The year was 1874. The end of reconstruction was at hand and the reign of the Republican Governor was ending. The Democrats would claim every statewide election starting then and ending in the year 1961. That year a special election was held to fill the Senate seat that LBJ vacated to become Vice President. The man who won that election was a Republican by the name of John Tower. John Tower was the first Republican to win a statewide election since Reconstruction. That seat would be held by three different Republicans, and it was only this week that the Democrats won it back.
John Tower won the seat in 1961, but he would be the only Republican to win a statewide election until 1978. That is when Bill Clements won the Governorship and became the first Republican Governor since 1874, and then there were two Republicans winning statewide elections. However, that didn't start the Republican takeover as Democrat Mark White won the Governorship back for the Democrats in 1982. Then Bill Clements won it back for the Republicans in 1986. However, the Democrats won it back in 1990 with Ann Richards. Ann Richards was a popular Governor, but her Liberal views split the Democratic party as she couldn't get along with Conservative Democrats such as the Lieutenant Governor Bob Bullock. During this time the Republicans won the other Senate Seat with Kay Bailey Hutchison winning in a special called election after Loyd Bentsen vacated the seat to serve in Bill Clinton's Cabinet. The Republicans still own that seat.
Then in 1994 George W Bush was able capitalize on the split Democratic Party to win the Governorship for the Republicans. He built a coalition among Republicans, Conservative Democrats and a outreach to Hispanic voters that the Democratic leaders had taken for granted. He proved to be popular and in 1998, he won reelection with Rick Perry (A Republican who at one time was a conservative Democrat) winning the Lieutenant Governorship. Rick Perry won with the promise that he would maintain what George W bush had started if Governor Bush became President. Of Course Rick Perry did become Governor and not only did he maintain the party's strength, it grew. When Greg Abbott won the Governorship, the Republican Party was the dominant political party. It was under his leadership that the Republican leadership split the base just as Ann Richards had done to the Democrats years earlier.
The Republican leadership drove Republicans off that disagreed with school vouchers, They drove Republicans off that would turn a blind eye to Ken Paxton's Corruption. They drove Republicans off that disagreed with a total ban on THC. They drove Republicans off by turning their heads when ICE Agent killed a man who was driving men to work and even admitted that the man they shot wasn't who they were after. You can be tough on illegal immigration without using Gestapo tactics, but Republican leadership didn't care and they lost support. Then there was high prices due to tariffs and the war in Iran and Republican leadership didn't care. Also as I said at the time, redrawing the the voting precincts was a gift to the Democrats. The thinner the majority, the less votes it takes to turn that seat. The Democrats took advantage of this situation the same way that George W Bush did in 1994 and took back everything that they had lost, so coming this January Texas will look like it did back in the 1960's with the Democrats controlling all the statewide offices except for one US Senate seat, and if they play their cards right, and don't do a Ann Richards, they can be in control for the next 30 years.
No comments:
Post a Comment