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Article
Contested, Heated Culture Wars ’Mark
Ultraconservative Texas Session
This was the session that pushed Texas further to the right, at a
time when it seemed least likely to do so - as the state becomes
younger, less white and less Republican.
One of the most conservative Texas legislative sessions ended
this week, with bills that had died in previous sessions for being
too extreme now viewed as middle-of-the-road in the post-
Trump era.
One of the most conservative Texas legislative sessions ended
this week, with bills that had died in previous sessions for being
Trump era.Credit ... Matthew Busch for The New York Times
By Edgar Sandoval, David Montgomery and Manny Fernandez
June 1, 2021
AUSTIN, Texas - It was a literal exit strategy: Texas
Democrats staged a last-minute walkout on Sunday to kill an
elections bill that would have restricted statewide voting. The
quorum-breaking move - a decades-old maneuver favored by
Democratic lawmakers - worked, in dramatic fashion.
But by Tuesday, the reality of their short-lived triumph had
settled in. The bill was very much still alive, with the
Republican governor vowing to call lawmakers back to Austin

for a special session to revive and pass the measure. It was a
top legislative priority for the Republican Party, and would
have been the final achievement in the ultraconservative session
that concluded on Monday.
On Tuesday, Democrats staggered out of the session that
included passage of a number of other aggressive measures,
including a near-ban on abortion and a bill allowing the
carrying of handguns without permits. And Republicans, who
seven months ago staved off a high-profile, top-dollar campaign
by Democrats to flip the State House for the first time in nearly
two decades, applauded themselves for a series of conservative
victories.
“Elections have consequences,” said State Representative Craig
Goldman, who represents part of Fort Worth and is the treasurer
of the House Republican Caucus. Of the Democrats, he said,
“They spent over $ 50 million trying to gain control of the
Texas State House and they didn’t do it.”
Indeed, this was the session that pushed the state further right,
at a time when it seemed least likely to do so - as Texas
becomes younger, less white and less Republican, and as it
continues to reel from the twin crises of the coronavirus
pandemic and the collapse of its power grid during a winter
storm that killed more than 150 people statewide.
Texas legislative politics reverberate far beyond the state's
borders because of its size, its pull in Congress and its
economy. The session provides a window into the partisan
warfare being waged at the statehouse level around the country

- in states they control, Republicans are tightening their grip on
the levers of power as the demographics shift around them.
Like a lot of statehouses, the Texas Capitol is filled with part-
time lawmakers. Its members - who typically meet once every
two years for 140 days - are paid a salary of $ 7,200 and earn a
living elsewhere. One of the authors of the gun bill owns an
East Texas insurance agency, and another is an orthopedic
surgeon. A writer of a measure that sought to ban transgender
students from playing on sports teams based on their gender
identity is a certified public accountant. One of the lawmakers
who helped draft legislation to financially punish large cities if
they cut their police budgets is a banker.
On a recent afternoon beneath the salmon-colored dome of the
Texas Capitol, a lobbyist chatted in the halls with a sales
representative for a drilling fluids company. That sales rep was
State Representative Tom Craddick, who served years ago as the
first Republican speaker of the Texas House since
Reconstruction.
“Some people play golf,” Mr. Craddick, 77, said. "I’m in the
Legislature."
In past decades, Mr. Craddick and his fellow conservatives
have consistently put their stamp on the biennial legislative
sessions in Austin that begin in January and end in May. They
gained national attention for banning sanctuary cities and
requiring voter ID, among other measures.
But the tenor, the players, the combativeness and the times
have changed.

This became one of the most conservative recent sessions in
Texas, with bills that had died in previous sessions for being
Trump era. Last month, in the span of a feverish few days,
lawmakers passed the bill banning abortion after six weeks of
pregnancy, when many women are not even aware they are
pregnant, after a similar bill died in the 2019 session. And they
approved the bill to do away with the state’s handgun permit
and training system, after similar efforts failed to gain
momentum in past years.
ImageTexas lawmakers approved a bill to do away with the
state's handgun permit and training system, after similar efforts
failed to gain momentum in past years.
Texas lawmakers approved a bill to do away with the state’s
handgun permit and training system, after similar efforts failed
to gain momentum in past years.Credit ... Matthew Busch for
The New York Times
Another factor has been the disappearance of the moderate
Republican guardrails.
In past legislative sessions, Bush-style Republicans, including
the former speaker of the House, Joe Straus of San Antonio,
blocked many bills put forth by the far right, including killing a
so-called bathroom bill in 2017 that would have restricted
which bathroom transgender people can use in public buildings
and schools. Mr. Straus and many of his moderate allies are
gone now from the Legislature, replaced in large part by pro-
Trump Republicans who have taken to criticizing Gov. Greg
Abbott for not being conservative enough.

