Texas
(2010 legislative election, originally posted October 2015)
It's been ten years since the death of Tom Landry. Ten years since the Texan people had their
pater patriae taken from them by the grip of leukemia. The football coach turned politician had ruled the state for well over a decade, supported by his own Lone Star Party as well as the Democrats and Republicans throughout his tenure. Humble, deeply religious, and always firm but fair in his leadership style, Landry personified the things Texas was and the things it wanted to be, and this made him a hugely popular political leader as well as a spiritual father to the Texan people. When he died, the state ground to a halt and he received eulogies from everyone up to the President of the United States, but his family insisted on a simple funeral to be held with only a few family and friends in his local Methodist parish in Highland Park.
The ten years that have passed have been among the best the state has ever seen. The rising price of oil has benefitted Texas hugely, as the energy sector grows ever bigger and more profitable, and the state's good climate and many high-quality colleges and universities have meant an influx of skilled individuals from across the nation, who have made a place for themselves in the state's rising high-tech and service industries. Although two thirds of Texans now live in one of its three major metropolitan areas (Houston, Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin-San Antonio), its uniqueness has not faded, and the ideal of the independent frontiersman, dependent neither on the government nor private money but free to pursue his own goals in life, has remained at the core of the Texan identity. This makes Texas one of the more conservative states in the union, and of its five major parties, only one can be said to be openly left-wing.
- The
Lone Star Party, which was founded in 1987 as a vehicle for Tom Landry's gubernatorial run, is Texas' dominant political force. Its platform is vague and broad, and its campaigns frequently based on an appeal to "Texan values" (and formerly Landry's personal popularity) rather than anything overtly political. When in power, it tends to support the "business style" of government, which makes them a fiscally conservative party in practice if not in word, and they tend to emphasize religious values just as Landry did. While popular across the state, Lone Star draws its strongest support from the rural west as well as the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
- The
Republicans are the biggest nationwide party in Texas, and while it does not use its slogan "The Party of Middle America" in the state, it still embodies much the same ideological principles - it's squarely in the centre on social policy, while generally taking conservative pro-business positions on economics. This makes it naturally close to Lone Star, and while the "grand coalition" of the Landry years is no longer a reality, the GOP often backs the same budget as Lone Star, and it's usually the winning one. It draws its votes from the suburban middle class, and is mainly popular in the Dallas and Houston metro areas.
- The
Democrats were once Texas' dominant party, with governors like Sam Rayburn and John Connally setting out the party's "compassionate conservative" ideology combining religious morals and values with state intervention to help the less fortunate. These days the party is mainly popular in East Texas, and has toned down its statist aspect in keeping with the small-government consensus that dominates the state.
- The
Labor Party is Texas' main opposition force, in both the procedural and philosophical senses of the word. The party, which is mainly supported by ethnic minorities (and particularly so Houston's African-American community, which votes Labor almost monolithically), argues for increased taxes on the oil industry to fund a generous welfare state, and chides the Democrats for going back on their previous pro-welfare stance.
- The
Partido Popular Unido (United People's Party) is a relatively new force in the state - it was formed when the Labor's strong Latino contingent split off from the party in disgust at its tacit backing of Governor James' anti-immigration measures. Unlike Labor, it does not claim or try to provide representation outside its ethnic group, and as such sticks to its core areas along the Rio Grande.
- The
Greens are a bit of an odd man out in Texan politics - its socially liberal and economically centrist policies make it at home with neither the Big Three nor Labor. The only reason it's represented at all in Texas is because of its support from college students, which (along with Austin being Austin) meant it pulled off a narrow plurality in Travis County.
- Last but not least, the
Liberty Party might have been extremely popular in Texas, in a world where Tom Landry and Lone Star never existed. However, as things stand the party hasn't really got a niche in the state's politics, and it remains a minor force.
The 150 members of Texas' House of Representatives are elected every two years in twelve multi-member districts - one for each of the four major cities (Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Austin), and eight covering the remainder of the state. They're joined by the Senate, which is elected from the same districts (except that West Texas and the Trans-Pecos are merged, and Dallas/Fort Worth Suburban and Houston are split into two districts each), with each district electing three senators to staggered six-year terms.