FACTSHEET: A Closer Look at Battleground Texas
“In not too many years, Texas could switch from being all Republican to all Democrat. If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House. New York and California are for the foreseeable future unalterably Democrat. If Texas turns bright blue, the Electoral College math is simple … The Republican Party would cease to exist. We would become like the Whig Party. Our kids and grandkids would study how this used to be a national political party. ‘They had Conventions, they nominated Presidential candidates. They don’t exist anymore.’”
– US Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX)
38 votes – and the White House
With its size and diversity, Texas has the potential to be a leading state that sets the tone on the policy issues of our day – as well as serving as an economic driver for the nation. And with 38 electoral votes at stake, Texas could virtually remake the presidential campaign map. But the current political landscape in the state is keeping Texas – and its residents – from meeting its promise and being relevant at a national level.
That’s why grassroots volunteers and political activists in the Lone Star State are coming together in Battleground Texas, a movement to make Texas matter again. Battleground Texas will use lessons learned in states like Virginia, Colorado, and Florida – organizing and engaging our communities – to ensure local elections are hotly-contested and anyone who wants to be the President of the United States will have to compete in the Lone Star State.
Over the next several years, Battleground Texas will focus on expanding the electorate by registering more voters – and mobilizing Texans who are already registered but who have not been engaged in the democratic process.
Changing demographics – nationwide and in the Lone Star State
The 2008 and 2012 presidential elections showed that “new America” should be engaged in the democratic process – and that these communities can have a dramatic impact on political outcomes when they are.
• In fact, in November 2012, approximately three in ten voters nationwide were minorities – and 93 percent of African American voters, 71 percent of Latino voters and 73 percent of Asian American voters, the nation’s fastest-growing minority, chose the President over Romney. • At the same time, young people, women, African Americans, and Latinos comprised the overwhelming majority of all new voters in 2012 – and 55 percent of women voters nationwide supported President Obama in 2012 and 56 percent in 2008. • A concerted organizing effort by the Obama campaign in states like Colorado, Florida and Nevada helped drive up voter participation among these groups to unprecedented levels in both 2008 and 2012. • Treating Virginia like a battleground state in 2008 helped deliver the Commonwealth for the Democratic candidate for the first time in 44 years.
With its growing diversity, Texas has the opportunity to drive a sea change as well in a way that was never before possible in the state.
• At the most basic level, the latest census statistics show fully 56% of the Texas population is Latino, Asian-American, African-American, or another minority group – yet we’re not seeing anything close to this kind of diversity reflected in the people who represent Texans in public office. • The non-white vote is growing rapidly in Texas. Even if the Democratic Party does nothing for the next 8 years, Democrats will gain a net 2 percentage points just due to demographic change. • There is plenty of room to increase voter participation among key communities in Texas – 39% of eligible voting age Latinos voted in 2012. • In 2008, 47 percent of women voters in Texas supported Obama – and women made up 53% of Texas voters.
Texas has the second largest share of Latino eligible voters Nationwide