The Republican Crisis In Texas: Houston, We Have A Problem

Texas – long a strong conservative state and a bastion for the GOP -- now faces a potential Republican collapse of its own. The Texas GOP is in danger of losing its mojo. We have gone from a party that pretty much owned the state’s political machinery - as much as any political party could - to one that is in danger of losing the voice (and votes) of its youth and thus in danger of losing its grip. The 2008 election left young Republicans with sobering results to review. We lost some key Republican counties to the Democrats. In Fort Worth, 20-year Republican incumbent State Senator Kim Brimer lost to newcomer Democrat Wendy Davis. And in Houston, in a strong Republican county, it took a runoff to decide the Texas Senate race between Chris Bell (a smart and fine man who is married to my mother’s first-cousin) and Joan Huffman, a former judge and prosecutor -- Huffman barely squeaked by.

There was leadership turmoil as well. A last minute switch in the key Speaker-of-the-House position led to San Antonio’s Joe Straus replacing the embattled, long-time leader Tom Craddick of Midland (full disclosure: I worked for Speaker Craddick last summer and found him and his staff to be exemplary). These various upheavals surface a key question: where is the Texas GOP heading? With a slim two-seat majority in the House and a near Democratically controlled Senate, the Texas GOP needs a new game-plan and some new players who can be difference-makers. There may be a few Republican politicians in Austin loosening their ties as a result of our party’s weakening grip on statewide political control – but before real worry sets in, remember this all important fact: the Texas GOP has maintained statewide control for 14 years, ever since George W. Bush became Governor in 1994. Indeed, no Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since Dan Morales prevailed in the 1994 Attorney General’s race. And Dan Morales went to prison in the tobacco fee scam.

Despite recent national and local difficulties, there remains reason for Texas Republicans to hope. New House Speaker Straus has made a strong start. A relatively new member, with just four years in the Texas House, he fought hard for new approaches to energy conservation in Texas, an important and winning issue in today’s climate. Moreover, as a younger member, he is more in tune with what the youth of this state want and expect. Additionally, Texas is still basking in the glow of its 10 billion dollar budget surplus, achieved thanks to GOP leadership; and last year Texas was dubbed the best state in the country for business. So there is very real reason for hope in the Texas GOP; but continuing our success depends on leadership’s ability to bring my peers -- the young Republicans of Texas -- into the life of our state’s party and to prepare them to become new leaders in our State.

Over 50 percent of the current Texas House members are age 50 or older. It thus may be difficult for the average Texas young Republican to engage with a system that seems distant, in miles and years. I am not suggesting we replace the Texas House with a bunch of young bucks, but it is important that current Republican incumbents extend a mentoring hand to young Texans who want to serve our great State. Above all else, I believe the strongest path is to fixing the woes of the current Texas GOP – and of our State – is to bring a balanced, tempered, and prudent perspective to all political and policy debates. If we wish to see progress, we must be as realistic and open minded as possible, sometimes a challenge for conservatives. If our party can present “common ground” issues, maintaining its fortitude and appealing to the good sense that characterizes the best of Texas values, then our State GOP will extend its long and prosperous run, despite national trends heading the opposite way. We must, of course, build our new strategy and issue-base without abandoning conservative principles. This will require wit, imagination, and a focused intelligence by our representatives in Austin and every Republican in Texas, including supportive and engaged voices of an energized Republican Texan youth. We can find new ways to keep and build on our old majority, shaping it into a new majority for the 21st Century. But it will take attracting the best of my generation to do so.

Marshall Bowen is a native Texan and an undergraduate at Texas A&M university. He was a delegate to the 2008 Texas GOP convention and was elected as a Republican precinct chairman in Austin.

Image courtesy of ultrascott. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wbr>ultrascott/<