I am now wondering how many more Democratic votes Texas would have had

[blogslut]

...if Greg Abbott had not kneecapped the mail-in vote?

[TwilightZone]

1. It's not just Abbott. It's state law.

We have one of the most restrictive mail-in vote laws in the country. That'll need to change before we can make progress on that front. I was hoping that we'd take the state house, but that didn't happen. We're getting closer.

[blogslut]

2. True, BUT

Add onto that, the fact he limited drop-off boxes and I wonder how much his shenanigans kept blue voters from voting at all.

And don't get me started on how he's made voting in general harder and harder with each passing year.

[TwilightZone]

3. Yes, the drop-box issue was ridiculous.

From reports I've seen from various parts of the states, Dems generally turned out en masse in spite of the nonsense. I think it's possible, even likely, that it kept some away, but there was also a solid determination to not let his efforts keep people from voting.

As if often the case here, Latino turnout in some areas was lower than that of other states. It's a problem with a long history here, and we're doing as much as we can to improve it, but it's still an issue. We'll need to continue to make gains for 2022 and beyond. It's also possible (and, again, perhaps likely) that it was influenced by all of the nonsense, but it's a known issue here.

[vercetti2021]

4. Not sure it would have mattered

We need more than a million Democrats to move here in order to wrestle it away.

Texas isn't gonna flip this decade. Its gonna be 10 or so more years to get there. Just too much corruption and gerrymandering. And since we failed to win the statehouse. Its gonna be fucked for another decade.

Honestly if I didn't have family or friends here. I would have left this shithole for Colorado

[blogslut]

5. I see things differently

I've lived in Texas all my life and I am old. I'm old enough to remember when electing a republican governor was something new. 20 years ago there was no organized state Democratic party. We've come a long way and we've done it on our own because the national party considered us a lost cause.

I'm staying here. There's work to do.

[vercetti2021]

6. I love your enthusiasm

But I'm feeling sour on Texas. I keep thinking we're close enough to flip. But it just doesn't seem to matter. Either we aren't voting enough, too many Latinos are going for the GOP, or the state is so badly fucked by Abbott and co that we can't make a dent.

Trust me the gerrymandering is going to be bad this time. They'll ensure that Democrats will get fucked out of more seats like in 2010.