While House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tends to proceedings taking place involving an official impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and his phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the top-ranking Democrat told a crowd on Saturday of another plan Democrats have for 2020 — turning Texas blue.
According to The Hill , while speaking at Tribune Fest, which is hosted by the Texas Tribune, Pelosi echoed earlier remarks by Manny Garcia, executive director of the Texas Democratic Party, in that Texas is poised to be the hot, new swing state of the 2020 election.
“This is it,” Pelosi told the crowd.
“Texas is our hope for the future. And I’m not just talking about Democrats. I am talking about the country and the world. When Texas goes blue, that’s going to be very wholesome for our nation. It is a beautifully diverse state in every way.”
Garcia also pointed out that he thinks that many Texans are looking to someone other than Trump to be their president.
“When you ask Texans if they would vote for Donald Trump or someone else, someone else currently wins,” Garcia said.
“Texas is the biggest battleground state in the country,” he added. “We are dramatically changing, we’re changing quite rapidly.”
The Speaker also agreed with Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee Chairwoman Rep. Cheri Bustos who said Texas would be the new “ground zero” for Democrats in 2020.
The traditionally red state has seen a shift in the political landscape, as four Texas Republicans have recently announced their retirements. On top of that, Rep. Will Hurd’s district, which was previously labeled as a “toss up” by the Cook Political Report, has been changed recently to “lean Democratic.”
Former Texas lawmaker Beto O’Rourke’s run for Sen. Ted Cruz’s seat in the 2018 midterm elections also marked a change in the way Texans voted, narrowly losing to the popular Republican senator in a race that drew an enormous amount of media and political attention.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , Texas voters set a record for early voting for the 2018 midterm election, with 4.5 million in the state securing their votes in early fashion, which remarkably ended up being more votes than the entirety of the 2014 midterm elections.
O’Rourke ran what was reported by QZ as an “unconventional” campaign in Texas in 2018, which is attributed to attracting an increased number of voters to the polls, even those from heavily-red counties. That report also stated at the time that if Democrats managed to turn Texas blue, it would be a massive advantage for a Democratic presidential candidate in 2020.
