Texas Democrats may still have a chance to be relevant with voters in the state following this past month’s abortion debate and efforts to rally Hispanic voters.
While Republicans at the state capitol are still celebrating the recent passage of a bill that will impose restrictions on abortion facilities, behind the scenes there is uncertainty for the party.
Republican pollster Dr. David Hill said that uncertainty is especially the case for how Hispanic voters see the Republican party.
"I would keep my eye on what happens in Washington (D.C.) and the immigration debate and how that all comes to a conclusion, and second I would keep an eye on the Republican primaries next year," Hill said.
Hill said if 2014 campaigns are similar to the 2006 primaries where many Republican candidates focused on outdoing one another it will mean a loss of votes. He predicts in decade or less Texas will turn purple.
"I really think by looking at the numbers and looking at turnout patterns that the Republicans probably still are likely to keep Texas a red state for at least one more gubernatorial cycle, and if that individual uses the powers of being governor effectively we might expect that person to get re-elected so it really might be 9 or 10 years," he said.
Hill said using the abortion issue to predict the next Democratic gubernatorial candidate is too much of a wild card and won’t effect swing voters like Latinos. He said where it helps Democrats is urban votes, especially among single women and single mothers.
Hill said another challenge for Democrats like Sen. Wendy Davis of Fort Worth is the lack of name recognition and financing, but with the recent campaign funds she secured from Steve Mostyn and his wife, part of that could be soon changing.
Mostyn is an attorney from Houston who according to the Texas Tribune was the largest political donor to Texas Democrats in the 2010 gubernatorial election.
