Is Texas More Democratic or Republican

Texas Government: Political Culture, Parties, Elections and Campaigns

Introduction

Texas politics is a reflection of its history and culture. Texas was not the first US state nor the last—but it is by far much different from all the rest. Texas was annexed from Mexico by the US and incorporated into the Union in 1845. It has the longest border with Mexico and today its culture is a mixture of both Hispanic and American influences. This paper explores the state\\\\\\\'s political culture and its impact on politics, parties, elections, and campaigns.

Texas Political Culture

The Spanish, Mexican, and American influences (and recently a large incorporation of West Coast influences) has created a diverse political culture in Texas. Due to its history there is a lot of love among Texans for personal freedom and independence, and in a lot of ways many generations of people who view themselves as Texans have had a substantial distrust for big government (Jordan, 1978). Much of the US is likely to see Texas as mainly conservative, but cities like Austin and Houston are becoming more progressive due to demographic changes, resulting from urban growth and an increase in diverse populations (Long, 2010; Miller, 2020). This diversity is why the political culture of Texas is somewhat complicated.

Understanding Texas Political Culture

Texas is known as the \\\\\\\"Lone Star State\\\\\\\" because prior to its annexation by the US it was actually for a short time an independent republic, separate from both Mexico and the US. Its flag bore a single star which represented this independence. However, although a lot has changed in the nearly 200 years since Texas was its own republic, this spirit and identity of independence remains very strong in the state of Texas. For instance, it has its own electric grid, distinct from that of the rest of the US. Because of its size, it has a wide range of communities. It is also very economically strong in terms of GDP.

Even though I was aware of this information before the PSCI 2306 course, my perception of Texas political culture was still largely influenced by popular media, which often represents the state as staunchly conservative, clinging to Old World traditions, and resistant to change. However, the course revealed to me that Texas\\\\\\\'s political culture is actually far more nuanced. It does have a strong, traditional conservative base, especially in rural areas, but urban areas like Austin, Houston, and Dallas have increasingly become more progressive populations, which has in turn affected the state’s political culture. Weigel and Tierney (2020) in fact note that there are seven political states within one Texas—North Texas, West Texas, Rio Grande, Hill Country, East Texas, Houston, and Metroplex. North Texas and East Texas generally vote conservative—but the other states are moving more and more towards liberal politics (Weigel & Tierney, 2020).

The Influence of Texas Political Culture on Parties, Elections, and Campaigns

The state\\\\\\\'s political culture has a big impact on its parties, elections, and campaigns. The individualism of traditional Texans and their overall skepticism towards government have historically favored conservative candidates who present themselves as favoring de-regulation and a hands-off style of government. However, as Texas becomes more urbanized and its demographics change from an increase in immigration and migration, one can see a gradual move towards more progressive policies, especially in the cities. Immigrants in the Rio Grande area, for instance, tend to vote Democratic, while East Texas votes Republican. Not to mention the fact that in 2016, Hillary Clinton won four of Texas’s most populated counties (Weigel & Tierney, 2020). Because those counties (bolstered by the big cities in them—Houston, Fort Worth, San Antonio, and Austin) still did not equal the majority of the state’s population, Clinton lost. However, if those cities continue to grow and the demographic trend remains, Texas could be flipped from a red state to a blue state in the coming years (Texas Almanac, 2022).

Campaign strategies in Texas reflect the political leanings of the two parties: Republican candidates tend to emphasize personal freedoms, gun rights, property rights, limited government, religious freedom, abortion policies that promote life, and so on. Democratic candidates tend to try to appeal to immigrants and social justice, with emphasis on education, welfare, and pro-immigration policies. The party of the Democrats sees Texas more as a place where the past can be changed to make way for the future. The party of the Republicans sees Texas more as a place where the past needs to be held onto to prevent Texas from turning into a state like California.

Political Parties, Elections, and Campaigns

Texas\\\\\\\'s culture affects its politics, of course, as both parties tend to love the idea of freedom—but this idea is communicated differently: Democrats want more freedom and rights for immigrants and the impoverished; they pursue this principle as a course of social justice. Republicans want more freedom and rights for established Texans, who see their Constitutional rights as being challenged by a radical left. Thus, gun rights, ownership, abortion, religious freedom, border, immigration status—all of these are important issues for both Democrats and Republicans, but the culture of the two parties is almost polar opposite for each one. This has led to a polarizing culture, or split culture in Texas, where people in the big cities favor a liberalized culture, and people in rural Texas favor a conservative culture (Ramsey, 2021). Elections and campaigns are geared towards one or the other—and this also calls into question the validity of a democracy in such a situation: if cities have such different values and principles from rural voters, why not have two different governments for each? Trying to blend a single state government out of rural and city voters with clashing ideals seems destined for conflict and trouble.

Prior Knowledge and Course Insights

Growing up in Texas, the political rallies, campaigns, and debates were a common sight. The two dominant parties, Republicans and Democrats, have always been at the forefront, but the aspects of their ideologies, strategies, and voter outreach were not entirely clear to me. I knew that Democrats do try to get out the vote by appealing in a grassroots way to lower income communities and immigrants and that they do play to certain strengths in big cities. Still, before this course, my understanding was primarily shaped by media and popular opinions.

The PSCI 2306 course gave me a better sense of the historical evolution of political parties in Texas, and their ideological shifts, and the changing demographics of their voter base. For instance, the transformation of Texas from a largely Democratic state in the 1900s to a new largely Republican state (although perhaps not for much longer) was of interest. The course also shed light on the significance of local elections, the role of third parties (particularly important today as the libertarian movement has gained traction in response to perceived failures on both the right and left side of the political aisle). The libertarian candidates like Ron Paul can affect election outcomes by drawing votes from both sides. Still, what remains in politics in Texas is the influence of campaign financing, especially from interest groups and that is always going to be an issue, without a doubt.

Application in Current and Future Career

As a potential professional in the field of political communication, I feel the insights from this course will be helpful in my future career. Knowing about Texas politics and culture can help me develop communication strategies that I could use to target specific demographics. Plus, the new knowledge I have about the influence of interest groups, as highlighted by Texans for Public Justice (2023), can help me to develop campaign financing decisions and create alliance formations.