Harris, Signaling Democrats’ Expanded Electoral Ambitions, To Visit Texas for Third Time in a Month

Vice President Harris is due in Texas for what will be the third time in the past month, raising eyebrows about whether her political advisers believe a “crown jewel” of the Electoral College map could be in play in 2024.Ms. Harris is expected to spend Wednesday and Thursday in the Lone Star State, delivering remarks at a Sigma Gamma Rho sorority gathering at Houston and a eulogy for a late congresswoman, Sheila Jackson Lee, also at Houston, on Thursday.Earlier this month and shortly after she became her party’s presumptive presidential nominee,Ms. Harris was in Texas as the keynote speaker for the convention of the American Federation of Teachers. She also met with Houston County and Harris County officials to discuss recovery efforts following Hurricane Beryl.While Ms. Harris’s events Wednesday and Thursday are not explicitly billed as campaign stops, her frequent visits to Texas of late have drawn some attention, as winning the populous state has long stood as a goal for national Democrats seeking to expand their electoral map.Texas also trended Democratic in some recent elections, most notably 2018, when Senator Cruz defeated the Democratic nominee that year, Beto O’Rourke, 51 percent to 48 percent.On the presidential level, President Trump carried the state 52 percent to 43 percent in 2016 and carried it 52 percent to 46 percent in 2020, his margin of victory shrinking by three points between the elections.For Texas to be competitive in 2024 at the presidential level, it would have to undergo a shift similar to what Georgia saw between 2016 and 2020, when Democrats closed a 5-point gap to win the state by less than half a point in 2020.However, the research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, Joshua Blank, says, “It’s a little early to be reading tea leaves about the general election strategy from my perspective.”Mr. Blank says that though Texas is the “crown jewel” of states that Democrats could hope to contest, that they have “much bigger fish to fry” this year, and that “a visit by the party’s nominee in July is not the same thing as a visit in October or September.”There are also other political rationales for Ms. Harris’s visit aside from trying to win Texas.“It’s notable that her visits have been visits with groups that could be seen as important to her coalition beyond Texas,” Mr. Blank said, noting that the sorority visit is relevant for young voters and that the memorial service is relevant to people of color beyond Texas.Although it doesn’t look like Democrats are gearing up to contest Texas on the presidential level this year, that doesn’t mean that Republicans aren’t preparing.“The Republican anxiety is real because when you look at the trends in election results it’s hard to find evidence that the Republican Party is growing in significant numbers,” Mr. Blank says. “In general, the party has appealed to older whiter voters in a state that is young and diverse.”The most prominent proposal Republicans made for a more competitive future in Texas is a plan to implement a sort of state-level electoral college that would have statewide officials elected by the majority of the state’s counties rather than a majority of votes.Mr. Blank says proposals like this one are a symptom of a party which is shedding some of its more moderate members, giving the more conservative voices in the party more prominence.Ms. Harris’s visit to the state, and potential future visits, may also have the effect of drumming up enthusiasm for down-ballot Texas Democrats.A YouGov and University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs survey taken in late June, for instance, found that Mr. Cruz led his Democratic challenger, Colin Allred, by just 3 points, an indication that the race could be competitive under the right circumstances.There are also some House districts in Texas that Republicans have targeted for the past few years along the southern border and are expected to work to win in 2024, such as the state’s 34th District, which Republicans briefly represented in 2022.

Harris, Signaling Democrats’ Expanded Electoral Ambitions, To Visit Texas for Third Time in a Month

More from the New York Sun

Houthis’ Entry Into Iran War Poses New Threat to Global Energy Supply

How Long Before Airport Security Lines Go Back to Normal?

Kerfuffle Over Kimmel’s Barb Against ‘Plumber’ Emerges as Warning Against Mocking Voters

More from the New York Sun

Houthis’ Entry Into Iran War Poses New Threat to Global Energy Supply

How Long Before Airport Security Lines Go Back to Normal?

Kerfuffle Over Kimmel’s Barb Against ‘Plumber’ Emerges as Warning Against Mocking Voters

The First Lady of American Theater Gets a First-Rate Biography

Proceeds From Tehran-Owned Fifth Avenue Tower To Go to Victims of Iranian Terror

Men Behaving Badly: Brazil Bill Puts Misogyny on a Par With Racism, Punishable With Fines and Jail Terms

Last on the Leaderboard, First in Value: Tiger Woods’ Son Charlie Navigates Golf’s New Era

Pittsburgh Parents Perplexed by Planned Public School Closures During NFL Draft