The state’s Republican leadership thrived in the Obama era, in
much the same way that California’s Democratic leadership
relished being the liberal antidote in the Trump era. Now Texas
Republicans are playing the antagonist once again during the
Biden administration, all while intraparty skirmishes have
broken out and far-right grass-roots activists prepare for next
year’s Republican primaries.
“They’re flexing their muscle going into the 2022 primaries, so
they’re all looking over their right shoulders and I think that’s
driving a lot of this,” said State Representative Chris Turner,
who is the chairman of the House Democratic Caucus. “They
certainly are pushing the envelope in a way they haven’t
before.”
Republican lawmakers, including Mr. Goldman, deny that any
of their work this session was payback against the Democrats
for a hard-fought election last year. They said they were given
a mandate by Texas voters when Democrats who needed to flip
nine net seats to take control of the House gained none.
“When the people of Texas see that onslaught of dollars and a
lot of negative campaigns and they aren't persuaded to ditch
their Republican representative for a Democrat, it tells
Republicans that people are embracing their point of view,” said
State Representative Jim Murphy , chairman of the House
Republican Caucus.
State Representative Jarvis D. Johnson, a Democrat from
Houston, said this had been a particularly partisan session. He
cited but one example: the dismissive Republican response to

his efforts to abolish Confederate Heroes Day, an official state
holiday in Texas.
“Last session I was able to get a committee hearing on this,”
Mr. Johnson said. “That’s something I could not even get this
year.”
Mr. Johnson had a heated exchange on the House floor with a
Republican lawmaker over the role of slavery in the Texas
Revolution, one of many confrontations and arguments between
Democratic and Republican legislators.
“As long as you’re a white, Christian evangelical, gun-loving,
Bible-toting, race-baiting person, hell yeah, Texas is for you,”
Mr. Johnson, who is Black, said in an interview. “They got all
kinds of freedoms for them. Believe me, I’d like to tell you that
I’ve got a lot of friends on the other side of the aisle. But I
can’t lie to you like that. ”
State Representative Jarvis Johnson in 2017. Mr. Johnson, a
Democrat, said Republicans were dismissive of his efforts this
session to abolish Confederate Heroes Day, a state holiday.
State Representative Jarvis Johnson in 2017. Mr. Johnson, a
Democrat, said Republicans were dismissive of his efforts this
session to abolish Confederate Heroes Day, a state
holiday.Credit ... Eric Gay / Associated Press
In Texas, it has long been the case that Democrats can only
stall legislation. It is nearly impossible for them to push
forward bills in tune with their vision of a more progressive
state.

Recently, the beleaguered party saw one way out of the
transgender sports bill: Keep talking past the deadline to pass it.
And so the Democratic lawmakers did. After the clock struck
midnight, they cheered and transgender activists waved flags in
the chamber.
They also used last-minute stalling tactics to successfully kill
two other bills in the House that had been priorities for Lt. Gov.
Dan Patrick, the presiding officer in the Senate who later
criticized his Republican colleagues in the House for not
working hard enough.
When the speaker of the House, State Representative Dade
Phelan, was stopped at an entrance to the Senate last month
because he lacked a required wristband showing he had a
negative coronavirus test, it started an intraparty debate over
whether he was denied entry to the chamber . The incident
only heightened the perception that the two Republican-led
chambers that Democrats accused of advancing such a divisive
conservative agenda were themselves divided.
“There’s always some level of factions just because we’re like
any family,” said Mr. Murphy, the Republican caucus chairman.
“There’s the ones that have cheese pizza and those who want
pepperoni. But we’re all going to sit down for dinner. ”
It has been decades since Molly Ivins, a sharp-witted liberal
writer known for mocking the political status quo, famously
called the Legislature “the finest free entertainment in Texas.”

