Texas Political Parties (Chapter 05) Texas State Government GOVT 2306 192 Dr. Michael Sullivan
AGENDA 1. Current Events 2. Review Elections 3. Political Parties 1. Development 2. Organization 3. Functions
Students Semester Vs. Students Semester
Paper #3 due Wed Aug 1 Paper #4 due Wed Aug 7 Unit 3: Political Participation Changes Due Paper #3 Unit 3 Exam moved to Mon Aug 6 Makeup Exam moved to Aug 7 Unit 3 Exam Review Session Unit 3 Exam Make up Exams In class Group Assignment 10 Due Paper #4
Canvas Dates are Correct
TEXAS GOVERNMENT MEMES DO THEY HELP OR HURT POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
Current Event Discussion: In the mid 2000s, at the end of a trailblazing career as one of the Air Force s first female pilots, Olson was accused by the Pentagon of steering government contracts to a private security firm that military investigators said she helped operate while she was stationed in Iraq. Olson denied the charges and eventually pled guilty to two lesser offenses, including creating the appearance of a conflict of interest. She was allowed to retire with an honorable discharge and no reduction in rank, but she received a formal reprimand and a $3,500 fine. Republican governor asked the Legislature to consider such a law, which would allow courts to order the seizure or surrender of guns from people who are deemed an imminent threat by a judge. But even then, Abbott's request for lawmakers to study the proposal drew the ire of some Second Amendment hardliners in the governor's party, and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick declared Tuesday that he has never supported a "red flag" law and suggested it would be dead on arrival in the Senate.
Review 2018 Primary Elections $102.6 million Reported spending by Republicans 5x s More $21 million Reported spending Democrats
Review Elections $770,000 spent by Abbott for travel-related expenses, much of it for chartered aircraft. $329,000 paid to Norway Hill & Associates, the firm led by longtime Abbott [and previously Rick Perry] consultant Dave Carney $150,000 spent by Abbott on campaign services from Deep Root Analytics, a conservative firm $612,000 paid for polling services to longtime GOP pollster Mike Baselice s firm, used by Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick $680,000 paid to WPAi, led by Chris Wilson, which did polling for Abbott, Rep. Sarah Davis and others $390,000 paid to Ragnar Research Partners, led by pollster Chris Perkins and used by Bush, the land commissioner $9 million invested by Whitmire, a Democrat, into the stock market, buying $1.4 million worth of Amazon shares, $850,000 in carmaker Tesla, $619,000 in airline company United and $300,000 in Energy Transfer Equity
What s the so what?
Review Elections https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoocxd9qgha
Characteristics of American Political Parties Two Party System Competition usually between Democrats and Republicans Single member districts The functions of political parties The Party in the Electorate The Party as Organization The Party in Government Explain why there are two major parties in the U.S. and Texas. Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 14
Development of the Texas Party System The One Party Tradition in Texas Ideological Factions in America and Texas Conservatives Liberals Pragmatism Valence issues Position issues Growing polarization? Decentralization Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 15
The Decentralized Nature of American Political Parties and the Importance of the National Party s Service Function Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 16
Figure 5-3 p127
Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics Help voters make choices R or D next to candidate name on ballot helps people decide who to vote for Texans vote for unusually high number of offices Party label offers a very helpful cue on a long ballot where less is known about the candidates
Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics Party Work Assist in fund raising for party or specific candidates Recruit quality candidates to run Voter mobilization Get Out The Vote drives (GOTV) Online activities to connect and engage voters https://www.texasgop.org/gotv/ https://www.txdemocrats.org/act
The Contemporary Republican Party in Texas Republican Party and Presidential Vote Since 1980, GOP candidate has won Texas Last presidential candidate to win in Texas was President Carter in 1976 (well over three decades) Texans George H.W. and George W. Bush account for some, but not all, of this trend. Party support grew between 2008 and 2012 Mitt Romney won Texas by 16 point margin John McCain won Texas by 12 point margin Party support dipped in 2016 with Trump winning by 9 pts
The Contemporary Democratic Party in Texas Several counties and electoral districts are strongly Democratic, with little viable Republican opposition. While Republicans are strong in statewide contests, there are cities and regions in the state where they are not competitive at all. The 2012 Texas congressional delegation sharply illustrates the reliably red and blue parts of the state.
Third Parties Extremely hard to run as anything other than a Democrat or Republican A few notable attempts, but all ultimately failed Rules for running for office are made by Democrats and Republicans Partisans have a vested interest in making it difficult for others to challenge them.
Class Activity Part One What is the most important problem facing the State of Texas today? (Rank top 3, with 1 being the most important) Border Security Crime and drugs Education Fair Elections Gun control/gun violence Health care Police brutality Social welfare programs Taxes Unemployment/jobs Transportation/roads/traffic Rank 1 3 1 2 3 Issue
Class Activity Part Two Compare the view of the Texas Democratic Party and Texas Republican Party toward one of your top issues. Rank Issue Democratic Party www.txdemocrats.org 1 Republican Party www.texasgop.org 2 3 What surprised you the most? https://static.texastribune.org/media/documents/ut tt 2018 02 summary full.pdf?_ga=2.157184242.855661535.1523472190 1454239780.1523472190
Table 5-3 p129
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/cmvsdlw
The Contemporary Republican Party in Texas Republicans hold comfortable majorities in both chambers of the Texas Legislature 2016 Texas House: 95 of 150 seats 2016 Texas Senate: 19 of 31 seats This is more competitive than recent years, when as many as 101 of 150 House seats were Republican. Texas Speaker of the House and most legislative committee leadership roles go to Republicans
Party Identification in Texas, 1952 2008
The Contemporary Republican Party in Texas Texans have elected Republicans to all statewide offices since 1994, most notably: Both U.S. Senate Seats Governor Though this has included only two people: George W. Bush and Rick Perry All offices of the plural executive e.g. Lt. Governor, Attorney General, etc. https://www.texastribune.org/directory/
The Contemporary Republican Party in Texas Republicans hold all 18 seats in the state s top judicial institutions since 1994 The Supreme Court of Texas Court of last resort for civil cases The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Court of last resort for criminal cases, including death penalty cases In 2014, Democrats did not run a candidate for several statewide offices
Changes in the Number of Republican and Democratic Officeholders in Texas What explains the Republicans dominance of the Texas political scene today? To what extent will demographic changes affect the future success of the party? Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 38
Percentage of voters indicating a major party identification Copyright 2016 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. 39
Figure 5-4 p132
Texas s History as a One Party State After Reconstruction (1873), Texas entered one party rule era, lasts over a century The real election was the Democratic primary. Republicans frequently did not run any candidate at all for many offices. Many counties had no Republican Party at all. This was common in the South at this time. GOP was the party of the North and entirely unpopular in southern states for that reason.
