Texas Political History

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Texas’s History as a One- Party State
Originally defined as a one- party state for over 100 years, today Texas is predominantly Republican having majority in nearly two-thirds the state’s population. However, that was not always the case. In fact, the democratic party was the dominant party in Texas for decades prior to the early 1990’s. Some of many influences on the shift from democratic dominance to republican dominance in the state of Texas include movements such as the Shivercract movement and the President held in office. It’s important to understand how a state’s political views change through history and what influenced those changes.
The defeat of Republican Edward j. Davis in 1873 began the era of democratic dominance in Texas.
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Today Texas, as well as many other neighboring southern states, are almost guaranteed to have a republican dominance in almost every election. If you look back at the 1950’s, more than 60 percent identified as democratic while only 10 percent republican and remainder as independents (Champagne,124). This growth of republican and decline of democratic party has been one of the most remarkable changes in history. In 1999, all Texas statewide offices were republican including but not limited to governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, and all nine members of the Texas supreme court.
The political realignment from Democratic to Republican in the state of Texas is super complex and can be divided into two different periods. The first through independence to early 1950’s when the democratic party was the only practical party in Texas. The second being
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Even now, we are seeing a increasing amount of republican in Midwestern states. While it’s important to know the history of the shift, its understood that it could happen again. In fact, some political scientist predicts an increase democratic turnout in future elections from the rapid increase in immigrants and an increase in population in big cities such as Austin and Dallas. In conclusion, a shift of dominance is complex and many influences must be involved but it has been proven possible. While the republican party is the majority party today, there is no way to say that it won’t