Chapter 4
Political Parties in
Texas
Role of Political Parties in
Texas Politics
• Help voters make choices
– “R” or “D” next to candidate name on ballot helps
people decide who to vote for
• Texans vote for unusually high number of
offices
– Party label offers a very helpful cue on a long
ballot where less is known about the candidates
Role of Political Parties in
Texas Politics
• Party Work
– Assist in fund-raising for party or specific
candidates
– Recruit quality candidates to run
– Voter mobilization
• Get Out The Vote drives (GOTV)
• Online activities to connect and engage voters
Role of Political Parties in
Texas Politics
• 90% of Texas voters identify with the two
parties (Oct. 2012, Texas Tribune)
– 51% Republican, 39% Democrat, 8% Independent
• Don’t confuse “independent” with “moderate”
– Strong ideologues (liberals or conservatives) often
self-identify as “independent” because they think
their party is not ideological enough.
– Independents not synonymous with “swing votes”
• Decision between voting for one party or abstaining
The Contemporary Republican
Party in Texas
• Republican Party and Presidential Vote
– Since 1980, GOP candidate has won Texas
– Last presidential candidate to win in Texas was
President Carter in 1976 (well over three decades)
– Texans George H.W. and George W. Bush
account for some, but not all, of this trend.
• Party support grew between 2008 and 2012
– Mitt Romney won Texas by 16-point margin
– John McCain won Texas by 12-point margin
The Contemporary Republican
Party in Texas
• Texans have elected Republicans to all
statewide offices since 1994, most notably:
• Both U.S. Senate Seats
• Governor
– Though this has included only two people: George
W. Bush and Rick Perry
• All offices of the plural executive
– e.g. Lt. Governor, Attorney General, etc.
The Contemporary Republican
Party in Texas
• Republicans hold all 18 seats in the state’s top
judicial institutions since 1994
• The Supreme Court of Texas
– Court of last resort for civil cases
• The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals
– Court of last resort for criminal cases, including
death penalty cases
• In 2012, Democrats did not run a candidate for
several statewide offices
The Contemporary Republican
Party in Texas
• Republicans hold comfortable majorities in
both chambers of the Texas Legislature
– 2012 Texas House: 95 of 150 seats
– 2012 Texas Senate: 19 of 31 seats
• This is “more competitive” than recent years, when as
many as 101 of 150 House seats were Republican.
• Texas Speaker of the House and most
legislative committee leadership roles go to
Republicans
The Contemporary Democratic
Party in Texas
• Several counties and electoral districts are
strongly Democratic, with little viable
Republican opposition.
• While Republicans are strong in statewide
contests, there are cities and regions in the
state where they are not competitive at all.
– The 2012 Texas congressional delegation sharply
illustrates the reliably “red” and “blue” parts of the
state.
Party Organization
• Texas parties conduct primaries to select the
party’s candidates for office.
• Texas voters do not register by party.
– There is no such thing as a “registered”
Republican or Democrat in Texas.
• Voters can vote in either party primary, but in
only one primary per election cycle.
– For example, one could vote in the Democratic
primary in 2008, and the GOP primary in 2010.
Party Organization
• Candidates must win either:
– A majority of the primary vote
– Or a run-off between the two highest vote getters
• One-party dominance in state and regions
(some places Democrats dominate local
government) means some of the most
competitive races occur in the primaries.
Party Organization
• Party are organized at the precinct, county,
and state levels.
– See next slide for illustration of party structure and
organization
Party Organization in Texas
Party Organization
• Conventions are held at the precinct, county,
and state levels.
• Precinct chairs are the most local “on-theground” party officials.
– Lead their precinct convention
– Serve on the county executive committee.
Party Organization
• County executive committees responsible for
running county primary election and planning
county convention.
– Can be arduous task in very large counties like
Bexar, Harris, Dallas, and Travis.
– In addition, county-level party politics can be very
contentious among activists
Party Organization
• A county chair is elected at the party’s primary
election and heads the county executive
committee.
• The precinct and county chairs decide who will
attend the state party convention.
– These choices can shape the party platforms.
