Texas Republicans are different

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By Jonathan Bradley in Sydney, Australia

2 August 2012

Jamelle Bouie says Ted Cruz's primary victory in Texas won't help the GOP win over skeptical Latinos nationally:

It should be said that things are a little different in Texas. There, Republicans have made a long and serious effort to appeal to Latino voters, in part because Latinos have long been a part of the state's political culture. Groups like Hispanic Republicans of Texas have successfully elected Latino GOPers to Congress, the Texas Supreme Court, and the state's House of Representatives. At the moment, HRC has endorsed 18 Latino Republicans for various offices across the state. Ted Cruz was himself a beneficiary of this boosterism; Club for Growth—the conservative anti-tax group—pumped in $5.5 million to help Cruz win his race for the Republican Senate nomination. And given the Republican Party's commitment to finding and promoting Latino candidates, it's likely that even more money will enter the state, in order to boost the ranks of conservative Hispanic lawmakers. Unlike in Arizona, where GOP lawmakers are outwardly hostile to Latino immigrants, Texas Republicans are more likely offer benefits to immigrants, legal and otherwise (as you'll remember, it's what cost Governor Rick Perry his chance in the Republican presidential race).

It's always useful when moments like these crop up to complicate the red state/blue state dichotomy. Texas is a super conservative state and it will deliver its 38 electoral college votes to Mitt Romney come November. But that doesn't mean its politics are just a super conservative take on national Republican politics. Everywhere in the US has its own local idiosyncrasies, and this is a handy reminder that not even solidly red states are all the same.

Tags: Conservatism, Hispanics, Immigration, Latinos, Ted Cruz, Texas