PVI Score: State presidential vote relative to nationwide vote More Rep. ’88 ‘92 ’96 ’00 ’04 ’08 ’12 ‘84 More Dem. ’80

The country is more than just red states and blue states. Some former battlegrounds have moved to the sidelines. Other once reliably Republican or Democratic states have come into play as the composition of their electorates change.

One way to gauge partisan tilt is by using a partisan voter index, which measures how many points more Republican or Democratic a state is than the nation overall, based on the two-party share of the vote. Since it is a relative measure, a state like Florida—which Democrats won in 2008 and 2012—appears slightly Republican leaning because Democrats' margin of victory there was smaller than the national popular vote.

Here’s a look at how Republican or Democratic each state has been from 1980 to 2012.