76.0% 72.8% 71.9% 70.6% 70.4% 69.7% 68.8% 68.2% 67.8% 66.5% 65.3% 62.4% 61.8% 61.7% 60.6% 59.4% 59.0% 58.8% 58.1% 58.0% 57.8% 57.1% 56.9% 56.4% 56.2% 55.9% 55.2% 54.6% 53.2% 52.9% 52.2% 51.4% 50.4% 50.1% 32.2% 1. G. Washington (1789) G. Washington (1792) 3. F. D. Roosevelt (1936) 4. J. Monroe (1820) 5. R. Reagan (1984) 6. R. Nixon (1972) 7. T. Jefferson (1804) 8. A. Lincoln (1864) 9. R. Reagan (1980) 10. L. Johnson (1964) 11. F. D. Roosevelt (1932) 12. D. Eisenhower (1956) 13. F. Pierce (1852) 14. F. D. Roosevelt (1940) 15. J. Monroe (1816) 16. H. Hoover (1928) 17. D. Eisenhower (1952) 18. W. Wilson (1912) 19. F. D. Roosevelt (1944) 20. U. Grant (1872) 21. W. H. Harrison (1840) 22. G. Bush (1988) 23. W. Harding (1920) 24. A. Jackson (1832) 25. U. Grant (1868) 26. C. Coolidge (1924) 27. T. Roosevelt (1904) 28. B. Clinton (1996) 29. J. Madison (1808) 30. B. Clinton (1992) 31. A. Jackson (1828) 32. B. Obama (2008) 33. W. Taft (1908) 34. W McKinley (1900) 35. G. Cleveland (1892) 36. J. K. Polk (1844) 37. B. Obama (2012) 38. W. McKinley (1896) 39. A. Lincoln (1860) 40. J. Madison (1812) 41. J. Buchanan (1856) 42. B Harrison (1888) 43. J. Garfield (1880) 44. M. V. Buren (1836) 45. H. Truman (1948) 46. D. J. Trump (2016) 47. J. F. Kennedy (1960) 48. Z. Taylor (1848) 49. R. Nixon (1968) 50. J. Carter (1976) 51. G. Cleveland (1884) 52. G. W. Bush (2004) 53. T. Jefferson (1800) 54. W. Wilson (1916) 55. J. Adams (1796) 56. G. W. Bush (2000) 57. R. Hayes (1876) 58. J. Q. Adams (1824) 100% 100% 98.5% 98.3% 97.6% 96.7% 92.0% 91.0% 90.9% 90.3% 88.9% 86.1% 85.8% 84.6% 84.3% 83.6% 83.2% 81.9% 81.4% 81.3% 79.6% 79.2% 76.1% 76.0% 72.8% 71.9% 70.6% 70.4% 69.7% 68.8% 68.2% 67.8% 66.5% 65.3% 62.4% 61.8% 61.7% 60.6% 59.4% 59.0% 58.8% 58.1% 58.0% 57.8% 57.1% 56.9% 56.4% 56.2% 55.9% 55.2% 54.6% 53.2% 52.9% 52.2% 51.4% 50.4% 50.1% 32.2% 
 
 Mr. Trump trails in the popular vote by over 2.5 million votes as states continue to report final results. His deficit gives him the third-worst vote margin among winning candidates since 1824. 
 
