A report from The Washington Examiner quoted many Texas Republicans that are worried about losing Texas in 2020.
Top Republicans in Texas are sounding the alarm about 2020, warning President Trump could lose the usually reliably red state unless he devotes resources and attention to it typically reserved for electoral battlegrounds.
Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey has delivered this message to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee, GOP donors, and activists in the state. Nationally, Republican operatives and donors have historically taken Texas for granted and directed their financial and organizational muscle to more competitive regions. Separately, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, up for re-election next year, has spoken with new RNC co-chairman Tommy Hicks, a Lone Star State native, about concerns that Trump could lose the state.
Along with other senior Texas Republicans, Dickey and Cornyn are moving to secure the money and grassroots support needed to withstand a feared Democratic surge statewide in 2020. If left unchecked, they are convinced Texas could turn blue in a presidential contest for the first time since 1976.
“We are talking to everyone,†Dickey told the Washington Examiner this month while attending the RNC’s annual winter business meeting in New Mexico. “The challenges we face in Texas are very real.â€
They looked at the energy and ground game for the Democrats as the reason to sound the alarm.
Some Republicans do disagree with really worrying about Texas though.
First term presidents typically lose seats in Congress in midterm elections. And, in Texas, Democratic Senate nominee Beto O’Rourke boosted Democrats down ticket with a campaign that, while falling just short, spent more than $70 million on the ground. That’s a gargantuan sum unlikely to be equaled in a presidential election cycle with plenty of other states on the map where money goes farther than it does in Texas, where campaigning and running ads is expensive.
Both Democrat Presidental hopefuls Beto O’Rourke and Julian Castro are Texans which would give Democrats a better chance to flip the State.
Should we worry about Texas? Of course. Without Texas Republicans feasibly have no real path to 270. Losing Texas would be a disaster and once they get it once they likely will keep it for a long time.