Party Organization
• The state executive committee and state chair
and vice chair coordinate the party’s statewide
activities.
– State conventions, statewide primary tasks, and
general election tasks fall to this group.
– They have an established relationship with the
national party organization.
– They coordinate to determine delegates to
national party conventions.
Third Parties
• Extremely hard to run as anything other than a
Democrat or Republican
– A few notable attempts, but all ultimately failed:
• Strayhorn, Friedman, Raza Unida Party, Dixiecrats
• Rules for running for office are made by
Democrats and Republicans
– Partisans have a vested interest in making it
difficult for others to challenge them.
Third Parties
• Steps for Independents/Third Parties to run for
statewide office
– Candidates must obtain petition signatures equal to 1
percent of the total votes in the last governor’s race.
– Signatures must come from registered voters who did
not participate in any political party primary election.
– Signature collection cannot begin until the day after
the last primary election.
– Voters may sign only one candidate’s petition.
Tea Party Movements
and Occupy Wall Street
Support in Texas
Texas’s History as a One-Party
State
• After Reconstruction (1873), Texas entered
one-party rule era, lasts over a century
– The real election was the Democratic primary.
– Republicans frequently did not run any candidate
at all for many offices.
– Many counties had no Republican Party at all.
– This was common in the South at this time.
• GOP was the party of the North and entirely unpopular
in southern states for that reason.
Texas’s History as a One-Party
State
State and National Democratic Party
• 1940s realignment beginning to take shape
– National Democratic Party became more liberal on
economic and social issues
• Support for New Deal, voting rights, desegregation
– Presidential Republicanism emerges
• Split-ticket voting, southern states (like Texas) voted for
conservative Democrats at the state level and
Republicans for president
Texas’s History as a One-Party
State
• Partisan realignment solidifies
– During the 1980s and ’90s the conservative voters
and elected officials left the Democratic Party.
– Republicans became home to the ideological
conservatives that once made the core of the
Democratic voter base.
– Redistricting after the 2000 Census effectively
ended the presence of the few moderate
Democrats who been successful among
ideological moderates, including white voters.
Texas’s History as a One-Party
State
• Republicans grew to dominate state politics as
Democrats had decades before.
• Multiple indicators of party competition
demonstrate extent of Republican control
– Presidential, Statewide, State legislature
• Since 1994 GOP won every statewide election
– Nearly two decades (19 years) since a Democrat
has won a state level race in Texas.
Party Composition of the Texas
Delegation to the United States
House of Representatives
1845–2011
Modern One-Party State
• Current Republican Party two major factions:
– Social conservatives
• Abortion, prayer in schools, same-sex marriage, public
school curriculum, punitive approach to immigration
– Economic conservatives
• Focus on reduced government spending, lower taxes,
place greater emphasis on free enterprise, economic
focus on immigration policy
– Factions present among politicians and voters
• 2012 U.S. senate race Dewhurst vs. Cruz, for example
Modern One-Party State
• Republicans dominate, but Democrats should
not be wholly dismissed.
• 2.9 million Texans voted in 2008 Democratic
primary (Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton)
– Extensive mobilization, compelling candidates,
and a close race drew record participation.
• Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio delivered
keynote speech at the 2012 Democratic
National Convention in Charlotte, NC.
Texas Electorate Demographics
• Eligible electorate diversity
– Those who can vote: citizens, 18 and older, etc.
•
•
•
•
Anglos 51% eligible Texas voters
Latinos 30% eligible Texas voters
African Americans 13% eligible Texas voters
Similar to national trends
– White voters overwhelmingly vote Republican,
nonwhites largely Democratic supporters
Texas Electorate Demographics
• Texas electorate diversity unlike other states
• Relative to the South
– Smaller share African American electorate
– Regional concentration (East Texas and Dallas)
• Relative to Southwest
– More eligible Latino voters
– Fewer Texas Latinos are immigrants compared to
Southwest states.
Racial/Ethnic Groups’ Share of
Texas’s Population and the State’s
2008 Vote
Party Identification in
Texas, 1952-2008