Politics of Texas
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For approximately 100 years, from the end of Reconstruction until the 1970s, the Democratic Party was dominant in Texas politics. However, since the 1970s the Republican Party has grown more prominent within the state, and is now the state's dominant political party. This trend mirrors a national political realignment that has seen the once solidly Democratic South become increasingly dominated by Republicans.
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[edit] Early Democratic dominance
From 1848 until Richard M. Nixon's victory in 1972, Texas voted for the Democratic candidate for president in every election except 1928, 1952, and 1956 (it did not vote in 1864 and 1868 due to the Civil War and Reconstruction). [1] In the post Civil War era, the Republican Party was virtually nonexistent in much of the South, including Texas. What little Republican support there was in Texas was almost exclusively in the so-called "German counties" - the rural Texas Hill Country inhabited by liberal German Americans who had opposed slavery in the antebellum period. Some of the most important American political figures of the 20th Century, such as President Lyndon B. Johnson, Vice-President John Nance Garner, Speaker of the House Sam Rayburn and Senator Ralph Yarborough were Texas Democrats. However, the Texas Democrats were rarely united, being divided into conservative, moderate and liberal factions that vied with one another for power.
[edit] Increasing Republican strength: 1960 to 1990
The rebirth of the Republican Party in Texas can be traced back to 1952, when Democratic Governor Allan Shivers clashed with the Truman Administration over the claim on the Tidelands, which subsequently led to his work in helping Dwight D. Eisenhower carry the state. Beginning in the 1960s, Republican strength increased in Texas. Nationally, Democrats became increasingly liberal and Republicans became increasingly conservative. During the late 20th century, conservative Southern Democrats began to leave the party and join the Republicans. Unlike the rest of the South, however, Texas was never especially supportive of the various third-party candidacies of Southern Democrats, and was the only state in the former Confederacy to back Democrat Hubert Humphrey in 1968 (albeit by a narrow margin). The 1980s saw a number of defections by conservative Democrats to the GOP, including Senator Phil Gramm, Congressman Kent Hance, and current GOP Governor Rick Perry, who was a Democrat during his time as a state lawmaker.
John Tower's 1961 election to the U.S. Senate made him the first statewide GOP officeholder since Reconstruction. Governor Bill Clements and Senator Phil Gramm (also a former Democrat) followed. Republicans became increasingly dominant in national elections in Texas. The Republican nominee won the state's electoral votes in presidential election in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s except 1976.
[edit] Redistricting Disputes and the 1990s
Despite increasing Republican strength in national elections, after the 1990 census, Texas Democrats still controlled both houses of the State Legislature and most statewide offices. As a result, they were able to direct the redistricting process. Although Congressional Texas Democrats only received an average of 40 percent of the votes, Democrats consistently had a majority in the state delegation, as they had in every election since at least the end of Reconstruction.
In 1994, popular Democratic Governor Ann Richards lost her bid for re-election against Republican George W. Bush. In 1998, Bush won re-election in a landslide victory, with Republicans sweeping to victory in all the statewide races.
After the 2000 census, the Republican-controlled state Senate sought to draw a congressional district map that would guarantee a Republican majority in the state's delegation. The Democratic-controlled state House desired to retain a plan similar to the existing lines. Not surprisingly, this created an impasse. With the Legislature unable to reach a compromise, the matter was settled by a panel of federal court judges, who ruled in favor of a district map that largely retained the status quo.
However, the Republicans dominated the Legislative Redistricting Board, which draws the lines for the state legislative districts, by a majority of four to one. The Republicans on this board used their voting strength to adopt a map for the state Senate that was even more favorable to the Republicans and a map for the state House that also strongly favored them as Democrats had before.
In 2002, Texas Republicans gained control of the Texas House of Representatives for the first time since Reconstruction. The newly elected Republican legislature engaged in an unprecedented mid-decade redistricting plan. Democrats said that the redistricting was a blatant partisan gerrymander, while Republicans argued that it was a much-needed correction of the partisan lines drawn after the 1990 census. The result was a gain of six seats by the Republicans in the 2004 elections, giving them a majority of the state's delegation for the first time since Reconstruction.
In December 2005, the US Supreme Court agreed to hear an appeal that challenged the legality of this redistricting plan. While largely upholding the map, it ruled the El Paso-to-San Antonio 23rd District, which had been a protected majority-Latino district until the 2003 redistricting, was unconstitutionally drawn. The ruling forced nearly every district in the El Paso-San Antonio corridor to be reconfigured. Partly due to this, Democrats picked up two seats in the state in the 2006 elections. The 23rd's Republican incumbent was defeated in this election--the first time a Democratic House challenger unseated a Texas Republican incumbent in 10 years.
[edit] Current situation
| Year | Republican | Democratic |
|---|---|---|
| 2008 | 55.48% 4,467,748 | 43.72% 3,521,164 |
| 2004 | 61.09% 4,526,917 | 38.30% 2,832,704 |
| 2000 | 59.30% 3,799,639 | 38.11% 2,433,746 |
| 1996 | 48.80% 2,736,166 | 43.81% 2,459,683 |
| 1992 | 40.61% 2,496,071 | 37.11% 2,281,815 |
| 1988 | 56.01% 3,036,829 | 43.41% 2,352,748 |
| 1984 | 63.58% 3,433,428 | 36.18% 1,949,276 |
| 1980 | 55.30% 2,510,705 | 41.51% 1,881,148 |
Republicans control all statewide Texas offices, both houses of the state legislature and have a majority in the Texas congressional delegation. The state has continued its Republican voting trend in presidential elections. This makes Texas one of the most Republican states in the U.S.
