Conventional wisdom says the Lone Star State is as politically red as they come. In fact, Texas Republicans haven’t lost a statewide race to their Democratic counterparts since 1990.
But many commentators think a “blue wave” of Democratic support is on the horizon. Last year, former congressman Beto O’Rourke came incredibly close to defeating Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in the race for his Senate seat.
O’Rourke’s narrow defeat, coupled with a surge of Democratic optimism in 2018, has GOPers in the state concerned. Sen. John Cornyn, whose seat is up for reelection in 2020, has expressed his dismay at the changing political landscape, saying, “If Texas turns back to a Democratic state, which it used to be, then we’ll never elect another Republican [president] in my lifetime.”
Just how blue can Texas get? What would a purple Texas mean for national elections? We sit down to discuss.
Produced by James Morrison.
1A Across America is funded through a grant from The Corporation for Public Broadcasting. CPB is a private, nonprofit corporation created by Congress in 1967 that is the steward of the federal government’s investment in public broadcasting.
GUESTS
Abby Livingston, Washington bureau chief, The Texas Tribune; @TexasTribAbby
Andrew Schneider, Politics and government reporter, Houston Public Media; @aschneider_hpm
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