 Popular vote margin 
 
 1. Warren G. Harding (1920) 2. Calvin Coolidge (1924) 3. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1936) 4. Richard Nixon (1972) 5. Lyndon B. Johnson (1964) 6. Theodore Roosevelt (1904) 7. Ronald Reagan (1984) 8. Andrew Jackson (1832) 9. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1932) 10. Herbert Hoover (1928) 11. Dwight Eisenhower (1956) 12. Woodrow Wilson (1912) 13. Martin Van Buren (1836) 14. Andrew Jackson (1828) 15. James Buchanan (1856) 16. Ulysses Grant (1872) 17. Dwight Eisenhower (1952) 18. Abraham Lincoln (1860) 19. Abraham Lincoln (1864) 20. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1940) 21. Ronald Reagan (1980) 22. William Taft (1908) 23. Bill Clinton (1996) 24. George H.W. Bush (1988) 25. Franklin D. Roosevelt (1944) 26. Barack Obama (2008) 27. Franklin Pierce (1852) 28. William McKinley (1900) 29. William H. Harrison (1840) 30. Bill Clinton (1992) 31. Ulysses Grant (1868) 32. Zachary Taylor (1848) 33. Harry Truman (1948) 34. William McKinley (1896) 35. Barack Obama (2012) 36. Woodrow Wilson (1916) 37. Grover Cleveland (1892) 38. George W. Bush (2004) 39. Jimmy Carter (1976) 40. James K. Polk (1844) 41. Richard Nixon (1968) 42. Grover Cleveland (1884) 43. John F. Kennedy (1960) 44. James Garfield (1880) 45. George W. Bush (2000) 46. Benjamin Harrison (1888) 47. Donald J. Trump (2016) 48. Rutherford B. Hayes (1876) 49. John Quincy Adams (1824)* +26.2% +25.2% +24.3% +23.1% +22.6% +18.8% +18.2% +17.8% +17.8% +17.4% +15.4% +14.4% +14.2% +12.3% +12.2% +11.8% +10.9% +10.1% +10.1% +9.9% +9.7% +8.5% +8.5% +7.7% +7.5% +7.3% +6.9% +6.2% +6.0% +5.6% +5.3% +4.8% +4.5% +4.3% +3.9% +3.1% +3.0% +2.5% +2.1% +1.5% +0.7% +0.6% +0.2% +0.1% -0.5% -0.8% -2.1% -3.0% -10.4% 1. J. Q. Adams (1824) 2. R. Hayes (1876) 3. D. J. Trump (2016) 4. B Harrison (1888) 5. G. W. Bush (2000) 6. J. Garfield (1880) 7. J. F. Kennedy (1960) 8. G. Cleveland (1884) 9. R. Nixon (1968) 10. J. K. Polk (1844) 11. J. Carter (1976) 12. G. W. Bush (2004) 13. G. Cleveland (1892) 14. W. Wilson (1916) 15. B. Obama (2012) 16. W. McKinley (1896) 17. H. Truman (1948) 18. Z. Taylor (1848) 19. U. Grant (1868) 20. B. Clinton (1992) 21. W. H. Harrison (1840) 22. W McKinley (1900) 23. F. Pierce (1852) 24. B. Obama (2008) 25. F. D. Roosevelt (1944) 26. G. Bush (1988) 27. B. Clinton (1996) 28. W. Taft (1908) 29. R. Reagan (1980) 30. F. D. Roosevelt (1940) 31. A. Lincoln (1864) 32. A. Lincoln (1860) 33. D. Eisenhower (1952) 34. U. Grant (1872) 35. J. Buchanan (1856) 36. A. Jackson (1828) 37. M. V. Buren (1836) 38. W. Wilson (1912) 39. D. Eisenhower (1956) 40. H. Hoover (1928) 41. F. D. Roosevelt (1932) 42. A. Jackson (1832) 43. R. Reagan (1984) 44. T. Roosevelt (1904) 45. L. Johnson (1964) 46. R. Nixon (1972) 47. F. D. Roosevelt (1936) 48. C. Coolidge (1924) 49. W. Harding (1920) -10.4% -3.0% -2.1% -0.8% -0.5% +0.1% +0.2% +0.6% +0.7% +1.5% +2.1% +2.5% +3.0% +3.1% +3.9% +4.3% +4.5% +4.8% +5.3% +5.6% +6.0% +6.2% +6.9% +7.3% +7.5% +7.7% +8.5% +8.5% +9.7% +9.9% +10.1% +10.1% +10.9% +11.8% +12.2% +12.3% +14.2% +14.4% +15.4% +17.4% +17.8% +17.8% +18.2% +18.8% +22.6% +23.1% +24.3% +25.2% +26.2%
– Only two Republican electors voted against Donald Trump in the Electoral College Monday—but that was two too many for leading Republicans in Texas, where both of the "faithless" GOP electors hail from. The Hill reports that moments after the vote, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted that he was looking forward to signing a bill that would require electors to follow the state's popular votes. "This charade is over," he said. "A bill is already filed to make these commitments binding." One "faithless" Texas elector, Bill Greene, voted for Ron Paul, while the other, Christopher Suprun, voted for John Kasich. Trump's final margin was 304 to 227 for Hillary Clinton. The New York Times reports that his electoral college win ranks 46th out of 58 electoral college margins in US history. "I consider Mr. Trump still to be a demagogue. He continues to divide us based on whether or not you're male or female, and if you're a female, are you a 4 or a 10; where you worship; the color of your skin," Suprun tells the Austin American-Statesman. A total of five Democratic electors, four in Washington state and one in Hawaii, voted against Hillary Clinton, bringing the total number of faithless electors to a record seven, Politico reports. Three of the Washington electors backed Colin Powell and the fourth chose Faith Spotted Eagle, a Native American activist. The Hawaiian elector voted for Bernie Sanders. The previous record was set in 1808, with six faithless electors. There could have been even more this time around, but election officials blocked electors in several states when they attempted to buck their party's nominee.