In 1979, in a move not unlike what the Democrats pulled off
this weekend, a dozen Democratic senators known as the Killer
Bees hid offsite to prevent the Senate from reaching a quorum
on election legislation. State troopers were dispatched to round
them up. Officers thought they nabbed State Senator Gene
Jones but discovered, after flying him to Austin in a helicopter,
that they instead had his brother Clayton. When Clayton Jones
was asked why he went along with the mix-up, he said he had
never been in a helicopter before.
Decades ago, during one of his epic filibusters - in which
lawmakers have to keep speaking except when allies ask
questions and not leave the floor even for restroom breaks -
State Senator AR Schwartz, known as Babe, was surrounded by
his Democratic colleagues in a corner during a long question.
He urinated into a wastebasket. His allies then cleared out,
taking the wastebasket with them.
Molly Ivins-style moments of levity still occur, though not as
frequently.
During a recent discussion over a measure that would restrict
the breeding of unlicensed dogs and cats, pet banter and
chuckles flowed. The bill’s sponsor, State Senator José
Menéndez, a San Antonio Democrat, called the moment
bittersweet, and fleeting.
“It was one of the few light moments we’ve had,” Mr.
Menéndez said. “Everything else has been very contested,
heated culture wars.”

Simon Romero and John Schwartz contributed reporting.
Edgar Sandoval is a reporter with the National desk, where he
writes about South Texas people and places. Previously he was
a newspaper reporter in Los Angeles, Pennsylvania and Florida.
He is the author of “The New Face of Small Town America.”
@edjsandoval
Manny Fernandez is the Los Angeles bureau chief. He spent
more than nine years covering Texas as the Houston bureau
chief. He joined The Times as a Metro reporter in 2005,
covering the Bronx and housing. @mannyNYT.
CHAPTER 1
The Political Culture, People, and Economy of Texas
Copyright © 2019 W. W. Norton & Company
The Political Culture, People, and Economy of Texas
Why Texas’s Political Culture Matters
Steinbeck: Texas is “a state of mind. . . a mystical closely

approximating a religion. ”
There are many myths about Texans.
• Cowboy image
• Rancher who champions economic independence
• Wildcatter who is willing to risk everything
• Independent entrepreneur who fiercely opposes the intrusion
of government
The reality of Texas today is much more complicated.
Why Texas’s Political Culture Matters: The Republican Party
Texas is the second-largest state and the second most populous.
Texas is much more diverse than is commonly thought.
Texas politics today is dominated by the Republican Party, but
its long-term dominance is not certain.
• Increasing racial and ethnic diversity points to a new Texas,
one that looks sharply different from the one in the history
books.
Texas Political Culture
Political culture is broadly shared values, beliefs, and attitudes
about how government and society should function.

American political culture is traditionally viewed as
emphasizing the values of liberty, equality, and democracy.
Texas is categorized as having a “traditionalistic
individualistic” political culture.
Texas Political Culture: The One-Party State and Provincialism
The one-party state
• For over 100 years, Texas was dominated by the Democratic
Party, but this pattern no longer holds.
• Substantial competition emerged between the parties in the
1990s, and the Republican Party secured control after
redistricting in 2002.
Provincialism
• Texas’s political culture was also once defined by
provincialism, a narrow view associated with rural values and
notions of limited government.
• The result was often a self-interested view of the world and
an intolerance of diversity.
Texas Political Culture: Business Dominance
Business dominance

• Texas’s political culture has also been defined by
the longtime dominance of business interests.
• They are major players in terms of campaign contributions
and lobbying.
• Other groups that may offer an alternative, like labor unions,
are rare, poorly organized, and / or poorly funded.
The Land
Texas politics is shaped by the state’s geography.
• The most distinctive characteristic of Texas’s geography is its
size.
• The longest straight-line distance across the state from north
to south is 801 miles; the longest east – west distance is 773
miles.
• The east – west distance from New York City to Chicago is
821 miles.
• Texas turned a large portion of its public lands over to private
ownership.
Business and Politics: Fracking
Figure 1.1: The Physical Regions of Texas

The Land: The Gulf Coastal Plains
The Gulf Coastal Plains
• Almost all of Texas’s timber production takes place here.
• The area is home to some of Texas’s most famous oilfields.
• The region was the foundation of plantation life during the
antebellum period, when slavery flourished in the state.
• Urban areas have become Democratic, while the suburbs have
become more Republican.
The Land: The Interior Lowlands, the Great Plains, and the
Basin and Range Province
The Interior Lowlands
• Agricultural economy and rural population
• Many of the state's largest ranches
• Conservative political values
The Great Plains
• Economy centered on agriculture, cotton production,
ranching, and petroleum production
• Conservative political values
The Basin and Range Province