PARTY REALIGNMENT IN TEXAS [How Texas Became a Red State] Party Composition of the Texas Delegation to the United States House of Representatives 1845 2011
Texas s History as a BLUE One Party State Houston in the 1940 s State & National Democratic Party 1940s realignment National Democratic Party became more liberal on economic and social issues Support for New Deal, voting rights, desegregation Presidential Republicanism emerges Split ticket voting, southern states (like Texas) voted for conservative Democrats at the state level and Republicans for president
One Party State Turns Purple Partisan realignment solidifies During the 1980s and 90s the conservative voters and elected officials left the Democratic Party. Republicans became home to the ideological conservatives that once made the core of the Democratic voter base. Redistricting after the 2000 Census effectively ended the few moderate Democrats who been successful among ideological moderates, including white voters. LBJ 1964: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qukil2x7fza Jordan 1976: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bg7glix k Neo Cons 1970s: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibfg99hmmsw
Texas Political Parties (Chapter 05) Texas State Government GOVT 2306 192 Dr. Michael Sullivan
AGENDA 1. Current Events 2. Review Elections 3. Political Parties 1. Development 2. Organization 3. Functions
Canvas Dates are Correct
Current Events https://www.texastribune.org/2018/07/31/third partycandidates texas Libertarians Independents 2018/ In Texas, researchers found that the average annual income of families in the top one percent was $1,343,897, roughly 24 times greater than the rest of families in the state who earned an average income of $55,614.
Thoughts on our practice election voting?
https://cheddar.com/videos/how this texas house candidate is using memes to move the state leftward
Apply what you know Break into groups of 3 4 people You will be assigned to be a political consultant for either the Democratic or Republican Party Based on the data I will show, you need to develop a campaign artifact (slogan, commercial, etc) for your client one of the two political parties
Straw Poll Data conducted by ACME Consulting in GOVT 2306 Class on July 30 2018
PARTY REALIGNMENT IN TEXAS [How Texas Became a Red State] Party Composition of the Texas Delegation to the United States House of Representatives 1845 2011
1994 Governor s Election https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pvrvrt23is 2:15
1994 Governor s Election https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pvrvrt23is https://youtu.be/dyiuxzprgmw 2:15
1994 Governor s Election https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pvrvrt23is https://youtu.be/dyiuxzprgmw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt9t7e15pzs 2:15
1994 Governor s Election https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5pvrvrt23is https://youtu.be/dyiuxzprgmw https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j ODZPOqVE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt9t7e15pzs 2:15
Texas s One Party State Turns Red Republicans grew to dominate state politics as Democrats had decades before. Since 1994 GOP won every statewide election Nearly two decades since a Democrat has won a state level race in Texas.
The Contemporary Republican Party in Texas Republicans hold comfortable majorities in both chambers of the Texas Legislature 2016 Texas House: 95 of 150 seats 2016 Texas Senate: 19 of 31 seats This is more competitive than recent years, when as many as 101 of 150 House seats were Republican. Texas Speaker of the House and most legislative committee leadership roles go to Republicans
Currently two major factions: Social conservatives Abortion, prayer in schools, same sex marriage, public school curriculum, punitive approach to immigration Economic conservatives Focus on reduced government spending, lower taxes, place greater emphasis on free enterprise, economic focus on immigration policy Factions present among politicians and voters Republicans dominate, but Democrats should not be wholly dismissed. 2.9 million Texans voted in 2008 Democratic primary (Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton) Mayor Julian Castro of San Antonio delivered keynote speech at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, NC.
WHAT COLOR WILL TEXAS BE IN 2030? 2050? 2070? 2100? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=td1kagryuga
Party Organization Texas parties conduct primaries to select the party s candidates for office. Texas voters do not register by party. There is no such thing as a registered Republican or Democrat in Texas. Voters can vote in either party primary, but in only one primary per election cycle. For example, one could vote in the Democratic primary in 2008, and the GOP primary in 2010.
Party Organization Conventions are held at the precinct, county, and state levels. Precinct chairs are the most local on the ground party officials. Lead their precinct convention Serve on the county executive committee.
County executive committees responsible for running county primary election and planning county convention. Can be arduous task in very large counties like Bexar, Harris, Dallas, and Travis. In addition, county level party politics can be very contentious among activists Party Organization
Party Organization A county chair is elected at the party s primary election and heads the county executive committee. The precinct and county chairs decide who will attend the state party convention. These choices can shape the party platforms.
The state executive committee and state chair and vice chair coordinate the party s statewide activities. State conventions, statewide primary tasks, and general election tasks fall to this group. They have an established relationship with the national party organization. They coordinate to determine delegates to national party conventions. Party Organization