The Republican debacle in Texas and across the country can be attributed to a variety of reasons, but the most important reasons may be bad candidates and bad policies. Voters in general elections normally prefer ethical to unethical candidates, and moderates to either those who are considered too far to the left or too far to the right on the political spectrum. Every Republican running for statewide office may have been hurt by the presence of the GOP’s worst vote getter, Ken Paxton, at the top of the state ticket. But even the strongest Republicans may have been hurt by President Trump’s deeply unpopular policies on tariffs, the war in the Middle East, and the roundups of immigrants thought to be illegally in America.
The GOP must develop better candidates and better policies, and the Democrats should remember that in American politics neither victory nor defeat is ever permanent.
In all but three midterms in the past century, the party of whoever happens to be the President at the time has lost seats in Congress. Anger is typically a stronger motivator than approval. Those who oppose the President’s policies are likely to go to the polls in greater numbers than those who support them. So Democratic gains, at least in the House of Representatives, were to be expected. Given that the GOP had a House majority of 5 going into the election, the flipping of House control to the Democrats was almost inevitable.
Less expected, and therefore more startling, was the loss of the Senate to the Democrats. Election night saw the triumph of Democrats in senatorial elections and gubernatorial elections as well, especially in previously red states. In Kansas, for example, a Democrat was elected to the U. S. Senate for the first time since 1932. And perhaps the most shocking loss, and certainly the most newsworthy not only in Texas but throughout the country, was the clean sweep scored by Democrats as they won every statewide executive and judicial office up for grabs in Texas. Every. Single. Office.
Of the Republicans running statewide in Texas, Ken Paxton proved to be the worst vote getter, arguably dragging down the entire ticket. Voters in last May’s Republican runoff had chosen him over Senator John Cornyn, since Paxton was a more ideologically zealous supporter of President Trump, and the dominant MAGA voters were therefore willing to overlook his record of personal and official corruption. But the general election voters were not. James Talarico had moderated his own views, thereby convincing the overwhelming majority of voters he was not the extremist Paxton had said he was. Talarico won almost 5.445 million votes to Paxton’s 4.250 million, the biggest victory margin in Texas that evening. Paxton got about 275,000 fewer votes than Abbot, and about 410,000 fewer votes than Judge Kevin P. Yeary, the GOP’s top vote getter last Tuesday. Even Bo French, the GOP’s second-worst vote getter, bested Paxton by more than 175,000 votes.
But it would be wrong to attribute the GOP’s losses in Texas exclusively to Paxton’s drag on the ticket. A comprehensive public opinion poll reported by various news outlets, including NBC News, shows widespread public disapproval of several of President Trump’s most cherished policies.
Especially noteworthy was public rejection of Trump’s tariffs, and for good reason. A major desire of the public is for “affordability” of goods and services. Contrary to what Trump used to believe (and maybe still does), tariffs are not paid by foreign nations seeking to have their products bought by Americans. Rather, tariffs are paid by American importers, who typically add the cost of the tariff to the price the buyer must pay for the product. In other words, tariffs are sales taxes on imports and hence drive up the price the consumer must pay, thereby making the imports less affordable. When the public wants more affordability, it is only natural that it will disapprove of policies that make items they want to purchase less affordable. Little wonder, then, that 66% of voters believe Trump’s tariffs have hurt the economy.
Poll results also saw voter dissatisfaction with other policies of Trump and the conditions they caused. Among the more important findings:
- 61% believe immigrants help the country and only 39% believe they hurt the country.
- 58% believe the Trump Administration has “gone too far” on immigration enforcement.
- 63% believe the United States made the “wrong decision in taking military action against Iran,” while only 37% believe the decision was right.
- 63% believe Trump’s policies have produced “higher than usual prices,” while only 37% said higher prices were “more because of factors outside Trump’s control.”
- 66% believe Trump’s policies have “worsened economic conditions in the U. S.,” while only 27% think his policies have made economic conditions better, and 7% said his policies had no impact.
- 76% are dissatisfied or angry “about the way things are going in the country today,” while only 24% are enthusiastic or at least satisfied.
- 63% disapprove “of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president,” while only 37% approve.
It’s clear from these poll findings that most of the public disapprove of President Trump’s policies, especially on tariffs, the war against Iran, and his efforts to rid America of immigrants here illegally. It may be the case that even with the best of candidates, the GOP would still have taken a drubbing, albeit not necessarily as bad a drubbing as they took on election night.
Clearly, the GOP must recruit better candidates to advocate better policies in 2028, 2030, 2032, and beyond. And while the Democrats masterfully exploited Republican weaknesses to achieve their historic victory last Tuesday, and may even be able to ride it into the White House in 2028, the Republicans will be able to make a comeback possibly as early as 2032 and almost certainly by 2036, to be followed by another Democratic comeback, and then by another Republican comeback, and so on, for well into the future. No electoral outcome in American politics, whether good or bad, is ever permanent.
Malcolm L. Cross has lived in Stephenville since 1987 and taught politics and government at Tarleton for 36 years, retiring in 2023. His political and civic activities include service on the Stephenville City Council (2000-2014) and on the Erath County Republican Executive Committee (1990-2024). He was Mayor pro-tem of Stephenville from 2008 to 2014. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Stephenville Economic Development Authority since 2018, and as chair of the Erath County Appraisal District’s Appraisal Review Board since 2015. He is also a member of the Stephenville Rotary Club, the Board of Vestry of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, and the Executive Committee of the Boy Scouts’ Pecan Valley District. Views expressed in this column are his and do not reflect those of The Flash as a whole.
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