Strongest Identity of Them Y’all? These Not So United States (TX Part 2)

Texas has long had one of the most powerful and vocal identities of any American state. But how’s that unique Texas pride faring under the homogenizing power of polarization? In this TPP episode, Strongest Identity of Them Y’all, Texas Monthly Editor-in-Chief Dan Goodgame argues that the social and cultural identities of Texans writ large remain intact despite zero-sum maneuverings of Texas politicians writ small. 

“I'm gonna read a short series of numbers and let you guess what they represent: 29, 22, 16, 4, 2, and 1,” says Goodgame, a Rhodes Scholar and former Pulitzer Prize finalist. “29 million is the population of Texas right now…4 million is the number who vote in primaries in Texas, 2 million is the number who vote in the Republican primary in Texas, 1 million is all it takes to win. So that's 3.3% of the population deciding who the statewide office holders are in Texas.”

Indeed Republicans do rule top to bottom in the Lone Star State, as they have for over two decades. “People who don't like Republican policies are very quick to place all the blame there,” explains Goodgame. “But Democrats here similarly play to their base rather than to centrists. You would think after 27 years of losing, you'd try something different.”

Meanwhile, the nation’s second largest state in size and population continues to be an outsized force economically and demographically. “Texas is experiencing a net in-migration of about 3,800 a week, which is pretty striking when you think about it,” observes Goodgame, citing newly minted Texans from California, New Jersey, India, Mexico and Nigeria as examples. “They are not turning the state blue, as we reported in our December cover story. So they’re as diverse politically as they are culturally.”

Tune in to learn more about social and cultural diversity amidst political conformity in the Lone Star State with Dan Goodgame, Editor-in-Chief of Texas Monthly – Part 2 of our Texas mini-series within The Purple Principle’s season-long exploration of polarization and state identity. 

Original music by Ryan Adair Rooney

SHOW NOTES

Our Guest

Dan Goodgame, Editor-in-Chief of Texas Monthly since 2019. Co-author of Marching in Place: The Status Quo Presidency of George Bush

Texas Monthly on Twitter 

Additional Resources

• Polarization in Congress has risen sharply. Where is it going next? (Washington Post)
• Texas’ Attorney General Faces a Tough Primary. Will Trump’s Nod Be Enough? (New York Times)
• Will the Bush Dynasty Die With George P. Bush? (Texas Monthly)
• Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is headed to a runoff against George P. Bush (Texas Monthly)
• Progressive Texas Democrats are having a moment — but a red wave is coming (Houston Chronicle)
• Lone Star 'Squad': AOC Rallies for Texans Greg Casar and Jessica Cisneros (Texas Observer)
• Republicans celebrate in Texas, as Democrats gird for November (Washington Post)
• About the Texas Politics Project
• The Power Behind the Throne (Texas Monthly)
• The Texas town that banned fracking (and lost) (BBC)
• History of Austin City Limits
• Texas Primary Election Results (New York Times)
• William B. Hurd - U.S. House of Representatives
• The Newest Texans Are Not Who You Think They Are (Texas Monthly)
• Profile of the Unauthorized Population: Texas (Migration Policy Institute)
• Op-Ed: How to Stop the Migrant Caravans That Are Headed to Texas (Texas Monthly)
• 2022 Bum Steer of the Year: Greg Abbott (Texas Monthly)
• 2021 Bum Steer of the Year: The Texas Democratic Party (Texas Monthly)
• About Bill White

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