GOP Turnout Falls off Dramatically in TX

[reprehensor]

http://www.capitolinside.com/members/aaa-primary-turnout.htm

With substantial majorities in the Texas Senate and House and every
statewide officeholder in town, the Republican Party is the state's
undisputed majority party. Barring a minor unforeseen miracle in the
Congressional elections this year, the GOP will have monopoly
control of the state's elected machinery by early next year.

So how do you explain why more Texans voted for Democrats than
Republicans in the primary election this week? Shouldn't it be the
other way around?

The turnout for Tuesday's primary defied the trends that Republicans
frequently cited frequently last year when seeking to justify the
time, resources and energy invested into three special sessions for
the purpose of drawing the new Congressional redistricting plan.
Instead of seeing an increase in GOP voters at the expense of the
number of Democrats who went to the polls, Texas election officials
counted more ballots cast by members of the minority party than
their rivals across the aisle in the GOP. That reversed a 12-year
trend in which Republicans had enjoyed steady increases in turnout
in presidential election year primaries while the once-dominating
Democrats had fallen off in the number of voters they got out to the
polls every four years dating back to 1992.

Two months after a federal court endorsed the Republicans' new map
for Congress, .GOP primary turnout was 39 percent lower than it had
been when President George W. Bush made his first bid for the White
House four years ago. Democrats who had received a combined 787,000
votes in the 2000 primary election in Texas had more than 840,000
voters show up for the primary election this year - a 7 percent
increase. In 2000, more than 1.13 million Republicans voted in the
primary while less than 687,000 went to the polls to show their
support for the candidates representing the GOP in the 2004 primary
vote. That's a 439,000 vote drop in four years - and it's less than
the primary participation by 798,000 voters when the original
President George Bush was running for a second term in 1992. That
was the last time more Democrats voted in the primary elections in
Texas than Republicans in a presidential election cycle.

More at link.

[dae]

1. TX go Dem? This would be to much to hope for. Just make em

poop in their pants and spend a bunch of money where they thought they were safe, still...

[dave29]

2. verrrrrrrry interesting!

:)

[LightTheMatch]

3. The reason for this is somewhat simple.....

The Republicans had already screwed us over, now they were giving us the chance to screw ourselves over with infighting, etc. due to the newly drawn lines.

There were a few competitive and interesting Republican races, but nothing really awe-inspiring that would make people really get out and vote. In many cases the Dems were fighting for the now very limited Dem house seats. :(

[hatrack]

4. Could also be Bush unopposed for a foregone conclusion nomination

I mean, I certainly hope that depressed GOP turnout is a sign of member disaffection.

But it could also be that everybody voting in Texas already knows that Bush will be the nominee (in fact, Tuesday's results officially gave him the delegates he needs), and hence didn't bother to show up.

[WI_DEM]

5. true

but I think by the time Texas voted in 2000 that Bush was the persumptive nominee as well.

[Vogon_Glory]

6. Wait Til November

The reason that more Democrats voted in the primaries than did Republicans is that a lot of Democrats finally realized something that many of us in the trenches were trying to tell them back in 1998, 2000, and 2002--that the Democratic Party in Texas is in serious trouble. Had Democrats been this motivated earlier, at worst, the Republicans would have had a far harder time taking over the state government and at best Texas would be split between the two parties.

The Republicans can afford voter apathy in the primaries. After all, THEY have control.

What matters is if enough angry Democratic and progressive voters can turn out to overcome the large Republican voter blocks this November. I don't know if this can be done, but I think that Texas Democrats ought to try.

[rasputin1952]

7. We may all be surprised by TX this year...

The state is broke, the GOP has been as much of a disaster there as everywhere else, and I don't think Texans are really all that impressed with the Little Hat from Crawford.

bush is an embarrasment for the nation, and especially TX. I don't think Texans want to enjoin themselves with this loser.

O8)

[Vogon_Glory]

9. From Your Mouth To G*d's Ear

I hope you're right, but I fear that too many of my fellow Texans haven't realized just how badly screwed-over they've been by the GOP, and how much they're likely to be done over if the Republican majorities get re-elected.

[rasputin1952]

10. The way i see it...

and of course, I could be wrong, (my tenure in TX was limited to Ft Sam Houston), is that the rest of the country sees TX as an aberration.

While most Americans have a deep feeling for their state, TX'ans seem to be a bit 'overboard' in that area. I'm not trying to be facetious, just making a personal observation.

Blind allegiance to one's state, or any other thing we come across in life, usually leads to dismal results.

The people I've met from TX are great, but they really do seem to go against themselves in the name of 'pride'. I hope they realize their common welfare is dependent upon doing what is right for their state, as well as the country.

O8)

[sugarcookie]

8. My hubby

and his family (in fact most every one I know :-( ) are repubs and none of them voted in the primary. They are all waiting till Nov. If they are worried in any way they are not letting it show. Overconfident?