Texas Republicans worried about the future of the GOP
The Texas Republicans have finally realized that the future of their state is blue, and there's nothing they can do to stop it, Axios reported Sunday.
The Texas population is growing increasingly less white, and more progressive along with it. The far-right, radical evangelical Christians and tea party long ago took over the Texas GOP before they branched out to their national movement. Their efforts have been slowly turning people off in the state and across the country. That spells disaster for one of the largest states in the country.
"Reps. Will Hurd and Dan Crenshaw each represent segments of how the GOP has to adapt if it wants to remain dominant — not so white, and younger," Axios said. However, the two men differ on how to proceed with the GOP.
While both men see the writing on the wall for Republicans, Hurd thinks the way to move forward is to embrace a more diverse party. Diversity, however, has been a dirty word for Republicans in years past. And Crenshaw wants none of it.
"I hate engaging in identity politics," Crenshaw said. "I just don't take it as a given that because you're non-white, that we should worry about you voting Democrat."
Hurd told Axios that he thinks, "if the Republican Party doesn't start looking like the rest of the country, there won't be a Republican Party in this country."
Hurd isn't far off; if the GOP loses Texas, they lose 38 electoral votes along with it. That is the more electoral votes than Ohio, Michigan and Wisconsin combined. The more the state's population grows, the larger the electoral vote will increase.
Hurd said that he knows Black Republicans willing to run for office, but if they're up against white conservatives in a primary election, it's unknown if Republican voters in Texas will be willing to vote for a non-white candidate.
"More than 1 in 4 members of the House of Representatives is a racial or ethnic minority, but only 10 percent of that group are Republicans," Axios reported.
"We would definitely like a more diverse candidate list and we’re definitely accomplishing that for the 2020 cycle," said Crenshaw. "President Trump wasn't as popular as maybe more traditional Republicans would be in Texas. Millennials are overwhelmingly against Trump. I think that has a lot to do with it. I think it's more of a personality distaste for him."
Millennials trend more progressive, supporting more racial diversity and significantly more funding for healthcare and education, two issues the Republicans have contrasted with Democrats on.
"Texas is a purple state. Just because we don't have a statewide elected Democrat doesn't mean Texas is not already purple," Hurd said. "We should be operating as if it's purple."
Watch the video via Axios below:
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