2016 Presidential Campaign (Hillary Clinton – Facebook)
By Abigail Walker
Named the projected winner, President-elect Joe Biden has made it through with 290 electoral votes leaving former President Donald Trump with only 232, according to the Associated Press.
Trump won Texas by a little more than 600,000 votes, according to POLITICO, which is less than what he won by in 2016 while running against Hillary Clinton.
In 2016, he won the State of Texas by 800,000 votes, and the difference has left people talking about the possibility of Texas turning blue in the future; among those voices is Lubbock Democratic Chair Gracie Gomez.
“We still have a way to go, especially in our area of West Texas that is super red,” Gomez said, “but we’re making strides and with each election I see some changes.”
Gomez spoke about her experience campaigning for Beto O’Rourke in 2018 during his run against Ted Cruz for United States Senate; she reminisced about the attention O’Rourke gained in Texas and compared that to the attention Biden received during his run for the presidency.
Gomez has not given up her efforts to bring about the change in Texas she wants to see happen.
“I wish the change had come about with this election,” she said. “It is closer, but it’s been two years. We’re going to rest a couple of days, and then we’re going to start working on the midterm races.”
However, many Republicans do not believe Texas will ever favor the Democratic Party. Former member of the Lubbock County Republican Executive Committee Jim Baxa said he believes this election will be the closest Texas ever comes to switching parties.
“Texas will never flip. Trump is not popular here because he’s a New York tough-talkin’ guy,” Baxa said. “He’s not a nice guy, and a lot of Texans don’t like that attitude, so this is the closest that Texas will ever get to flipping.”
2020 U.S. Presidential Election Results (Associated Press)
According to 270 To Win, the percentage of Democratic voters has slowly increased since 2000.
Baxa went on to say the Democratic Party has become radical and their policies go against God in almost every way.
“That’s the Democratic Party of today,” Baxa said. “They’re radical, they’re disgusting, they’re perverted, they’re murderous, and they’re thieves.”
Lubbock County Commissioner Jason Corley mentioned that Texas switched from a Democratic state to Republican when former President Ronald Reagan ran in 1980; the cause–religion.
“As the Democratic Party has shifted to be more socially liberal,’ Corley said, “you know, Texas is still a part of the Bible Belt so religious tradition runs very deep here.”
It is unknown if Texas will flip party lines, but the idea is regularly debated among political party affiliates; however, Gomez said they are still hopeful and ready to fight for the change they want to see.
About lucindaholt
