Aug
26
Written by:
William Lutz
8/26/2009 11:48 AM
The San Antonio Express-News published a very interesting article this morning quoting House Speaker Joe Straus worried about the effect the Texas Governor's primary could have on next year's elections for the Texas House of Representatives. “I think that the governor and the senator need to be mindful that the party needs to grow,” he said after delivering a lunchtime speech to the Greater San Antonio Chamber of Commerce. “That race needs to be inviting, to get more people to vote Republican. I am concerned that the governor's race not get off track” and result in turning off GOP voters in down-ballot races. This article is well worth reading.
Straus's fears are well founded for two reasons. First, the governor's primary is consuming a ton of cash, some of which could be used to help keep the House Republican. Second, will the losing side get upset and will that affect GOP turnout in the November 2010 elections?
The first concern is real and legitmate. The second is more tenuous. In local races, a nasty primary can have an impact on the fall election. (Some of losing candidate Dee Hobbs's supporters in Williamson County were less-than-enthusiastic about eventual nominee Bryan Daniel, which some argue threw the race to Democrat Diana Maldonado.)
There's another issue, however, that Straus didn't mention that deserves note: Why do voters get involved in politics? If the Republican Party's number one goal is getting along with Democratic Leader Jim Dunnam, than will pro-life, pro-family conservatives want to come to the polls this November?
I've always viewed Republican problems in House elections as a combination of problems at the national level, the perception of sleaze in Austin, anti-middle-class initiatives like the Trans-Texas Corridor and Tuition Deregulation, and old-fashioned local politics. Straus has come a long way toward fixing at least two of those problems (the disconnect with the middle class and ethics). That said, abandoning the party's base is not a winning strategy, and Republicans would do so at their own peril.