A Huge Blue Wave Sweeps Through Red Texas

I was born in Texas and have lived there for most of my life. I am also a die-hard Democrat. 

I have written many times about the demographic change happening in Texas, which would someday make it a blue (or at least purple state). And many times, I have hoped that day had come - only to have those hopes dashed as Republicans continued to win.

In fact, it has been about three decades since a Democrat had won any statewide office.

So, you can imagine my trepidation as Election Day dawned. I believed that James Talarico would win the Senate race. He was a good candidate and was running against a terrible Republican opponent - one that even many Republicans couldn't stomach. But I expected the Republicans to hold the other statewide offices. I just hoped the Democrats could make it close.

But then something very unusual happened. The blue wave sweeping across the United States did not stop at the Texas border. Instead, it crossed the Red River and swept across the state.

Talarico didn't just win. He won by 1.2 million votes. And he wasn't the only one.

Gina Hinojosa beat sitting Governor Greg Abbott by several hundred thousand votes. And the wins just kept coming. In fact, Democrats won all the major statewide races by fairly large margins, and even won some places on the Texas Supreme Court.

This was a broadband win, and several groups are to be thanked. Hispanics returned to the Democratic Party in huge numbers. Young voters turned out is large numbers, and overwhelming voted Democratic. And Independent voters (voting against inflation and corruption) joined the Democratic base. Together, these groups were able to overwhelm the Republican vote.

Is Texas now a blue state? Not necessarily. It will depend on how the newly elected Democrats perform, and on the political climate two years from now. But now we know it can be done.