Politics In Texas

Texas is unique place, it is the second largest state in the U.S. after Alaska. Texas is also the home to the six largest cities, Houston, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Austin, Dallas and El Paso. (Ch.1, Pg.8). The Texan population continues to grow and change and with it so does the states political views. Big population changes in a state can have major effects on their states political stand points. Take Texas as an example, once a strong democratic state and now is a republican state because of big population changes migrations from other states.

Texas used to be a democratic state in 1848, all the way through 1972 Texas voted for every democratic presidential candidate except in 1928. Blacks in that time period took up about 20% of the population

And “democrats haven’t won a statewide election since 1994” (Philpott, Kut Ben.). So what caused this shift in political views? One factor was the population growth of Texas. In the late 1970s the Texas economy was booming due to the oil boom. Hundreds of thousands of people migrated to Texas from all over the country who had a tendency to be republican. Also, During this time the Voting Rights act of 1965 was “signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson, aimed to overcome legal barriers at the state and local levels that prevented African Americans from exercising their right to vote as guaranteed under the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.” (“Voting Rights Act of 1965”). This act banned literacy tests for blacks trying to vote and voting stations now had federal oversight. This act played a major role in Texas becoming republican state because (“African Americans were one group of Texans that would consistently support the Republican Party in Texas in those early years. Throughout Reconstruction, African Americans comprised about 90% of GOP membership, and 44 African Americans served in the Texas legislature as Republicans”) (“Overview and History”). With all the new people from all over and the African Americans being able to finally vote, the democrats were

In the last presidential election Texas voted for the republican candidate Donald Trump. Currently Texas is ranked the lowest in the nation for percent of voting age population that votes (Michael King). Many of the younger generations do not participate in elections. That means the older generations that are mostly white and republicans are the ones who go out vote. But once again the Texan population is changing and so are its political views. Texas has a good economy in the ranking list its economy is ranked number eight in the nation due to the high amounts of immigrants adding to our workforce (“Where Does Texas Place in the U.S. News Best States Rankings?”). Due to its good economy more people are likely to migrate to Texas to join in and help the economy. The white race used to be to dominate race and most of them side with republicans when it comes to political parties. But recent studies show the latino race is rapidly catching up and will eventually surpass the white as the dominant race. According to a graph in the chapter 1 outline in 1990 whites took up 61 percent of the population in Texas. While in that same year latinos only took up 25 percent of the population. In 2012 the white population dropped to 44.5 percent, while the latino race jumped all the way to 38.2 percent (Ch.1 Pg.9). Why is the rising latino population and a decreasing white population a concern for