A political party is an organization influenced by political ideology and whose prime objective is to gain power in the government through election victory. There are political parties at each level: national, state, county, and precinct. They are split into two factions: Democrats and Republicans. Every political party creates a party platform, a political statement that a political party vows to put into action if voted into office. The platform aids electorates in making election resolves, particularly in a state like Texas, where there are numerous elected positions. Also, parties fundraise, enlist candidates, and organize voter registration.
Political Party Structure
Former United States Speaker of the House Tip O’Neill once said, “All politics is local.” Local concerns, in general, are not philosophical; nevertheless, party polarization, particularly the level in which Republicans were considered to be more conservative and Democrats became more open-minded, is clear in Texas politics. This polarization results in less compromising and much more supremacy for the governing party. Political socialization is how Texas citizens are familiarized with the political culture by learning the core beliefs and standards that forms the basis of the political system. Most persons are influenced by their parents, church figures, teachers, and geography to form a partisan identity, which can changes over a certain duration.
Texas voters are progressively identifying as independent; however, the large percentage still lean Democratic or Republican. Texas Republicans currently control all significant state-wide judicial and executive offices and a considerable majority in the legislature. Because of this dominant position, there is intense competition for national office in the Primary elections between conservatives and moderates. While the Democratic politicians do not have much leverage in Texas at the state or federal levels, they influence so many localities, such as major cities like Austin, Houston, and San Antonio.
Types of Primaries
A primary election is an election ahead of the general election either to reduce the group of aspirants for a particular elective positions or to decide the aspirants for political parties. Party primaries can take on many forms. Voters choose one candidate in a partisan primary to be a presumptive political candidate for a specific post in the upcoming general election. Ahead of a general election, nonpartisan primary polls reduce the group of candidates for nonpartisan positions. The terms of participation in party primaries can vary based on jurisdiction, political party, and the office or offices up for election (Richardson et al., 2016). The methods for determining the outcome of the party primaries (for instance, plurality systems, majority systems, top-two systems, among others) may also differ by jurisdiction.
State Party Organizations
Texas is organized at the precinct, county, and state levels. A precinct chair is considered as an elected local party official in the party primaries that leads the precinct convention and is a member of the party’s county executive committee. County Executive Committee, consists of a party’s county chairperson and precinct chairpersons that oversee a county’s party primaries and coordinate county conventions. The county head is considered the county party’s authorized individual mandated with overseeing the county executive committee. State Chair and Vice-Chair are the party’s top two state-level leaders. State Executive Committee is the team liable for controlling a party’s operations across the state. All Texas constitutions have granted the legislature the jurisdiction to make changes, have required voter approval for endorsement, and have needed some publication of ballot initiatives to educate the electorate.
Campaign Methods
Campaigns are developed for aspirants to gain support to win primaries and general elections. Candidates eligible to run for office in Texas may do so; nevertheless, having experience in politics is beneficial for higher office. Parties assist with raising funds and recruiting aspirants to run for political office, which provides voters with a party label. Utilizing television and newspaper adverts can assist a campaign. Nevertheless, many aspirants now use social media citations to intensify their message and reach a large number for little to no cost. Newspapers have been the primary source of information for reporting on campaigns, elections, and other local elections. Television channels broadcast programs informing people regarding current election campaigns while also providing aspirants with paid commercial time.
Governmental Structure
The Texas Constitution, adopted in 1876, splits state administration into three branches: executive, legislative, and judicial. The governor serves a term of years as the chief executive. The lieutenant governor, attorney general, comptroller of public accounts, commissioner of the General Land Office, and commissioner of agriculture are all hired state officials with administrative duties. These officials’ terms are also four years. The lieutenant governor, who exercises control over the Senate and ratifies its committees, wields more authority than the governor. The governor appoints members of different executive boards and fills the judiciary’s vacant positions (EPISD U.S. Government Team, 2015). Except for the Secretary of State, who is selected, and the State School board, all executive branch representatives are voted into power nationwide.
Apportioning and Districting Information
The numerator of the Texas apportionment aspect is defined as “the sum of the taxable entity’s receipts from each service performed in this state.” According to May and Texas (2011), Tex. Admin. Code 3.591(e) (26), “receipts from a service are apportioned to the location where the job is rendered.” Reapportionment is considered the process of determining the number of congressional seats every state would be obtain, given the population shifts every decade. Redistricting involves redrawing voting districts and redistributing law-making representatives in the Texas House, Texas Senate, and House of Representatives (EPISD U.S. Government Team, 2015). It is typically done every ten years after the census to reflect population alterations or respond to legal problems in all districts. Each district must abide by the one-person, one-vote principle, which necessitates that each district has a roughly equal population. The unusual midcycle redistricting resulted in Democratic walkouts in both the House and Senate and a lawsuit challenging the constitutional validity of the new districts.
Party Issues
Much of the attention in the 2018 gubernatorial race was on sanctuary cities and economic challenges. Previously, in 2014, the candidates battled over education, equal pay, gun rights, and immigration. In 2014, candidates for lieutenant governor debated mass migration, while aspirants for Texas comptroller argued about tax policy. It is worth noting that in recent elections, many state-wide candidates have failed to underscore state-wide issues, rather choosing to focus on dissatisfaction with national aspirants. Public opinion on policy issues could differ considerably depending on race and ethnicity. For instance, while most Latin Americans in Texas support the DREAM Act, the majority of white people in Texas repudiate it.
