Texas
Opinion: Sorry haters, Texas isn’t turning blue in this election – or anytime soon
Polls show Republican Sen. Ted Cruz ahead by 4 to 5 percentage points. But political observers with experience in Texas think the race isn’t as close as portrayed.
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Former president Donald Trump offered his endorsement to Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in his Senate race against Colin Allred.
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Something about Texas makes Democrats believe it will turn blue every election, despite so much evidence to the contrary.
Maybe Texas is the object of progressives’ fantasies and frustrations because of all the heavy-hitting Republicans with oil money, the presence of so much old-fashioned cowboy masculinity and its booming economy, which is the eighth largest in the world.
Texas is so conservative that if the state were to turn blue someday, it would be a massive indicator that America is veering significantly leftward.
Sorry, liberals. It will not happen this year. And likely not any time soon.
Texas isn’t just a red state, it’s a beacon of conservative values. It’s that way because that’s how those of us who call Texas home want it to be. We live in a place that reflects our views, and our views are reflected where we live − a symbiotic circle with liberty at its core.
Trying to turn Texas blue is a futile exercise for Democrats. But it doesn’t seem to keep them from trying anyway.
Ted Cruz is cruising toward victory in Texas Senate race
Take the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Republican Ted Cruz and Dallas Democratic Rep. Colin Allred.
Texas-based publications and national news outlets have been quick to observe how tight the Allred vs. Cruz Senate race has appeared to be in this election cycle.
I wrote about it in September, and it was tighter then than I expected.
Allred boasts some great qualities: He’s personable and has worked hard to look like a moderate Democrat in a red state. (That’s the only way he could get elected in Texas.)
It’s a formula that’s been tried before, as anyone who has observed the failed political career of Beto O’Rourke knows.
With a few years on the El Paso City Council and then in the U.S. House of Representative under his belt, O’Rourke, known in Texas simply as “Beto,” ran for the Senate against Cruz in 2018 and lost by about 2.6 percentage points. Undeterred, he ran again against Gov. Greg Abbott in 2022 and lost handily, by more than 10 points.
Texas Democrats hope Allred can do what O’Rourke could not do: Finally secure a Senate seat to represent liberals, the majority of whom reside in the Lone Star state’s urban areas.
But a Democrat hasn’t won statewide office in Texas in 30 years. That’s back when Bill Clinton was still in the White House and movie fans flocked to Blockbuster (look it up, Gen Z) on Friday nights.
For Democrats, O’Rourke’s losses were mystifying. He was charismatic and enthusiastically backed by Hollywood and the national media. But he ultimately failed for the same reason Allred will likely fail.
Allred, like O’Rourke, just doesn’t represent the views of most Texans.
Cruz better represents Texans
Allred has presented himself as a bipartisan moderate to gain traction in Texas, but it’s a ruse. He’s more aligned with the progressive views of Vice President Kamala Harris than it appears at first glance.
While in Congress, Allred has shown himself to be a typical liberal who votes for measures that increase government spending and expand its reach into our lives, like the Inflation Reduction Act and the $2 trillion Build Back Better Act.
Cruz may not come across as likable as Allred or O’Rourke. He can be both nerdy and brash. He reminds me of that kid in class who tells the teacher she forgot to assign homework.
Cruz seems the most human when other conservatives interview him, an understandable trait given the media’s obvious scorn. But that also means many people don’t see a side of him that’s relatable and relaxed.
Cruz is an easy target for the mainstream media to skewer, as is often the case with conservative politicians. But none of that means he has done a poor job or has failed to represent his constituents. At 45%, his approval rating is 5 points higher than his disapproval rating heading into Tuesday.
Cruz favors policies that lower taxes for Texas residents, improve local businesses and boost military contracts for Texas companies.
Even the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which endorsed Allred in his 2020 and 2022 House races, now endorses Cruz.
Polls show Cruz ahead by 4 to 5 percentage points. But political observers with experience in Texas say the race isn’t as close as portrayed.
Brendan Steinhauser, an Austin-based political consultant, told me: ” I think he is going to overperform the polling, and beat Colin Allred by a wider margin than many people expect.”
Texas is the American dream
I interviewed Gov. Abbott a few weeks ago and asked him about the Cruz vs. Allred race and if Texas is turning blue after all. He chalked up Allred’s initial momentum to his head start running advertising campaigns well before Cruz.
“So there is a political and ideological shift in the state of Texas, but it’s different than what people think,” Abbott said. “Republicans in Texas are picking up larger swaths of the Hispanic vote. We’re converting people to the Republican side that historically has been Democrat.”
For a lot of Texans, our state is the epitome of the American dream: Here, we live life on our own terms, and liberty is the pursuit with happiness the result.
It’s not just Texas’ natural beauty and resources that make it incredible. It’s also the conservative ideas reflected in our state and local governments that allow its best attributes to shine. It’s not perfect, of course, and the lawmakers here aren’t without flaws. Even so, the emphasis on freedom comes from core conservative principles.
That’s why it will not turn blue any time soon.
Texas isn’t great in spite of its conservatism, but because of it.
Nicole Russell is an opinion columnist with USA TODAY. She lives in Texas with her four kids. Sign up for her newsletter, The Right Track, and get it delivered to your inbox.
A common theme for No. 22 TCU has been their complete dominance on their home floor this season. The Horned Frogs finished the year 14-1 at Schollmaier Arena. On Friday night, in front of over 3,000 fans, TCU swept Texas Tech (25-14, 26-24, 25-11).
The four seniors honored by TCU were Melanie Parra, Cecily Bramschreiber, Stephanie Young and Ashlyn Bourland. All four players found ways to contribute as Parra finished with 14 kills and seven digs. Bramschreiber filled up the stat sheet with four kills, four aces and seven digs. Both Young and Bourland got an ace.
