Why Texas Hasn't Flipped Blue

A response to misguided attacks on Texas progressives.

Last week, a Washington, DC, establishment operative published an article followed by social media posts about Texas’ political landscape. While I appreciate the attention to our state, the analysis lacked key insights and failed to account for the complex political realities shaping Texas. As someone deeply invested in Democratic politics here, I believe providing a more informed perspective is crucial.

I want to be clear that I have no personal animosity toward the author of that article. I genuinely wish them success in their future endeavors and hope they continue to engage with Texas politics in meaningful ways. Out of respect, I won’t link to their piece or mention their name, as my goal here is to correct misinformation, not to call this person out.

Understanding the difference between Washington establishment politics and the political landscape here in Texas is essential.

Although someone may live in Texas, if they work in federal politics, whether on congressional campaigns or through organizations like the DNC, they are, for all intents and purposes, a DC operative. Being paid by the national establishment puts them firmly in the orbit of Washington politics, not Texas state politics.

This distinction matters. Washington politics and its priorities often don’t align with the needs and realities of Texas Democrats. The Democratic members of Congress from Texas may come from our state, but they spend most of their time working in DC and have grown accustomed to doing things the DC way. That approach is two clicks to the right of where Texas Democrats currently are. Our state’s political landscape has long been unique, shaped by profound structural challenges, rural-urban divides, and a conservative political machine that’s kept Republicans in power for decades.

Navigating these challenges requires a different mindset and strategy than what works for a candidate running for Congress or managing national campaign priorities. Here in Texas, it’s about building grassroots coalitions, expanding outreach in underrepresented communities, and constantly fighting the structural obstacles that suppress Democratic turnout. The Washington establishment is not always familiar with this reality.

Texas Democrats are the most progressive Democratic Party in the nation.

This isn’t just rhetoric. It’s reflected in their platform, priorities, and the issues they fight for year after year. Part of this is due to necessity. Texas is a state where political power is heavily concentrated in conservative hands, and the fight for fundamental rights is relentless. To motivate voters, Texas Democrats know they can’t afford half-measures or pandering to centrism. The further right a candidate positions themselves, the more disillusioned and demotivated our base becomes, evident from past election outcomes. Colin Allred and Kamala Harris were strong Democrats, but their moderate, national-brand messaging wasn’t enough to energize the progressive Texas electorate, leading to their losses.

Our voters want candidates who speak directly to their struggles, whether protecting public education from privatization, fighting for affordable housing, or opposing oppressive Republican economic policies. This is why Texas Democrats don’t just push progressive policies; they embody the idea that transformative change is essential to survival in a state stacked against them at every turn.

Unlike other states where Democrats can cater to a broader coalition of moderates, Texas demands fighters, people willing to stand up for the marginalized and challenge an entrenched, authoritarian power structure. While most of the nation is just now getting a first-hand look at fascist politics, the fascists in Texas took over the right years ago.

This dynamic has shaped Texas Democrats into the most progressive force within the party nationwide, even if that fact often goes unnoticed by national operatives.

Colin Allred was a terrible candidate.

You must understand that while Texas Democratic voters tend to lean far left, Allred’s policy positions were solidly centrist, perhaps even center-right.

• He wasn’t in favor of universal healthcare, something that’s enshrined in the Texas Democratic Party platform.

• In a time when left-leaning voters in Texas were hyper-aware of this Palestine/Israel issue, they were also aware that Allred’s pockets were full of AIPAC money and that Allred voted with Republicans to sanction the ICC for issuing an arrest warrant for Netanyahu.

• During the election, Allred voted to favor the TikTok ban, driven by lobbyists. Roughly 15 million Texans use TikTok, and when that vote came, they knew who had voted for it.

• During the debate with Allred and Cruz, Allred explicitly threw transgender people under the bus.

The DC operative’s analysis of Colin Allred’s loss was deeply flawed. Blaming progressives for the outcome not only misses the point but also reveals a misunderstanding of the political dynamics in Texas. The reality is that Allred lost because he failed to inspire the base, not because of infighting or criticism.