• Mountains, little rain, and few people
• Large Latino population; Democratic Party bastion
Economic Change in Texas
Joseph Schumpeter and “creative destruction”
• Periodic waves of transformation are fueled by technological
innovations in production and distribution.
• This capitalist process not only creates a new economy but
also destroys old ones.
• Schumpeter's theory provides a useful way to think about the
economic changes that have shaped and reshaped the Texas
economy.
Economic Change in Texas: Cotton
Cotton
• Cotton is one of the oldest crops grown in Texas.
• Cotton production cycles go up and down.
• The 1930 Census reported that 61 percent of all farmers in
Texas were tenant farmers; one-third of those were
sharecroppers.
• The number of tenant farmers fell throughout the Great
Depression.
• By 1987, only 12 percent of all farmers were tenants.

Economic Change in Texas: Cotton Production
One-quarter of the cotton produced in the United States still
comes from Texas.
This photo shows land and machinery used to farm cotton.
Economic Change in Texas: Cattle
Cattle
• The history of ranching and the cattle industry parallels that
of cotton in many ways.
• The industry took off following the Civil War and expanded
throughout the state.
• Neither cotton nor ranching is as important now as it was in
the past.
• In the early twentieth century, new technological
breakthroughs focused not on what grew on the land but on
what lay beneath it.
Economic Change in Texas: The King Ranch
Economic Change in Texas: Oil and Gas
Oil and gas
• Oil took off in 1901 with the discovery of the Spindletop
oilfield.
• Oil fever spread throughout Texas over the next decade.

• One can trace the rise and decline and rise again of the oil
and gas industry in Texas through production figures (see
Figure 1.2).
• A major discovery that brought new oil and gas to market
could lead to a sudden collapse in prices.
• A boom-and-bust mentality was introduced.
Figure 1.2: Oil Production in Texas
Economic Change in Texas: Oil and Gas, Continued
Oil and gas, continued
• Oil and gas transformed the government and the economy.
• The power of government was expanded through the Railroad
Commission.
• Higher education has benefited.
• Oil and gas production is emerging again in the Texas
economy, which will result in new demands for water supplies
and new environmental concerns.
Economic Change in Texas: High-Tech Industries
High-tech industries
• World oil prices began to collapse in 1982.
• Texas emerged in the 1980s as a leader in high-tech
industries.

• In the 1990s, Texas went from seventh in the nation in total
manufacturing employment to second.
• In 2015, 14.34 percent of the total output in the state came
from manufacturing, and 7.3 percent of the workforce was
employed in manufacturing.
Center of Medial Research: Houston
Economic Change in Texas: NAFTA
NAFTA
• The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), signed
in 1992, created a free-trade zone among the United States,
Canada, and Mexico.
• Texas exports
increased.
• Although there were
some NAFTA losers,
there were also big
winners.
Economic Change in Texas: The Military
Since annexation, the state's economy has been closely tied to
the establishment of military bases.

• Military bases are economically vital to local communities.
• An expanding military significantly stimulates economic
growth and employment in Texas.
In 2015, over 163,000 active-duty, reserve, and civilian
personnel employed by the U.S. military were living in Texas.
Economic Change in Texas: The Great Recession
Texas in the Great Recession
• In 2007, the nation entered what some have called “the Great
Recession.”
• Texas was one of the last states to enter, and was one of the
first to exit, the Great Recession.
• Texas’s economic miracle involved low taxes and low
services, pro-business and free market government, and an
entrepreneurial spirit.
• Some pundits question the notion of the Texas economic
miracle as economic growth in Texas no longer appears to
outperform that of other states.
Jeff Moseley, Texas Association of Business
The People of Texas

Three factors account for population growth in Texas.
• Natural increase (births)
• International immigration (from outside the United States)
• Domestic immigration (from one U.S. state to another)
Texas’s population in 2017 was estimated to be over 28
million.
The People of Texas: Whites
Whites (Anglos)
• For most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the
dominant ethnic group was non-Hispanic whites.
• The first wave was encouraged by empresarios such as Moses
Austin and his son Stephen F. Austin.
• As a percentage of the population, the white population
peaked at 74 percent in 1950.
• This percentage began to fall, reaching 43.5 percent in 2015,
and will likely continue to fall.
The People of Texas: Latinos
Latinos
• Most Latinos in Texas are of Mexican descent.

