Since April, The Signal has published a number of stories regarding Texas’ swing state status ahead of the 2020 elections. That doesn’t mean the state will go blue. That means the state is, or will be, in play. And the national political media is beginning to chime in.
Politico: Texas Republicans brace for 2020 drubbing (8/12/19)
- “As bad as it’s been for Texas Republicans lately, some members of the party are warning that 2020 could be even worse. ‘If the Republican Party in Texas doesn’t start looking like Texas, there won’t be a Republican Party in Texas,’ retiring Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), who represents a key swing district, told POLITICO. Texas’ Latinos are on pace to become the largest population group in the state by 2022. Last cycle was ‘without a doubt a wake-up call to most elected officials,’ said Hurd. ‘Texas is indeed purple.’”
- “‘Republicans need to be very concerned about Texas,’ said Texas Republican Rep. Brian Babin. “Texas is definitely in play. We need to take this very, very seriously.’”
Real Clear Politics: Yes, the GOP should worry about Texas (8/8/19)
- “Once one realizes that urban/suburban areas cast a supermajority of the vote in Texas, one realizes quickly that the rural and small-town areas can’t keep the Republican Party afloat in Texas forever. I wouldn’t bet the farm, or the cattle ranch if one prefers, on Texas turning blue this cycle. But the state is not safe for Republicans in 2020 either, and it will likely be very competitive.”
The Washington Post: ‘Take Texas seriously’: GOP anxiety spikes after retirements, Democratic gains (8/2/19)
- “‘The president’s reelection campaign needs to take Texas seriously,’ Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) said in an interview. He added that while he remains optimistic about the GOP’s chances, it is ‘by no means a given’ that Trump will carry Texas—and its 38 electoral votes—next year or that Sen. John Cornyn (R-Tex.) will be reelected. For a state that once elevated the Bush family and was forged into a Republican stronghold by Karl Rove, it is an increasingly uncertain time.”
The Washington Post: Blue Texas is a Democratic dream. Shifting left is a reality. (8/9/19)
- Trump gave Texas Democrats a way to grow their support—by gaining Romney-and-Bush-loving suburbanites—without giving Texas Republicans a corresponding way to make up for those. The Bush-era Republican Party was better at winning Southern suburbs and at least seemed to want to reach out to Latinos. The Trump-era version can’t or won’t do the same, and that’s turned Texas from an untouchably red state to the sort of light-red worry that probably gnaws at Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel.
CNN: A Texas-sized problem for Trump (6/6/19)
- “Texas was never as reliably Republican as conventional wisdom suggested in the 2000s. Its large and growing Hispanic population makes it an emerging swing state.”
What more?
CNN: Here’s why Donald Trump needs to expand the 2020 map (6/11/19)
CNN Politics: From a former disbeliever: Why Texas could go blue in 2020 (8/8/19)
Vox: “Texodus,” House Democrats’ favorite new 2020 phenomenon, explained (8/5/19)
The Hill: Texas may cost Trump 2020 (7/4/19)
CBNNews: ‘A sense of urgency’ as Republicans race to keep Texas red (7/29/19)
Daily Kos: Battleground TX: GOP freak-out now public; Texodus; The chart scaring GOP; NYT-GOP sirens going off! (8/5/19)
