How Texas Republicans beat Democrats at their own game

[Elderberry]

Houston Chronicle by  Jeremy Wallace Nov. 4, 2020

Texas Republicans used massive voter turnout gains in Houston and along the Texas border to squelch any chance Democrats had in turning Texas blue for the first time in 44 years.

Going into Tuesday’s elections, Democrats were on a mission to drive up victory margins in Houston, along Interstate 35, and along the Texas border. But what they didn’t count on was that Republicans and President Donald Trump would dramatically increase their vote totals in Houston and along the Texas border to assure Texas would not be able to flip even if Democrats dominated along the I-35 corridor, as they did.

“We really brought out our vote,” said Bill Young, the Republican Party chairman in Webb County, one of five counties along the Texas border between Laredo and Brownsville.

Young said a lot was made of how Democrats were working the border, but Republicans were just as aggressive, if not more. He said it was a constant daily rush getting out signs, training volunteers, and canvassing neighborhoods.

“A lot of work went into this,” Young said. “We now have the momentum down here.”

More: https://www.houstonchronicle.com/news/article/How-Texas-Republicans-beat-Democrats-at-their-own-15702511.php

[PeteS in CA]

I think it would be more realistic to say that the Dems' and MSM's Discourage the Republican Vote polling strategy failed.

[Elderberry]

‘Groundhog Day here in Texas’: Biggest red state stays red

Valley Morning Star By PAUL J. WEBER 11/4/2020

https://www.valleymorningstar.com/2020/11/04/groundhog-day-texas-biggest-red-state-stays-red/

If Texas was a battleground, the results sure were lopsided.

A historic turnout of 11 million voters, an avalanche of spending and a pandemic that has killed more than 18,000 people did virtually nothing to change power in America’s biggest red state, dealing another demoralizing blow to Texas Democrats who set massive expectations of victories that would shake the country.

But by Wednesday, they were finding solace in local races for sheriff and appeals courts.

“This is not anything we saw coming,” Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said.

Republicans scoffed that by now in Texas, it should be predictable.

“Last night was a perfect demonstration of Groundhog Day here in Texas, where the Democrats spend a year and a half talking about all the great things are going to happen and it cannot deliver,” said Dave Carney, the top political adviser to Republican Gov. Greg Abbott.

For Texas Democrats — whose 26 years without winning a statewide race remains the longest losing streak of its kind in America — there was almost no race they considered out of reach. They pleaded with Democrat Joe Biden to visit Texas as polls suggested he had a chance at its 38 electoral votes in the presidential race. Democrats also dumped mountains of money into more than a half-dozen congressional races and prioritized winning control of the Texas House for the first time in nearly 20 years.

None of it materialized.

Of 10 congressional races that Democrats nationally targeted in Texas, nine were GOP wins and the other had Republican Beth Van Duyne leading Democrat Candace Valenzuela. Even longtime Democratic strongholds along the heavily Latino border with Mexico drifted toward President Donald Trump, including in counties that have been directly impacted by his policies on immigration and the border wall.

More at link.