DIVERSE TEXAS CITIES AND CONTROLLING VOTER SUPPRESSION MAY SOON TURN TEXAS BLUE

 

The graphic above shows the Trump(red), Biden(blue) divide among Texas' 254 counties in the 2020 election.

To the untrained eye, the red/blue differentiation should give Republicans solid hope for the future, but it doesn't.

While the red, mostly rural counties, voted overwhelmingly for Trump, some with as high as 89% plurality, the population centers of El Paso, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas and the RGV, were solidly blue, from mid-50's to high 60's percentage points.

Stirring the entire mix into a single pot, Texas went for Trump over Biden 52-47(kid math whizzes will instantly note one missing percentage point, which I can explain if you have the time).

While the red/blue split looks like an urban/country differential, it's not that simple.

Texas cities tend to be more ethnically diverse, while many sparsely populated rural counties are more than 95% white. Those more diverse urban areas are rapidly increasing in population while rural counties remain essentially stagnant.

Back in 2015, Trump's speech at Trump Tower to announce his candidacy for President was racist as Hell, implying that Mexico was "sending" bad people, "rapists" into the U.S.

That appeal to racism in his campaign was totally intentional, premeditated, just has his theme, "Make America Great Again" really conjures up Make America White Again, as it harkens back to an era of totally white control.

It blows my mind that many Hispanics, a solid minority, let the overt racism fly over their heads and embraced Trump.

Many Blacks did the same despite Trump's obvious condescention at campaign rallies, shouting "Where's my Black?" 

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton

Stupidly, indicted Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton took credit for hindering the Texas voting process just enough in 2020 to keep Texas red.

As we reported in the Brownsville Observer August 20, 2021:

If you recall, in 2020, AG Paxton filed 12 lawsuits in various counties of Texas, specifically Democratic strongholds like Harris County(Houston) and Travis County(Austin), not to totally stop voting, but to make it much more difficult, hinder the process, etc.

Paxton now claims those lawsuits initiated by the Texas AG were what secured victory for Trump.

It's looking less likely by the minute that Paxton will still be in office next election, so, if his braggadocio has any merit, Texas may slide ever closer to blue if voter suppression becomes less of a factor.