Texas Democrats are more progressive than their national counterparts because they have to be. They’re fighting on the frontlines of some of the nation’s most regressive policies. For our base, issues like universal healthcare, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ protections, and racial justice aren’t just political talking points. They’re existential needs. Yet, Allred ran as a centrist, adopting positions out of step with the state party’s platform and core voters.

When candidates like Allred instead lean toward the right, it demoralizes the very people who would otherwise knock on doors, donate money, and bring their friends to the polls.

Didn’t I get behind Allred?

To be clear, I endorsed Roland Gutierrez during the primary. After Allred won the primary, I encouraged Lone Star Left readers to support him as an alternative to Ted Cruz. I did this because I strongly believe in participating in electoral politics at all costs. However, there are too many left-leaning voters in Texas who don’t share my dedication. Yeah, Allred was a terrible candidate, but Ted Cruz is the devil.

Blaming progressives for losses ignores the root problem: the Texas Democratic base won’t rally behind candidates who refuse to champion their priorities fully. This is a lesson the Washington establishment has repeatedly failed to learn. The path to flipping Texas isn’t through triangulation or pandering to Republicans. It’s through fighting unapologetically for progressive policies and showing voters that the party is willing to stand with them, no compromises, no half-measures.

Progressives weren’t the ones tearing down Allred’s campaign. Many of us simply pointed out that his positions didn’t reflect the needs of Texas voters. It’s easier to scapegoat progressives than to acknowledge that centrism and establishment politics aren’t winning strategies in Texas.

Centrism and establishment politics are some of the main drivers of our losing ground in South Texas.

So, why did Allred win the primary in Texas if that was the case?

Money. That’s all it came down to. Millions of dollars poured into his campaign nationwide as the DNC establishment supported his run for Senate, and commercials hit the airwaves. Allred quickly became the most well-known and often-seen candidate in the Democratic primary. At that time, around 90% of his tens of millions of dollars were coming from out of state, from people in states that are nowhere near as progressive as Texas Democrats.

In the article, the DC operative referred to Democratic insiders as “the political aristocracy.” Frankly, that’s laughable. If there’s an aristocracy in Texas Democratic politics, it must be one of the country’s most broke and beleaguered aristocracies. Our so-called “insiders” do not swim in campaign cash or hold lavish fundraisers every weekend. Many grassroots leaders and long-time volunteers have struggled to keep the lights on in county party offices and run basic field operations.

Meanwhile, Colin Allred’s campaign wasn’t starving for resources. Thanks to millions of dollars from out-of-state donors and establishment backing, it was flush with cash. His campaign was a well-oiled fundraising machine, pulling in money nationwide. Yet, despite this financial advantage, he and his team operated under the misguided assumption that simply having money would be enough to secure a victory.

They seemed to believe that advertising dollars and a flood of commercials would overcome the lack of grassroots enthusiasm. But here’s the thing: Texas is not like other states. You can’t just buy your way to victory here. Texas Democrats require a strong ground game, engagement with local communities, coalition-building, and a campaign that energizes people to get out and vote.

Allred’s campaign didn’t prioritize that. Instead, they focused on traditional top-down methods, relying heavily on establishment support and paid media. The idea that underfunded, exhausted party insiders somehow sabotaged Allred’s campaign or acted out of self-interest is absurd. They weren’t the problem. The real problem was a candidate who couldn’t connect with the voters he needed most.

Calling these struggling insiders “aristocrats” insults those who have been in the trenches for years, working tirelessly in one of the country’s most difficult political environments.

Now, I will call someone out.

When we ask, “Why hasn’t Texas turned blue?” we need to understand that, for the most part, Texas is a non-voting state. Although our voters lean further left than Democratic voters in other states and the Texas Democratic Party Platform is the most progressive in the nation, leftists in Texas generally don’t vote.

Why?

Because all media and influencers focus on federal politics and what Democrats are doing in DC, on the one hand, you have those like the DC operative pushing centrists and right-leaning Democrats. On the other hand, leftist media personalities in Texas calling out centrist, right-leaning Democrats in DC while ignoring the political landscape in Texas.

