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LetMyPeopleVote

(145,264 posts)
Wed Sep 7, 2022, 01:39 AM Sep 2022

How the biggest Republican stronghold in Texas could cost Gov. Abbott his job

There are good number of hard core Democrats who have been working for a long time to turn Texas blue. We are making progress due to some fun demographic trends and some hard work. Texas has been trending blue for a while. There are fun demographic trends that combine the fact that Texas is becoming less rural and that more older GOP voters are dying and are being replaced by younger more democratic voters. In addition, there is a region of Texas called the "Blue Spine" which is basically a corridor that runs from San Antonio to Dallas that is becoming a strong hold. These demographic trends may flip Texas in 2022



https://www.houstonchronicle.com/politics/election/2022/article/texas-gop-stronghold-beto-abbott-17411261.php?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=socialflow

A surge of Democratic-leaning voter registrations over the last four years has turned Harris County bluer and made the suburbs along Interstate 35 into a blue spine that went big for O’Rourke in 2018 and Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential race.....

900,000 new voters in ‘Blue Spine’
In 2018, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz beat O’Rourke by just 215,000 votes, and more than half of that margin coming from the Panhandle and South Plains, where Cruz won 3 out of every 4 voters. Cruz beat O’Rourke by 124,000 votes in those regions.

But in the four years since, those 46 counties have added just 10,000 voters, while there are more than 900,000 more in the 23 counties along the urbanizing and diversifying blue spine and Harris County, Texas Secretary of State data shows.

If O’Rourke can raise turnout and win the majority of those new voters in increasingly Democratic territory, 30 years of Red State dominance could be in the hands of those South Plains and Panhandle voters, and how much they want to defend Gov. Greg Abbott, a two-term governor.

Beto has held a ton of events in West Texas and smaller counties and has generated good crowds who are supporting Beto

If Texas turns blue, there is no way that the GOP will be competitve in the electoral college
21 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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How the biggest Republican stronghold in Texas could cost Gov. Abbott his job (Original Post) LetMyPeopleVote Sep 2022 OP
I've been hearing this about Texas for a long time. James48 Sep 2022 #1
Ahem. Roe v. Wade. dchill Sep 2022 #5
tx isnt red, it's suppressed. and also mopinko Sep 2022 #9
Same ananda Sep 2022 #11
The problem with relying on demographic trends is that they take time to manifest LetMyPeopleVote Sep 2022 #16
Sounds very promising. I continue to support Beto and my friends in Texas. n/t CaliforniaPeggy Sep 2022 #2
And we Texans appreciate it!! DFW Sep 2022 #6
Thank you for your lovely comment, my dear DFW! I appreciate your appreciation! CaliforniaPeggy Sep 2022 #21
Kick dalton99a Sep 2022 #3
San Antonio is very blue SlimJimmy Sep 2022 #4
I hope Beto keeps drawing them in. brer cat Sep 2022 #7
These articles always discount voter suppression Takket Sep 2022 #8
Texans are gearing up to fight voter suppression LetMyPeopleVote Sep 2022 #15
WHY, are we the only democracy with an Electoral College System? czarjak Sep 2022 #10
It's a convoluted system designed to reward the South for slavery Buckeyeblue Sep 2022 #13
Parliamentary systems ITAL Sep 2022 #17
Go Beto! malaise Sep 2022 #12
Blue Spine. I like it! tanyev Sep 2022 #14
If only. Am only withholding Rec because too good to be true. UTUSN Sep 2022 #18
And the only way for Beto to get anything done, he'll need a dem legislators MagickMuffin Sep 2022 #19
A wave can break through voter suppression schemes and then repair the damages. Hermit-The-Prog Sep 2022 #20

James48

(4,436 posts)
1. I've been hearing this about Texas for a long time.
Wed Sep 7, 2022, 01:51 AM
Sep 2022

Maybe 15 years ago they were saying it will only be one or two more elections before Texas turns blue.

I’ll believe it when I see it actually happen. Let’s hope America still exists then, and Texas GOP doesn’t simply decides to stop doing state elections. I wouldn’t put that past them.

Good luck, and keep up the work-

LetMyPeopleVote

(145,264 posts)
16. The problem with relying on demographic trends is that they take time to manifest
Wed Sep 7, 2022, 09:55 AM
Sep 2022

I have been following these trends for a long time. The key two trends are Texas becoming less rural and older voters dying and being replaced by younger voters. At one point, Texas was projected to turn blue by 2024 or 2026. Abbott and TFG may have helped these trends a little by killing off more GOP voters with COVID



The overturning of Roe and Greg Abbott's stupidity with respect to the power grid and Uvalde are also helping

Texas will turn blue.

Takket

(21,571 posts)
8. These articles always discount voter suppression
Wed Sep 7, 2022, 04:43 AM
Sep 2022

Hate to be a wet blanket but it isn’t enough to simply have more support. Your supporters have to have the ability to vote. And when they vote it has to be counted.

Beto will lose thousands of votes because of huge lines and lack of absentee ballots that the rethugs intentionally put in place. Along with rules to toss out legal votes because someone’s “signature doesn’t match” for example.

The mountain for Beto to climb is much higher than just having more supporters.

Buckeyeblue

(5,499 posts)
13. It's a convoluted system designed to reward the South for slavery
Wed Sep 7, 2022, 07:08 AM
Sep 2022

The south was over represented in congress because the African Americans who were slaves were figured into the overall population. Of course, these individuals had zero rights. But this artificially propped up southern representation. The electoral college is just an extension of this thought.

If we are going to be honest, the US has always been two different countries. The original slave states and the rest of us. The founding fathers would have been better off saying you go your way, I'll go mine. The south could have had their country, the north theirs. But the world would be much different today. Slavery would have probably lasted another 50 years. Who knows what else would be different.

ITAL

(637 posts)
17. Parliamentary systems
Wed Sep 7, 2022, 09:58 AM
Sep 2022

Can also award the party that gets less votes if they win more seats overall. The last time it happened in Great Britain was 1974. Australia just did it this year. It's rare, but it does happen.

MagickMuffin

(15,943 posts)
19. And the only way for Beto to get anything done, he'll need a dem legislators
Wed Sep 7, 2022, 11:09 AM
Sep 2022


That needs to be expressed at all his town halls.

Hermit-The-Prog

(33,347 posts)
20. A wave can break through voter suppression schemes and then repair the damages.
Wed Sep 7, 2022, 11:53 AM
Sep 2022

Roe, Roe, Roe your vote
against theocracy!
Republicans revoke your rights
and kill democracy!

Donate to 38 House candidates: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217067267
Stick 'em up for a blue wave: https://www.democraticunderground.com/100217078977

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