StudySpace: We the People ed. 6

The Role of Political Parties in Texas Politics

Perhaps the most important function of parties in Texas is that they provide a label under which candidates may run and with which voters may identify. Approximately 90 percent of Texas voters either identify with or lean toward either the Republican Party or the Democratic Party.

I. What are the important functions of political parties in Texas?

• The party label becomes the standard used in casting a ballot for a candidate.
• Parties assist in raising money for candidates’ campaigns and in helping candidates with legal requirements. They also train candidates for campaigns.
• Parties sometimes recruit candidates.
• Parties assist in getting out the vote.
• The party helps organize the government once officials have been elected.

 

II. How are political parties organized in Texas?

• Texas does not have a system of party registration for voters.
• Texas parties conduct primaries for the purpose of selecting the party’s candidates for office.
• The party is organized at the precinct, county, and state levels.
• The precinct chair heads the precinct convention and serves on the county executive committee.
• The county executive committee is responsible for running the county’s primary elections and planning the county convention.
• The county chair is elected at the party’s primary election and heads the county executive committee.
• The state executive committee and state chair and vice chair coordinate the party’s statewide activities.
• Conventions are held at the precinct, county, and state levels.

 

Texas’s History as a One-Party State

I. What is the history of the Democratic Party’s dominance in Texas? How has the Republican Party’s power and influence grown in recent decades?

• The defeat of Republican E. J.Davis in 1873 began a period of Democratic Party dominance that would continue until the 1990s.
• Other parties, such as the Populists and People’s Party, had some impact.
• The Democratic Party split between conservative and liberal ideologues in the 1950s and 1960s.
• Republicans began to make inroads in the late 1950s and 1960s in presidential and U.S. Senate elections.
• The election of Bill Clements in 1978 and that of George W. Bush in 1994 as governor signaled the beginning of a two-party state.

 

Issues in Texas Party Politics.

• It is unusual for a candidate to run as an independent in Texas elections, because there are so many laws that make it difficult for independents to get their names on the ballot. 
• Dispite the difficulties of getting on the ballot, the 2006 gubernatorial had two independent candidates, Carole Keeton Strayhorn and “Kinky” Friedman.
• Whenever a single party becomes dominant in a state, factions within the party appear.  Parties need to keep these factional disputes under control, or risk losing voters to the other party..
• Demographic changes have make Hispanic voters a growing and more influential group.   
• Over 70 percent of registered Hispanic voters identify themselves as Democrats, and Hispanic voters havebeen responsible for recent wins by the Democratic Party in places like Dallas County.   

 

Elections in Texas

I. What are the types of elections held in Texas?

• Primary elections are held in March of even-numbered years to select the party’s nominee for the general election.
• A run-off primary is held if no candidate in the primary wins more than 50 percent of the vote.
• The primary election in Texas is legally closed, but in reality it is an open primary.
• The general election is held in November of even-numbered years for the purpose of electing public officials.
• The election of the governor is held in off-years to minimize the influence of presidential elections.
• Special elections are held to fill vacancies or to ratify amendments to the Texas Constitution.

 

Participation in Texas Elections

I. Who can vote in Texas and why is voter turnout so low? Why do few Texans vote? What will it take to increase voter participation in Texas?

• Texas has a history of limiting the right to vote.
• Women did not gain the right tovote in Texas primaries and party conventions until 1918 and in general elections until 1920 (Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution).
• Texas also used the poll tax, early registration requirements, and the white primary to minimize minority voting.
• These provisions were eventually struck down by the U.S. Supreme Court or by congressional action.
• The registration requirement is now thirty days.
• The low voter turnout in the state is partly due to the low levels of educational attainment, low incomes, and legal barriers to voting.
• Attempts to increase voter turnout have focused on voter education, allowing early voting, and the mobilization of voters by groups and individuals.

 

Campaigns

I. What is the role of political parties in election campaigns in Texas?

• Political parties can raise money for candidates.
• Political parties can mobilize voters.
• Political parties can provide acue for voters who have limited information regarding the candidates.

 

II. What is the effect of television on campaigns?

• Television exposure increases name recognition.
• Television increases the costs of campaigning.
• Television is now fundamental for campaigns.

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