During the election, I spoke with David Griscom, a socialist from the podcast Left Reckoning.

This was a while back, so I don’t remember it verbatim, but Griscom was criticizing the Democratic Party and describing how far right the establishment leans in DC. I responded that this was untrue about Texas Democrats and pointed to the Texas Democratic Party platform as evidence.

He responded that he was aware of the progressive nature of the TDP platform because he knew some of the people who worked on it. However, his platform and podcast are seemingly dedicated to criticizing the establishment Democrats from DC.

There are lots of reasons why Texas hasn’t turned blue, and one of the big ones is that influencers like the DC operative and David Griscom spend a lot of time convincing Texas voters they can’t get what they want from Texas Democrats because the Democrats in DC suck.

Here’s the thing that no one ever seems to focus on:

• The lack of access to healthcare comes from Austin.

• The starvation wages and refusal to increase to a living wage come from Austin.

• Poorly funded and crumbling schools are a decision that comes from Austin.

• Worker’s rights and protections come from Austin.

• Gerrymandering and voter suppression come from Austin.

• Housing affordability comes from Austin.

• Environmental protection comes from Austin.

These are the things that Texas Democratic voters want, but when you have influencers like the DC operative pushing center-leaning politicians and David Griscom hyper-focused on the centrist politics in DC while ignoring the progressives in his own backyard, you have a lot of people in Texas convinced not to participate in electoral politics. And in 2024, 7.2 million registered voters in Texas didn’t vote.

Note: No, David Griscom was not one of the people I was referring to in “Are Blue State Leftist Content Creators Fueling Fascism in Red States?” I’m comfortable now telling you that it was Madeline Pendleton who prompted that article.

But why hasn’t Texas turned blue?

Aside from the fact that the left-leaning media ecosphere in Texas is almost nonexistent, we’ve had awful leadership for a very long time that has failed to build the electoral infrastructure that exists in nearly every other state.

The only way that Texas will ever turn blue is by convincing the swaths of non-voters to participate in the electoral process. And as of right now, most of them are unaware that (most) Texas Democrats in Austin are fighting for everything they want, everything they say they don’t vote for because both parties are the same.

Republicans in Texas have it figured out, and their hyper-focus on state politics above federal politics is why they are winning in Texas. If Democrats want to win in Texas, they need to shift their focus from DC, where the establishment and centrist Democrats reign king, and to our own backyard, where progressive Democrats are looking to make meaningful changes in their lives.

Until we can convince non-voting and disillusioned Texas Democrats that participating in state and local elections will improve their lives, we will continue to struggle to overcome Republican dominance. State-level policies dictate much of what impacts people’s daily lives, including wages, healthcare, schools, housing, and fundamental rights. But when left-leaning voters see no distinction between Texas Democrats and the national party, they lose faith in the system and stay home.

This perception must change.

Texas has everything it needs to turn blue—progressive candidates, strong policies, and voters whose values align with the Texas Democratic Party platform.

What’s missing is strong TDP leadership, the infrastructure, media presence, and messaging that connect voters to those candidates and policies. The DC-centric mindset, shared by operatives and influencers, has convinced too many Texans that their vote doesn’t matter because national Democrats don’t reflect their values. But that narrative doesn’t apply to Texas Democrats, who have been fighting for progressive change on every front.

We must stop letting DC politics define our state’s narrative if we want to win. We need to refocus on local issues and candidates, amplify the progressive efforts in Texas, and rebuild trust with non-voters who’ve been told for too long that both parties are the same. By engaging these disillusioned Texans and proving that their participation can lead to real change, we can shift the political landscape in our state.

Republicans know the power of focusing on state politics. It’s time we learned the same lesson and made the fight for Texas about Texas again. Only then can we overcome the structural challenges and build a better, brighter future for all Texans.

• February 7: Left In Texas Podcast w/ Representative Vikki Goodwin

• March 14: The last day Legislators can file bills.

• June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

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