Conservative legislation and executive actions confounded expectations for Texas as it diversified and attracted Californians.
The raft of conservative legislation and executive actions by GOP Gov. Greg Abbott confounded expectations that Texas was turning blue as it diversified and attracted transplants, including Californians. It’s also frustrated many Texans: For the first time in more than a decade, athis summer said they thought the state was headed in the wrong direction.
Haitian migrants continue to pour into Texas. But hoping to avoid deportation, many decide to cross the Rio Grande back to Mexico. Foster, 42, a hydrologist and native Texan, says most of her relatives are Trump-supporting conservatives, but she was still surprised by the vitriol she’s faced at the Capitol, where she’s been called a child abuser and “mutilator” by counterprotesters this year.“And we had children present. One of them had to go throw up afterwards,” Foster said. “It’s wrong. And then you think about all the things happening in our state that need attention.
Last year, the blue wave of Democratic victories some had predicted in Texas failed to materialize, as Republicans beat challengers in most urban and suburban districts. Unlike Florida, which has become another conservative proving ground post-Trump, no Democrat has won statewide office in Texas since 1994, longer than any other state. Outside the Capitol on Thursday, at least one car with California license plates had a “recall Newsom” bumper sticker.
Abbott, a former state attorney general and judge who’s up for reelection next fall, has championed more conservative policies after he faced a backlash from his party’s right wing over pandemic lockdowns, masks and vaccines, Henson noted. Outside La Barbecue restaurant, a popular Austin lunch spot, manufacturing consultant Rick Saltzman said the new abortion law almost prevented him from visiting for the motorcycle race with his friends from Ohio.“I said to my wife, ‘We had these tickets ahead of time, but I’m not fond of going to Texas,’” said Saltzman, 72, as he stood next to his BMW motorcycle after lunch.
Arneson, 38, a performer and native Texan, is liberal, as is her younger brother, although he’s also a gun owner. Their three younger siblings and parents are conservative, including a sister who works for Texas Right to Life and lobbied to pass the abortion ban.“Or sometimes not,” said brother Matthew Arnold, 36, a mover who lives outside Austin.
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