There’s a front page diary describing Republicans’ concern about Texas being in play this presidential cycle. Progressives on the ground in Texas are working diligently to make this happen, and we welcome you to join us in the fight. However, since it’s been a couple decades since a Democrat has held a statewide office in Texas, let’s clear up a few misperceptions about our state.
When people mention Texas’ “changing demographics” or refer to Latinos in Texas as POC, I believe there are some assumptions at play. First, not all Hispanics/Latinos identify as POC. Over half identify as white. Second, most, but certainly not all Latinos in Texas vote Democratic—Bush got 40% of the Latino vote in 2004. Another consideration is that many Mexican Americans in Texas trace their roots to before Texas was a state. They don’t view themselves a part of any “changing demographics”.
Finally, and as progressives know (but many others don’t), asylum seekers from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala have greatly outpaced the number of immigrants from Mexico. Nevertheless, when Trump proclaims there’s a crisis at the U.S. Mexico border, and that “Mexico is going to pay for a wall”, people assume asylum seekers are Mexican. In his ignorance to stop “invaders”, the El Paso shooter killed U.S. citizens and Mexican Nationals. The GOP is counting on this ignorance to confuse and divide Texans.
While the demographics in Texas are a positive factor, we MUST continue to combat low voter turnout. Traditionally Democrats have overestimated Latino voter participation, but the the conditions on the ground are in our favor:
A set of unique conditions have begun to crystallize into more Hispanic participation in Texas. Among them, the end of the “Latino friendly” Republican Party from the ex-Texas Governor and then-President George W. Bush era, a backlash from President Donald Trump’s “zero tolerance” immigration policies, motivation with Latina candidates in top state tickets, and unparalleled innovative mobilization efforts led by Latinos themselves,
I’m glad progressives are (finally) paying attention to Texas. I want to do my part to describe our demographics and political landscape, so that we can clearly and accurately respond to the GOP. 38 electoral votes are at stake. It’s about to get ugly, and Republicans are waiting to play “gotcha” games—Cornyn tweeted earlier that since the family of the infant in Trump’s El Paso photo opp were Trump supporters, criticism was invalid.
Let’s not make assumptions about Texas and stick to the fact that Trump is a racist and has to go. Trump’s racism is not subjective. He has shown us who he is, and as Maya Angelou would affirm—we believe him.
If my fellow Texans would like to chime in, please do. I am by no means an expert, but have lived in Texas my entire life and want to address potential assumptions when I can.