“If Texas turns back to a Democratic state, which it used to be, then we’ll never elect another Republican [president] in my lifetime,” Senator John Cornyn (R-Texas) said recently.
Cornyn is one of several influential GOP leaders in Texas who are warning the national and state Republican organizations that they can no longer take the Lone Star State for granted. With Trump up for reelection in 2020, the political reality is that it is next-to-impossible for a Republican presidential candidate to win the election without the 38 electoral votes of Texas.
For years, Texas has been as reliably Republican as New York and California have been reliably Democratic. But Texas Republicans got a scare in last November’s senatorial race, when U.S. Representative Robert “Beto” O’Rourke lost to incumbent Senator Ted Cruz by just 2.6 points in a state normally regarded as a Republican stronghold. If Republicans were complacent about their invincibility in Texas before, that election served as a wake-up call. Especially since there is speculation that O’Rourke will run for president in 2020.
The Washington Examiner reported on January 29 that Texas Republican Chairman James Dickey has notified the Donald J. Trump for President 2020 campaign, the Republican National Committee, Republican donors, and GOP activists in Texas that the state is in danger of turning “blue.” Furthermore, Cornyn, who will run for reelection next year, has spoken with new RNC co-chairman Tommy Hicks, a Texas native, about his concerns that Trump could fail to carry Texas in 2020.
The Examiner noted that, along with other senior Texas Republicans, Dickey and Cornyn are moving to acquire the money and grassroots support needed to withstand what they fear will be a Democratic surge statewide in 2020. If this trend is left unchecked, they are convinced a Democratic presidential candidate could carry Texas for the first time since 1976.
The Trump campaign is monitoring developments in the state, notes the report, and is prepared to raise the threat level, if necessary. In addition to O’Rourke, another Texan, Obama administration Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julián Castro, has announced his bid for the Democratic nomination. If either man were on the ticket, either as the presidential or vice-presidential candidate, Texas would be downgraded from safely Republican to “swing state” status.
Chris Homan, a veteran GOP operative in Texas who worked on several 2018 campaigns, said Republicans were set back last year because Democrats were more energized, more organized, and better funded. Homan is worried Republicans could be overwhelmed again in 2020, costing Trump the state and, as a result, reelection.
“Because of what happened organically on the Democrat side, Republicans in Texas have a large organizational gap that exists. In 2018, we simply did not have the kind of people and activists at the scale the Democrats enjoyed. This is a significant advantage the Democrats have going into this cycle,” Homan told the Examiner.
Photo: AP Images
