The Endless Frustration of Texas’ Fabled Blue Wave
Democrats in the Lone Star State keep lying to themselves that the state is going to flip
For about two hours early in the evening on election night, if you listened very closely, you could hear the whoops and yee-haws! of Texas Democrats carried with the cool November air.
As CNN, the New York Times, and other news outlets followed the presidential race, Texas was briefly in play and the dream that state Dems had flipped the state blue seemed to finally, finally, be happening.
But then reality happened. It always happens. Texas hasn’t given its 38 electoral votes to the Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy fucking Carter in 1976. And once again, the losing of Texas reads as the inevitable outcome, even in the nightmare roulette wheel that is 2020.
Down ballot, the news was even worse for state Democrats. Mary “MJ” Hegar, a former Air Force pilot, lost soundly to incumbent John Cornyn for U.S. Senate, conceding before 9 p.m. right around the time the yee-haws were turning into mournful oh noooooos.
Wendy Davis, who gained national fame for a 2013 filibuster in the Texas House of Representatives, fared the same, losing the District 21 U.S. House seat occupied by Chip Roy, a Republican who…
