Tag Archives: Texas battleground

State news

Texas Democrats fall short, however …

By John Kanelis / johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

This needs to be said, so I’ll say it.

Texas Democrats keep telling us the state is about to “turn blue,” yet the state’s roster of elected statewide officials remains Republican. However, I do believe in the theory being kicked around that the Lone Star State’s population is shifting inexorably toward a more competitive political environment.

Let’s consider two key election cycles: 2018 and 2020.

The mid-term election of 2018 produced a near upset of astonishing proportions. Democrat Beto O’Rourke came within a slice of brisket of knocking off Republican U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz three years ago. He lost by, oh, just this much. O’Rourke got Democrats’ hearts to flutter.

Then came the 2020 presidential election. Donald Trump carried the state over Joe Biden and won its 38 Electoral College votes. But … Trump’s victory margin was less than half of what he earned against Hillary Clinton in 2016 and less than a third the size of the victory Mitt Romney posted against President Obama in 2012.

What does any of this portend? It might be a precursor to Democrats scoring the major electoral breakthrough for which they have been lusting.

Or … it might not.

I am going to go with the former theory.

Population trends do tend to take on lives of their own. Texas’s shift from solidly Democratic to solidly Republican has been followed by another — more nuanced — change. We are becoming a majority-minority state, meaning that ethnic minorities will comprise a majority of the state’s overall population.

I want the state to become competitive. I dislike having one party standing like a colossus over the landscape, especially when that party — the Republican Party — is dominated by assorted fruitcakes, wackos and nut jobs.

political news

Might the battleground be expanded for 2020?

Texas remains a “red” state. Just as California remains a “blue” state.

“Red” means Republican; “blue” means Democratic.

That is how political media and political operatives refer to the country. Red or blue. There’s also “purple,” which is what you get when you combine red with blue. “Purple” states are those that aren’t strongly either red or blue. It’s a blended color connoting the conflict between the parties for control of the political palette.

The midterm election drew a lot of eyes toward Texas. We had a competitive race for the U.S. Senate seat occupied by Republican Ted Cruz. The Democratic challenger, Beto O’Rourke, came within 3 percentage points of knocking Cruz off. That’s not supposed to happen in a strongly “red” state such as Texas. It did and now Democratic activists, strategists and assorted other partisans believe Texas stands on the cusp of turning purple.

Maybe. I would have thought so had Democrats been able to capture a single statewide office at the end of the midterm election balloting.

Here, though, is what might happen when the 2020 presidential campaign kicks into high gear: Texas might become much more of a “battleground state” that attracts presidential candidates for events other than closed-door, high-dollar fundraisers.

I’m beginning now to fantasize about big crowds gathering at rallies in Dallas or Fort Worth when the 2020 candidates start mapping out where the votes are.

Residents of places like Ohio, Virginia, Florida, North Carolina, Colorado, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania long have been courted by presidential hopefuls. Texas? Pffftt! The pols haven’t given so much as a first look, let alone a second look.

Democratic candidates for president have given up on Texas. Republican candidates have taken us for granted. Beto’s showing against Cruz might serve as a wakeup call for presidential candidates on both sides of the chasm.

Come the next election year, there could be a realization at campaign HQs in both parties that Texas’s 38 electoral votes are worth fighting for. We could see presidential nominees traipsing through State Fair crowds in Dallas in September of 2020. Our airwaves might be flooded with campaign ads. So might our mailboxes.

I’m not yet ready to declare that such an activity officially makes Texas a “purple” state. We’re still red, although after the midterm election it looks as though Texas isn’t quite as red as it has been since, oh, forever.