Going back as far as 2008, I can remember Democrats and various media figures/pundits confidently predicting that sooner rather than later Texas was going to flip to blue, perhaps as soon as 2012 or 2016.

That (wishful) thinking was due to a few things: Barack Obama doing significantly better in Texas in 2008 than John Kerry did in 2004 and Al Gore in 2000, a Hispanic population that was getting bigger, "progressive" transplants that were moving to the Lone Star State, and the fact that in 2008 some red states including North Carolina turned blue.

"Blue Texas" ("Blexas") didn't happen in 2012 nor 2016. But perhaps inspired by Beto O'Rourke's failed but close campaign against Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018, Democrats gave it a go again in Texas in 2020, spending seven figures to flip it to Joe Biden and doubling down on statewide voter registration efforts only to once again fail.

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In addition to the Democrat Party getting a lot of help in 2024 from billionaire George Soros to try and flip Texas, Democrat presidential nominee Kamala Harris even made a big visit to the state towards the latter part of her campaign in a stop that featured Beyonce, only to go down in defeat there in what turned out to be a very bad night for her across the country.

It is by comparing Harris' numbers in Texas in 2024 to Joe Biden's in 2020 that we can get a good read on how spectacularly the "Blexas" movement has failed:

This is insane.

Kamala Harris won 423,876 fewer votes in Texas than Joe Biden did.

Blexas is DEAD. pic.twitter.com/Hfv3gEM7lT

— Christian Heiens 🏛 (@ChristianHeiens) November 29, 2024

RIP pic.twitter.com/2Dli8OvJWv

— Patrick Ruffini (@PatrickRuffini) November 17, 2024

A big advantage former President Donald Trump had going into Election Day in Texas was the steady inroads he'd made in the Hispanic community starting in 2016, something that paid off bigly in 2024, as documented by my colleague streiff:

One observation is that the Democrats' race card is maxed out and facing cancellation. Starr County, Texas, is billed by the US Census Bureau as the "most Hispanic" county in the United States, with nearly 98% of the residents self-identifying as Hispanic. In 2016, Starr County went for Hillary Clinton by 60 points. It went for Joe Biden by 5 points. Last night, it went for Trump by nearly 16 points.

Not only did the election see Texas shift further right, but the majority of latinos in the state voted Republican for the first time - a huge blow to Democrats' hopes of one day turning the state blue https://t.co/Jex6oFg8cg

— Alfred Joyner (@alfredjoyner) November 13, 2024

Why has Texas gone redder? RedState's Brandon Morse, a native of Texas, shared his thoughts earlier this month:

Texas remains a Republican stronghold thanks to converts and interstate migration from horribly run places to greener pastures. It seems counter-intuitive at first glance, but conservative policies, lower taxes, and affordability really do shock people into changing their minds. I honestly think many people who were born and raised in these blue states don't understand the difference until they experience it firsthand, then refuse to ever go back.

That said, it's important for Republicans in these traditionally red states especially to keep pushing and fighting to expand their ground by running top-notch candidates at all levels and passing common-sense conservative legislation at the state level. 

They should never, ever get complacent (as Sen. Ted Cruz has warned against) because over-confidence and taking their foot off the gas in the process are exactly the things that can allow the unthinkable to happen, especially considering they have to know Democrats are not going to let up one bit.

Staying one (or more) steps ahead of the Democrat war machine (which includes their media allies) at all times more often than not will lead to success at the ballot box, as Glenn Youngkin proved in 2021 and as Trump demonstrated in 2024.

Onward!

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