• Until 1900, Latinos were concentrated in south Texas; by
2000, Latinos constituted majorities in San Antonio and El Paso
and sizable minorities in other cities.
• The political status of Latinos in Texas has changed
considerably over the past 100 years.
• The number of Latinos elected to public office rose from
1,466 in 1986 to 2,521 in 2011.
The People of Texas: Latinos, Continued
Latinos, continued
• The political status of Latinos in Texas has changed
considerably over the past 100 years.
• The white-only primary and the poll tax actively discouraged
voting by Latinos.
• In 1956, Henry B. Gonzalez became the first Mexican
American to be elected to the Texas Senate in modern times.
• The La Raza Unida Party emerged in the mid-1960s.
Latinos in Texas Politics
The People of Texas: African Americans
African Americans
• People of African descent were among the earliest explorers
of Texas.

• Most African Americans, however, entered the state as slaves.
• Mexican authorities ’antislavery attitudes kept the black
population relatively low (5,000 in 1830) until the Texas
Revolution and expansion of slavery.
• Emancipation (June 19, 1865) did not bring anything
approaching equality.
The People of Texas: African Americans, Continued
African Americans, continued
• Black Codes restricted the rights of former slaves.
• Federal court cases in the 1940s and 1950s offered some hope
of relief.
• The Civil Rights Act (1964) and the Voting Rights (1965)
helped open the political system to African Americans.
• In 1972, Barbara Jordan became the first African American
woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from
Texas.
Civil Rights Movement in Texas
The People of Texas: Asians and Age
Asians

• In 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated over 1 million
Asian Americans resided in Texas (5 percent of the state’s
population).
• Asians tend to be concentrated in urban and suburban areas.
Age
• The population of Texas is relatively young in comparison
with the rest of the nation.
• In 2015, 27.3 percent of the population was estimated to be
under 18 years old, compared with 24.0 percent nationally.
Who Are Texans? How is the Texas Population Changing?
Who Are Texans? Race and Total Population
Who Are Texans? Geography
Table 1.1: Per Capita Personal Income in Texas and the United
States, 1990–2017
Poverty and wealth
• Despite the growth of the 1990s, incomes in Texas have
lagged behind those of the nation as a whole.
Urbanization
Much of Texas's history is linked to ongoing urbanization.

By the twenty-first century, the process of urbanization was
largely complete.
Now, 85 percent of the population resides in urban areas (see
Figure 1.8).
Urbanization and the accompanying suburbanization are the
forces driving politics in modern Texas.
Figure 1.8: Urbanization in Texas, 1850–2010
Texas and the Nation: How does Texas’s population compare to
other major states?
Texas and the Nation: Racial Diversity
Texas and the Nation: Percent change in population, 2000-2010
Urban Political Life: Houston
Houston
• Houston is the largest city in Texas, with a population of 2.1
million; it is the fourth-largest city in the United States.

• It is the second- or third-busiest deep-water port in the United
States (depending on whose ranking is used).
• Oil fundamentally transformed the Houston area and made
Houston one of the leading energy centers in the world.
Table 1.2: Race and Ethnic Breakdown of Texas and Its Largest
Counties, 2017
English Classes for Immigrants
Urban Political Life: Dallas – Fort Worth
Dallas ‒ Fort Worth
• The Metroplex consists of Dallas, Fort Worth, and a number
of other suburban cities.
• With the discovery of oil in east Texas in 1930, Dallas
became a major center for petroleum financing.
• Dallas looks to the east and embodies a more corporate
culture.
• Fort Worth looks to the west and since the two world wars
has emerged as the home of a large aviation industry.
Urban Political Life: San Antonio
San Antonio

• San Antonio is Texas’s second-largest city.
• San Antonio’s population has become increasingly Latino.
• San Antonio lacks high-paying manufacturing jobs, and
average metropolitan income is lower than in Houston and
Dallas.
• The economy rests on national military bases, educational
institutions, tourism, and a large medical research complex.
Urban Political Life: Austin
Austin
• As the state capital, Austin is the hub for government
business.
• It is the fourth-largest metropolitan area in Texas.
• Austin is the location of the University of Texas at Austin—
the flagship institution of the University of Texas system.
• Austin has a high-tech thriving industry.
• Austin's per capita income and median household income are
both greater than their corresponding state averages.
Immigrant Rights Protesters
Immigration in Texas

CHAPTER 4
Political Parties
Copyright © 2019 W. W. Norton & Company
Political Parties in Texas
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Why Political Parties Matter
Two parallel developments have occurred.
•Domination of the Republican Party in Texas
•The state’s growing minority population, which is increasingly
Latino
Texas has largely been a one-party state: first Democratic, then
Republican.
The Republican Party in Texas is divided.
•There are three political parties in today’s Texas: business-
oriented mainstream Republicans, Tea Party conservative
Republicans, and the Democratic Party.
The Democrats face an uphill battle trying to regain power, at
least in the short term.

