Texas is growing rapidly. Demographers project urban regions—such as North Texas, Greater Houston, Austin, San Antonio, El Paso and the Rio Grande Valley—will grow faster than the state average and increase 150 percent in population by 2050.
The pillars of mainstream conservatism—LImited government AND conservative solutions—support our state’s commitment to free enterprise and to meeting the increasing demand for physical and human infrastructure. To advance mainstream conservatism, effective conservatives must fight a two-front war against the Far Right and the Left.
The Far Right—obsessed with fringe issues and indifferent to conservative solutions—demands strict adherence to an extreme agenda, funds flank attacks in GOP primary elections and blocks conservative solutions in the Texas Legislature. In 2018, Far Right extremism accounted for GOP losses in six House and two Senate seats. In September, even Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, once considered the Far Right’s standard bearer, did not mince words when he told a notorious Far Right operative, “You are destroying our party.”
The Left—unconcerned with fiscal restraint and captive to a liberal agenda—has taken advantage of the Far Right’s damage to the conservative brand to win GOP seats, particularly in suburban districts, and to narrow the GOP House majority to 8 seats. The Left is expected to mount an aggressive challenge in 2020.
Former Texas House Speaker Joe Straus advised in November that effective conservatives could “regain momentum” by backing “policies that educate and attract innovative minds, promote free enterprise, and create a welcoming climate for job creation and opportunities so that all Texans can meet their full potential.”
