Political Parties of Texas Essay Example

Texas is a two-party state that the Republican party mainly dominates. However, it was not always like this. Up until the late 1900s, Texas was heavily dominated by the Democratic Party. As the Democratic party became more and more progressive over time, more and more people who identified with the Democratic party began to leave the party for the Republican party. Now, Democrats have not been able to win a statewide election in almost thirty years–longer than any other state. Once the dominant party in Texas, the Democrats have fallen from power, but there is still hope in the future for the democratic party.

Texas is known to be a very red state dominated by the Republican party. It is home to millions who call themselves “conservative.” It was not long ago, however, that being a Republican in Texas was not popular. After the American Civil War, the vast majority of southerners identified with Democratic views. The Democratic party began to shift towards more progressive ideologies, and many moderate democrats believed the party was pandering to ethnic minorities. This caused many to switch to the Republican party. The issue of race also played a large role in why so many left the Democratic party as “the civil rights Act of 1964 made many southern whites flip to Republicans” (Robert).  The republican party supported lower taxes and limited government power which also appealed to the more conservative democrats. Along with this internal conflict, many conservatives began to move to Texas accelerating the rate at which the democrats lost power. 

Since this shift in partisanship, the Democratic party has struggled to win elections in Texas. In the 2020 Presidential election, Democrats were hopeful that Biden would take Texas, as they had “spent tens of millions of dollars here” (Hixenbaugh). However, Trump beat Biden by six points and defeated the Democrats once again. A huge reason for this loss is that Democrats were hoping to win conservative-leaning suburban families who were upset with Trump’s handling of Covid-19 (Hixenbaugh). However, those voters did not come through, as they “were focused on other issues, such as the economy and abortion, according to the NBC News Exit Poll of early and Election Day voters” (Hixenbaugh). One reason why Republicans did better in the election is that they remained “ in the field despite the coronavirus pandemic, while the state's Democrats relied on digital and more unreliable telephone contact with voters” (Gamboa). The democrats lost a huge advantage by not personally connecting like the republicans during covid.  Going out and campaigning could have greatly helped the Democrats in the election. Another reason why Democrats have trouble winning in Texas is the fear that “the Democrats largely were going to push the state too far left” (Hixenbaugh). Many of the policies that democrats push for are seen as very liberal, such as “eliminating private health insurance” and “mandatory buybacks of AR-15s and AK-47s” (Cillizza). These policies are too progressive for moderate democrats and increase the chances that they do not vote democrat. There is still hope for democrats in the future, though. As ethnic minorities increase in Texas, the Democrats will gain a louder voice and more power. 

Much like the democratic party, third parties have trouble winning elections. There are many obstacles that hinder third parties to establish themselves in America (Heinz). The current two-party system also makes it hard for third parties to receive votes because of how broad the parties are. They “welcome a variety of different ideological groups, are able to adjust their positions to absorb their voters” (Heinz). Because the big two parties can adjust positions so easily, and they have such a variety of views within, those who would vote for a third-party candidate vote for one of the two main parties so their vote still counts. People know that a third party will not win, and they do not want to waste a vote on a candidate with no chance, so they for the candidate they think will be the least negative.