Despite overall Republican dominance, however, there remain some cities and regions with strong Democratic power. Austin, the state capital, is a Democratic stronghold and a center of progressive political activism. El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley also remain loyal to the Democratic Party. It should be noted though in the Rio Grande Valley during the 2004 Presidential Election that President George W. Bush carried Camron County, which went to Vice President Gore in 2000 Presidential Election prior. In addition, the mayors of most major Texas cities, though running in "nonpartisan" races, are affiliated with the Democratic Party. Cities like Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio usually support Democrats, while their suburbs are heavily Republican. During the 2004 election, despite heavy losses in congressional races, the Texas Democrats made a net gain in the state legislature for the first time since 1974 (albeit only of a single seat).
During the 2006 election cycle, the Democrats scored major successes by winning six state House seats (five in the general election and one in an earlier special election), cutting the Republican majority in the House by half. They also gained two federal Congressional seats. The Democrats failed to win any statewide offices, however.
2008 saw further Democratic gains. Although the Republicans regained a congressional seat they had lost to the Democrats in 2006, the Democrats gained six state house seats (reducing the Republican majority there to a single seat) and one state senate seat. Furthermore, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama earned a much greater share of the statewide vote than John Kerry had done in 2004.
[edit] Capital punishment
Texas has a reputation for strict "law and order" sentencing. According to the Prison Policy Initiative, of the 21 counties in the United States where more than a fifth of residents are prison inmates, 10 are in Texas. Texas leads the nation in executions, with 400 executions from 1976 to 2007. The second-highest ranking state is Virginia, with 94. A 2002 Houston Chronicle poll of Texans found that when asked "Do you support the death penalty?" 69.1% responded that they did, 21.9% did not support and 9.1% were not sure or gave no answer.
[edit] Secessionist sentiment
Many Texas believe that because it joined the United States as a country, Texas retains the right to secede.[1] However, neither the ordinance of The Texas Annexation of 1845[2] nor The Annexation of Texas Joint Resolution of Congress March 1, 1845[3] included provisions giving Texas the right to secede. Texas did originally retained the right to divide into as many as five independent States[4], but as part of the Compromise of 1850 relinquished that right and in exchange received $10 million from the federal government.
The United States Supreme Court's primary ruling on the legality of secession involved a case brought by Texas involving a Civil War era bonds transfer.[5] In deciding the 1869 Texas v. White case, the Supreme Court first addressed the issue of whether Texas had in fact seceded when it joined the Confederacy. In a 5-3 vote the Court "held that as a matter of constitutional law, no state could leave the Union, explicitly repudiating the position of the Confederate states that the United States was a voluntary compact between sovereign states."[6] In writing the majority opinion Chief Justice Salmon Chase opined that:
When, therefore, Texas became one of the United States, she entered into an indissoluble relation. All the obligations of perpetual union, and all the guaranties of republican government in the Union, attached at once to the State. The act which consummated her admission into the Union was something more than a compact; it was the incorporation of a new member into the political body. And it was final. The union between Texas and the other States was as complete, as perpetual, and as indissoluble as the union between the original States. There was no place for reconsideration or revocation, except through revolution or through consent of the States.[7]
However, as the issue of secession per se was not the one before the court, it has been debated as to whether this reasoning is merely dicta or a binding ruling on the question.
While the state's organized secessionist movement is relatively small, a notable minority of Texans hold secessionist sentiments.[8] A 2009 poll found that 31% of Texans believe that Texas has the legal right to secede and form an independent country and 18% believe it should do so.[9]
[edit] Notes
- ^ Hoppe, Christy (April 18, 2009). "Despite state mythology, Texas lacks right to secede". The Dallas Morning News. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/dn/latestnews/stories/041809dntexsecession.3f59869.html. Retrieved on 2009-07-01.
- ^ Ordinance of the Convention of Texas, signed July 4, 1845.
- ^ "The Annexation of Texas Joint Resolution of Congress March 1, 1845". Archives of the West: 1806-1848. PBS. http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/two/texannex.htm. Retrieved on 2009-07-01.
- ^ http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/texan02.asp
- ^ Schwartz, Bernard (1995). A History of the Supreme Court. Oxford University Press. pp. 134. ISBN 0195093879. http://books.google.com/books?id=dE51nSQp-vMC&pg=PA134&lpg=PA134&dq=supreme+court+decision+secession+-quebec+-qu%C3%A9bec&source=bl&ots=TEPEFa-uIH&sig=YCiLN27h0EcOANcckQSolvJREUk&hl=en&ei=fgdMSvitLIjSNfvKhAU&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5.
- ^ Zuczek, Richard (August 2006). Encyclopedia of the Reconstruction Era. A-L. Greenwood Press. pp. 649. ISBN 0313330743. http://books.google.com/books?id=H80eQweo0V4C&pg=PA649&lpg=PA649&dq=supreme+court+decision+secession&source=bl&ots=T3M0Rqq2NX&sig=bLIVwY-BPaWx0JlM6tdD7QhPR5M&hl=en&ei=JANJSovNKpX0Mf26vLAC&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8.
- ^ Texas v. White, 74 U.S. 700 (1868) at Cornell University Law School Supreme Court collection.
- ^ "Perry's secession remarks light up blogosphere". San Antonio Express-News. http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/politics/Perrys_secession_remarks_light_up_blogosphere.html. Retrieved on 2009-04-19.
- ^ "In Texas, 31% Say State Has Right to Secede From U.S., But 75% Opt To Stay". Rasmussen Reports. http://www.rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/states_general/texas/in_texas_31_say_state_has_right_to_secede_from_u_s_but_75_opt_to_stay. Retrieved on 2009-04-17.
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