Texas demographics

[Proud liberal 80]

I never understood why Texas elects so many Republicans. Based on the demographics, you would think that it would be a slight Democratic advantage or at least competitive. 56% of the population is minority.

https://www.google.com/amp/www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/01/24/in-2014-latinos-will-surpass-whites-as-largest-racialethnic-group-in-california/%3famp=1

We need this state (along with Arizona and Georgia) to become like Virginia and turn purple fast to offset the Rust Belt State losses. Wisconsin, Michigan, and Pennsylvania have been trending conservative long before 2016. They have declined in population and have become whiter.

[Drahthaardogs]

1. Look how they district San Antonio

And some of your questions will be answered

[LonePirate]

2. The minorities in TX do not vote or are not registered or are not 18.

Registering voters is exceptionally difficult, just as Texas Republicans intend it to be. Many of the white voters in Texas are gunloving, bigoted, Christofascists so they will vote Republican until they die. So, until more Dem leaning voters go to the polls in Texas, the state will not change.

That being said, keep an eye on Tarrant County (Fort Worth) and the northern Dallas suburbs. As they turn purple, so will the state.

[hurl]

3. Turnout

Texas ranks at or near the bottom in voter turnout. This gives disciplined and fanatical GOPers power out of proportion to their numbers. A glaring example is how a small religious minority controls textbooks across the nation. The Tea Party figured out that every election matters.

I suspect the relatively strong economy over the years causes many people to ignore politics, not being motivated to vote on other grounds.

The good news is that I'm seeing new enthusiasm even in my rural, red county. For the first time in years, we have a Democratic candidate running in every open election. Normally, many Republicans run unopposed. We may not turn Texas blue right away, but we are starting to cost the GOP a LOT more money and effort. It will pay off eventually.

[Shell_Seas]

4. Texas is both,

Severely gerrymandered and severely voter suppressed.

[Dustlawyer]

5. There are several factors as mentioned above that all play a role:

Gerrymandering; lack of interest/futility; GOP obstruction in voter registration..., but one not mentioned is a lack of support from the DNC. Obama and Hillary made gains in this area with voter registration drives and some campaign advertisement, but lack of a 50 state strategy means that Red states are very slow to change. Most elections you would be hard pressed to see ANY campaign ads by a Democrat. All the people here only hear RW talking points.

Another issue is our huge rural areas where the only radio you can get is RW talk shows. The demise of the Fairness Act has meant a RW monopoly of the air-waves in rural areas.

[LeftInTX]

6. A decent chunk of voting Latinos are Republican

That prompted me to take another look at the 2014 exit polls that showed Governor Greg Abbott receiving 44 percent of the Latino vote over Davis, and U.S. Senator John Cornyn capturing 48 percent. Looking at mostly Hispanic counties of South Texas, it appears that Abbott’s real Latino vote probably was somewhere between 25 and 35 percent. (If anyone knows of a more accurate precinct level study, please let me know.)

From: https://www.texasmonthly.com/burka-blog/latinos-wont-turn-texas-blue-anytime-soon/

Heck, Greg Abbott's wife is Latina.
I don't like using demographics to predict voting trends.
We have to fight for votes, not hope and pray that demographics will save us.

[Gothmog]

7. Texas is not a red state but a non-voting state

As young people begin to replace the older voters, Texas will turn blue

Link to tweet

[Awsi Dooger]

8. Still a very conservative state

Texas Politics polls often. I have only recently begun sampling their work. Overall it's not great news. Voters are very conservative and much more content than in late 2016. The Right Track/Wrong Track percentage was 22/67 in October 2016 compared to 39/50 in February 2018. All of the approval numbers have gone up significantly in 2018 compared to where they were during 2017.

Too many categories to mention. But for political junkies it is contained in this link. Note the ideology near the end. That is the major problem. There are 47% of polled Texans who categorize themselves as Lean Conservative, Somewhat Conservative or Strong Conservative, compared to only 28% combined in the same three categories for liberals:

https://texaspolitics.utexas.edu/sites/texaspolitics.utexas.edu/files/201802_poll_toplines.pdf

On edit: registration and participation is an issue, as others have mentioned and that I specified a few weeks ago. The link above is strictly registered voters.

[LanternWaste]

9. Texas has denied targeting voters by race and has admitted instead to practicing partisan gerrymande

For years, Texas has denied targeting voters by race and has admitted instead to practicing partisan gerrymandering by overtly favoring Republicans in drawing the districts.

And believe it or not, that's legal.

[Stallion]

10. Dallas County-a Democratic Stronghold-Had 10.28% Registered Voter Turnout Yesterday in Texas Primary