“In 2018 Beto O’Rourke met and slightly exceeded the votes we thought he needed in urban and suburban counties. “To win statewide in Texas, we believe Democrats must continue to win the large urban counties, run close or win the exurban counties and reduce the big Republican advantages in rural areas and in small towns, at least marginally,” said Matt Angle, a founder of The Lone Star Project, a PAC that consults on Democratic political work statewide. They would have liked to get them earlier and without the drive, they told me, but were happy to have the supply in the first place. That week, Logan and Horick had driven to Austin to pick up door hangers from the party. For many in rural Texas, it’s the first time they’ve seen this level of coordination run through the state party between local, state and national races. ![]() Meanwhile, around West Texas, other Democratic county chairs were beginning to organize in person as well-some independently and others in coordination with the state party, which, unlike in previous election cycles, is finally running ads in rural areas and sending more organizers there as well. By the end of the weekend in Odessa, Horick and other volunteers would hand out over 2,000 voter registration cards. That Saturday, wearing masks and walking at distance with others, Horick had kicked off in-person canvassing, leaving door hangers in blue neighborhoods. Red stripes marked areas where voters cast ballots for Trump, in 2016, and then Beto O’Rourke. While only 35 percent of people voted in those precincts in 2018, Horick is hoping to push that number closer to 50 this cycle. On the map on the wall, precincts colored in blue marked Hispanic neighborhoods estimated to be heavily Democratic. She and other local organizers largely hope to do this by increasing turnout in Hispanic communities, as well as by persuading O’Rourke voters who backed President Donald Trump in 2016 to vote Democratic again. Horick’s goal this year is for Democratic statewide candidates to receive 35 percent of the vote in the county. In 2018, Beto O’Rourke did slightly better, earning just over 30 percent. In 2016, Hillary Clinton received just 28 percent of Ector’s vote. It’s not about winning in these deep-red counties and districts-it’s about cutting into Republican margins, no matter how large. If they can boost Democratic support in places like Odessa just slightly, then, together with the unprecedented early vote surge in cities, Democrats think they might finally get enough votes to flip the state. ![]() Now, people like Horick and Logan are part of an effort by Democrats to broaden their strategy by targeting the most Republican areas of the state as well. But that strategy alone hasn’t worked yet-even as favorable demographic changes, especially in urban areas, suburbs and now even exurbs, have put the state in play. For years, Democratic orthodoxy has maintained that flipping Texas Democratic in statewide races-this year for presidential candidate Joe Biden and Senate candidate MJ Hegar, most prominentaly-means increasing turnout in urban areas and swing suburbs.
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