Staying true to conservatism, even the Trump-style variety, was an overriding message at the Texas Republican Party Convention that wrapped up Saturday in...
Lieutenant Governor of Texas Dan Patrick during a general meeting as part of the 2022 Republican Party of Texas State Convention at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas on Friday, June 17, 2022.HOUSTON — Even with the specter of a Nov. 8 general election with more moderate voters, Republican Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan is strident in his support of the rash of conservative legislation approved by lawmakers last year and signed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Staying true to conservatism, even the Trump-style variety, was an overriding message at the Texas Republican Party Convention that wrapped up Saturday in Houston. It’s a winning formula, leaders and delegates said. And if Republicans are victorious in November, they promise that more conservative legislation is on the way.
In election seasons past, it was typical for conservative Republicans to inch from their hard-right perch and ease toward the middle. Now, in the era of former President Donald Trump, Texas Republicans see no need to appeal to what they suggest is a mythical middle. Instead, they cling to the red meat issues that dominated their primary process, where the state’s most extreme activists are dominant.
If history is a guide, Texas Republicans have the advantage. Democrats haven’t won a statewide race since 1994 and Republicans enjoy a structural advantage in the electorate. They are aggressive in their recruitment of Hispanic residents in South Texas, a key strategy in growing the party’s mostly white base.
Delegates and party leaders agreed that it was important to push Republican policies, even those that Democrats and the media have dubbed too extreme.“I just want a fair race because I truly feel in 2020 there was some shady business that occurred, even in Texas,” said Gloria Wiggins, an information technology program manager from Alvin and one of the few Black delegates at the convention. “We overcame it, but I truly feel like we need election integrity.