The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics
Political parties
•Help candidates win elections
•Assist voters in making their choices
•Raise money for campaigns and help “get out the vote”
•Organize the government if their party wins the election
An important function of parties in Texas is to provide a label
under which candidates run and with which voters identify.
•Each party develops a party platform from which voters can get
a better sense of what the party stands for.
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The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: National Context
Texas parties in the national context
•States differ in the strength of the political parties.
•State political parties have less power.
•“All politics is local.”
•Local issues are usually not ideological in nature.
•
Partisan polarization
is becoming more pronounced in the Texas legislature.

•Compromise has become increasingly difficult.
Selecting Candidates: 2018
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: Public Attitudes
about Parties
Public attitudes about parties
•
Political socialization
occurs in our early years.
•Agents of socialization: parents, religious leaders, teachers,
others
•For many people, partisan affiliation is important when
deciding how to vote.
•Texans are increasingly identifying as independent, however.
•The Tea Party is particularly strong in Texas.
•In 2017, 16 percent of respondents said they would vote for a
Tea Party candidate if the movement organized as a third party.
•Swing voters may ultimately decide elections.
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: The
Contemporary Republican Party
The contemporary Republican Party in Texas

•Texas Republicans are experiencing major division within the
party.
•The Tea Party has had considerable influence.
•Republicans hold all major statewide elected offices, but the
party has not always been so powerful.
•Before 1994, Democrats held many statewide offices.
•Ann Richards, a proud liberal, was the state’s last Democratic
governor.
Dan Patrick
9
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: The
Contemporary Democratic Party
The contemporary Democratic Party in Texas
•Texas Democrats have been consigned to minority status since
the early 2000s.
•Texas Democrats today would be classified as liberal.
•The party’s base is made up of African Americans, Latinos,
and white liberals in urban areas.
•The party’s base is currently not large enough to win statewide
races.

•Of the 11 Democrats representing Texas in Congress, 8 are
Latino or African American.
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Beto O’Rourke (D-El Paso)
11
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: Party
Organization
Democratic and Republican Party organization
•Texas does not have party registration.
•Voters may vote in either primary.
•Candidates must win either
•A majority of the primary vote
•A runoff between the two highest vote getters
•Parties in Texas are organized at the precinct, county, and state
levels.
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: Anderson
County Democrats
Figure 4.1: Party Organization in Texas

The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: Precincts and
County Chairs
Democratic and Republican Party organization, continued
•In each election
precinct
, a
precinct chair
is elected in the party primary.
•Also elected in the primary is the
county chair,
who heads the
county executive committee
, which is composed of the chair and the precinct chairs.
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: Committees and
Conventions
Democratic and Republican Party organization, continued
•At the state level, a
state executive committee
includes a
state chair
and a
vice chair.
•
Precinct conventions
send delegates to the
county convention
and may submit resolutions for the party platform.

•The county conventions (or in urban areas, district
conventions) then elect delegates to the
state convention.
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: Third Parties
Third parties in Texas
•The two parties in power make it difficult for third parties to
thrive, and third-party candidates rarely win.
•Third parties and candidates do, however, emerge.
•The Grange and Populist movements
•States’ Rights Party, or
Dixiecrats
•George Wallace and segregation
•The civil rights movement and
La Raza
Unida
•The Libertarian Party
•The 2006 election for governor
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: Kinky Friedman
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: Third Parties,

Continued
Third parties in Texas, continued
•Why don’t people vote for third parties?
•Texas employs a
“first past the post,” single-member district
electoral system.
•
Duverger’s Law
: a two-party system will emerge from a single-member district
system.
•Some other countries use a system of
proportional representation
, a multimember district system that allows each political party
representation in proportion to its percentage of the total vote.
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: The Tea Party
Movement
The Tea Party movement in Texas
•The
Tea Party movement
has had more influence in Texas than in other states because of
its libertarian antitax message.
•Implications: less funding for education and fewer social
services
•Tea Party organizers have focused on influencing Republican
primaries rather than running third-party candidates.