Both teams traded points in the early going, but Bramschreiber sparked a 7-2 run to give the Frogs a 16-9 lead. TCU hit .417 in the first set and dominated the first set capped off by a Becca Kelley ace.
In set two, Texas Tech made things much closer jumping out to a 8-5 lead. A 4-0 run from TCU put them back in front. This set included multiple runs and it was Tech that got it to set point leading 24-22. TCU was able to end the set on a 4-0 run courtesy of kills from Jalyn Gibson and Parra paired with aces from Bramschreiber.
Trying to keeps things alive, TCU wasn’t met with much resistance from the Red Raiders in the third set. The Frogs kept up the pressure with multiple runs to build a massive 17-8 lead. Bourland picked up her first career ace and an attack error ended things.
It was a fun night for the seniors that played in front of the TCU crowd for the last time. The 14 wins at home tied the school record for most wins at home in a single season. They also picked up the most wins in a season since 2015. What Jason Williams has done for this program in such a short time has been remarkable to watch.
The Frogs move to 19-7 overall 11-5 in conference. They still are fifth in the Big 12 standings with two games to go. They will travel to Morgantown on Wednesday to take on West Virginia at 6 p.m. and then to Cincinnati on Friday at 1 p.m.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced a lawsuit Thursday targeting the blue city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalizes marijuana.
Paxton alleges that Proposition R, which “prohibits the Dallas Police Department from making arrests or issuing citations for marijuana possession or considering the odor of marijuana as probable cause for search or seizure,” violates state law.
The attorney general argues in the lawsuit that the ballot measure is preempted by Texas law, which criminalizes the possession and distribution of marijuana. Paxton also claims the Texas Constitution prohibits municipalities from adopting an ordinance that conflicts with laws enacted by the state legislature.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks outside the U.S. Supreme Court on November 01, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
“Cities cannot pick and choose which State laws they follow,” Paxton said in a statement. “The City of Dallas has no authority to override Texas drug laws or prohibit the police from enforcing them.”
Paxton called the ballot measure “a backdoor attempt to violate the Texas Constitution” and threatened to sue any other city that “tries to constrain police in this fashion.”
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A flower bud of marijuana. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)
The lawsuit comes after interim Dallas Police Department Chief Michael Igo directed Dallas police officers not to enforce marijuana laws against those found to be in possession of less than 4 ounces.
Ground Game Texas, a progressive nonprofit group that campaigned in favor of the ballot measure, argued it would help “keep people out of jail for marijuana possession,” “reduce racially biased policing” and “save millions in public funding.”
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A mature marijuana plant begins to bloom under artificial lights at Loving Kindness Farms in Gardena, Calif., May 20, 2019. Paxton has sued the city of Dallas over a ballot measure that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. (AP Photo/Richard Vogel)
“It’s unfortunate but not surprising that Attorney General Ken Paxton has apparently chosen to waste everyone’s time and money by filing yet another baseless lawsuit against marijuana decriminalization,” said Catina Voellinger, executive director for Ground Game Texas.
“Judges in Travis and Hays counties have already dismissed identical lawsuits filed there. The Dallas Freedom Act was overwhelmingly approved by 67% of voters — this is democracy in action.”
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Since January 2024, Paxton has filed lawsuits against five Texas cities that decriminalized marijuana possession, arguing these policies promote crime, drug abuse and violence.
The Texas Longhorns are heading back to Austin with some early-season tournament hardware in hand.
Tre Johnson battled through another poor shooting night but closed the game out for Texas once again, scoring a game-high 17 points to lead the Longhorns to a 67-58 win over Saint Joseph’s at the Legends Classic championship round in Brooklyn Friday night.
Transfer guard Julian Larry sparked the Longhorns late, scoring all 12 of his points in the second half. Arthur Kaluma added 14 points, four rebounds and four assists while Kadin Shedrick had 10 points and six rebounds.
The Hawks were led by Rasheer Fleming, who stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, 20 rebounds, three assists, two blocks and three steals. Xzayvier Brown added 15 points on 4 of 7 shooting.
The Longhorns jumped out to an 11-6 lead after seven early points from Kaluma. St. Joe’s started out cold from the field but controlled the game with hard-nosed defense and the occasional press while dominating the offensive glass. This was highlighted by a possession where the Hawks got four consecutive offensive rebounds but only scored one point as a result.
Johnson stayed aggressive on offense for Texas but was off on his shot and was impacted by the on-ball defense of St. Joe’s.
Mark, Pope and Johnson all hit a triple for Texas in about a two-minute span ahead of halftime to give the Longhorns their biggest lead at 32-26 but the Hawks responded with a free throw from Haskins 3-pointer from Brown before halftime to cut the lead to 32-30.
The defense from the Hawks ramped up even more, as the Longhorns were stuck in the mud on offense and had little to no ball movement. St. Joe’s was hardly much better, but its defense continued to set the tone and eventually swung the momentum.
Larry then hit back-to-back triples as the two teams traded buckets on five straight possessions. Consecutive dunks from Ajogbor and Fleming but the Hawks in front 50-46 with 8:25 to play, but Larry continued to take over. He hit 1,000 career points with a driving layup before finding Kaluma for a corner triple to put Texas back in front at 51-50.
It didn’t stop there for Larry, who found a cutting Shedrick for a dunk before diving on a loose ball down at the other end to secure possession for Texas, which had built a 55-52 lead with 3:13 left. The Longhorns used the momentum to put together an 8-0 run, which essentially sealed the win in a game where scoring felt hard to come by.
Johnson then closed the game out with six points in the final 4:11 of action, including a pullup jumper at the foul line to put Texas up 63-55 with 1:19 left.
Texas will host Delaware State on Nov. 29.
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