Whether Beto O’Rourke wins or not, he has energized Texas Democrats in a way I have not seen since Ann Richards was governor. Democrats last won a statewide election in 1994. Since then, Republicans have handily won every statewide office. In Texas, Republicans have routinely used Democrats as their whipping boy without fear of consequences, even as their own political positions became tilted more and more toward corporate donors and away from regular working people. That era may be coming to an end.
My own suburban Sugar Land precinct has historically voted 75% Republican. Yet there are as many Beto yard signs as there are Ted Cruz signs. Our 22nd US House District is represented by Republican Pete Olson who beat his Democratic opponent by 60-40% in 2016. Yet we have a great candidate, Sri Preston Kulkarni who is making a formidable challenge to Olson this year.
While I was out block walking, a man stopped and rolled down his car window. He volunteered that he was from Austin and, as a libertarian, had voted Republican all his life. This year he was voting straight Democratic because he was very unhappy with the way our state was run. I went to one house that sported a Beto sign and a man answered the door. When I wondered why he was not on our list of likely Democratic voters, he said that he was formerly a Republican but no longer. I know this is only anecdotal evidence, but when Texas Democrats are no longer afraid to post signs declaring their political preference and people are switching parties, something big is happening.