Rep. Dennis
Bonnen
(R-Angleton)
21
The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics: Politics and the
Media
Parties have established active presences in social media
platforms (e.g., Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat).
•They use social media to mobilize voters and solicit campaign
contributions with little cost.
Texas’s History as a One-Party State
After the Civil War, Texas entered an era of one-party rule that
lasted over a century.
•The real election was the Democratic primary.
•Republicans frequently did not run any candidate at all for
many offices.
•Many counties had no Republican Party at all.
By about the mid-1940s, a split between liberal and
conservative Democrats developed in response to New Deal and

civil rights policies.
Texas’s History as a One-Party State: The
ShivercratMovement
The
Shivercrat
movement
of the 1950s and a strengthening pattern of
presidential Republicanism
signaled coming change.
Texas’s History as a One-Party State: Conservative Democrats
The era of conservative Democrats
•Democrats were conservative on fiscal and racial issues.
•The Republican Party was initially started in Illinois as an
antislavery party.
•Many southern Democrats were elected to Congress and gained
seniority in the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Texas’s History as a One-Party State: Growth of the Republican
Party
The growth of the Republican Party
•Reagan’s election in 1980 marked a significant change in how
Texans began to vote, not only in presidential elections but also

in state elections.
•At the end of the Reagan and George H. W. Bush years, Texas
became a Republican state, not only in presidential races but
also in state races.
•In 1999, every statewide elected official was Republican.
•In the 2016 Texas legislature, 20 out of 31 senators and 94 out
of 150 representatives were Republican.
•In 2016, both U.S. senators and 25 of the 36 House members
from Texas were Republican.
Figure 4.2: The Texas Delegation to the U.S. House, 1845–2019
Table 4.1: Republican Officeholders in Texas, 1974–2018
Loading…
Do Internal Divisions Spell Trouble for the Republican Party in
Texas?
29
Texas’s History as a One-Party State: The Disappearance of
Conservative Democrats
The disappearance of conservative Democrats
•Conservative Democrats, also known as
Blue Dog Democrats

, are becoming an endangered species in the South.
•By 2012, all the conservative Democrats from Texas in
Congress had retired, switched parties, or lost their reelections.
•In today’s political environment, the influence of conservative
Democrats and liberal Republicans is very limited.
Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Laredo)
Texas Party Politics Today
Party unity and disunity
•Parties have opposing factions within them.
•When the Democratic Party was the dominant party in Texas,
factional battles were common between liberals and
conservatives.
•Republican Party factions include
•The religious right
•Economic conservatives
•The Tea Party
Texas Party Politics Today: Influences on Partisanship
Urban, rural, and suburban influences on partisanship
•Cities in Texas have become more Democratic.

•Rural areas remain solidly conservative and have become
Republican.
•“White flight” to the suburbs, which tend to lean Republican
•Voters tend to settle in places with like-minded people,
reinforcing the political proclivities already established.
Influential Latinos in the Democratic Party
34
Clicker Question: What Do Texans Think?
35
Clicker Question: Part 2
Do you think the Tea Party has . . .
a)too much influence
b)too little influence
c)the right amount of influence
d)don’t know
36

Clicker Question: Part 3
37
Texas Party Politics Today: African Americans
African Americans in Texas political parties
•About 12 percent of the Texas population is African American.
•The influence of African Americans in the Democratic Party is
high not only because they tend to vote Democratic but because
they participate in elections more than other ethnic groups.
•During the 2014 statewide elections, 35.3 percent of African
Americans turned out to vote versus 35.2 percent of whites and
22.4 percent of Hispanics.
•African Americans have been elected mayors of important
cities in Texas, such as Houston and San Antonio.
Texas Party Politics Today: Latinos
Latinos in Texas political parties
•In 2010, it was estimated that Hispanics constituted about 20
percent of the registered voters in Texas.
•Latinos have not fully realized their potential voting strength;
Latino voters have a significantly lower turnout rate than other
groups.

•The full impact of the Latino demographic surge may not be
felt until the next generation, because U.S.-born children of
noncitizens are eligible to vote, while their (noncitizen) parents
are not.
Table 4.2: Turnout by Race: 2016 Presidential Year versus 2014
Statewide Election Year

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Read the article linked below (by Sandoval et al. As published in Th.docx