{"id":13110,"date":"2023-08-05T16:30:33","date_gmt":"2023-08-05T16:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=13110"},"modified":"2023-08-05T16:30:33","modified_gmt":"2023-08-05T16:30:33","slug":"the-middle-is-intriguing-but-uncrowded-in-texas-politics","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/?p=13110","title":{"rendered":"The middle is intriguing but uncrowded in Texas politics"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In a state that has been closely tied to conservative politics for decades, some Texas politicians are edging into a political desert: the middle. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

by<\/em> Ross Ramsey<\/em><\/a>, Texas Tribune<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

It\u2019s a bit much to suggest that the middle in Texas politics is \nblossoming into a giant political force, but there are signs of life \noutside the most progressive and conservative corners of the electorate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of it is rhetorical, as in Joe Straus<\/a>\u2019 recent essay<\/a> on LGBTQ rights in Newsweek<\/em>.\n The former Texas House speaker was writing to say the U.S. Supreme \nCourt should side with those who believe civil rights protections \ninclude LGBTQ Americans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis may not be a common public position for a Texas Republican politician, but it reflects majority opinion in the state, including majorities of Republicans and Democrats, and people of every race and every major faith tradition,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He recalled his opposition to the so-called bathroom bill in 2017 \u2014 \nlegislation intended to require people to use the public restrooms that \ncorrespond with their sex at birth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The monthslong debate over that legislation was unusual for a social \nand cultural issue in Texas, pitting not only Republicans against \nDemocrats, but also socially conservative Republicans against socially \nmoderate members of their own party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a moment for the middle, that legislation failed. And it was clear the social conservatives in elected office heard the crowd; no serious attempt was made to revive the battle in this year\u2019s legislative session.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During his 10 years as speaker, Straus regularly found himself taking\n positions to the left of some very conservative state leaders. He\u2019s \nconservative \u2014 but was rarely conservative enough for the likes of Lt. \nGov. Dan Patrick<\/a>, Gov. Greg Abbott<\/a> and the socially conservative activists in the GOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the middle isn\u2019t as lonely as it once was. During the most recent session, Abbott and Patrick, along with House Speaker Dennis Bonnen<\/a>,\n focused legislators on public education and property taxes, generating \nmajor bills on those subjects that many of their party\u2019s most fervent \nactivists nevertheless considered too moderate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What the leaders and lawmakers considered a win, some of those Republicans considered wishy-washy: too much increased spending on public schools and no real tax cuts for homeowners and others seeking property tax relief.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another win for the middle, or if you prefer, for the less conservative of the available conservative options.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Gun laws offer another peek, as The Texas Tribune\u2019s pollsters recently pointed out in detail<\/a>.\n The voters haven\u2019t made major changes in their positions, but the \nopinions of more voters are being considered as the state becomes \npolitically competitive. Winning a Republican primary no longer \nguarantees a November victory, and those independent, middle-of-the-road\n voters who don\u2019t show up for primaries have more clout now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republican state leaders are talking about things that, for reasons of fear or belief, they didn\u2019t talk about before. “Red flag” laws that allow judges to temporarily take guns away from people who are dangerous to themselves or others are under discussion in this strong Second Amendment state. So are expansions to background checks to include firearm sales between individuals who don\u2019t know one another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And there will be some early tests of this on the left as well. \nFormer New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has filed to run in a Texas\n Democratic primary for president. That will give Texans a chance to say\n which sort of liberals they favor, choosing from a field that includes \nmayors, senators and others who range from moderate to progressive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The results might be surprising. In 2018, Democrats won a dozen seats\n in the Texas House away from Republicans, and in several cases, the \npolitical swings were dramatic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of jumping from a Republican to a moderate Democrat, some districts hopped from deep red to deep blue, choosing progressive Democrats to replace conservative Republicans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Voters in those places reacted dramatically, taking an abrupt change in direction. Perhaps their political views flipped. Maybe they were just mad at their incumbents. It\u2019s possible they were looking for middle ground and just couldn\u2019t find any company there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ross Ramsey<\/a><\/em><\/strong> is executive editor and co-founder of The Texas Tribune, the only member-supported, digital-first, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans \u2014 and engages with them \u2014 about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a state that has been closely tied to conservative politics for decades, some Texas politicians are edging into a political desert: the middle. by Ross Ramsey, Texas Tribune It’s a bit much to suggest […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13111,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[33,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-13110","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uncategorized","8":"tag-post-image","9":"tag-texas"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13110","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13110"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13110\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13112,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13110\/revisions\/13112"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13111"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13110"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13110"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/latinosreadytovote.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13110"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}