These are just polls, so vote!

Hopefully these trends will inspire people in states that have been consistently red that a flip this election is possible!

  • Zombiepirate@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    I’m not getting my hopes up yet, but if Ted Cruz finally gets fired I’ll being enough schadenfreude for the whole class.

    • hddsx@lemmy.ca
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      22 days ago

      Dude, really? I have schadenfrade prepared for the class for that occasion too…

    • dhork@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      Texas might not be in play for Harris, but if she creates enough enthusiasm to narrow the gap then it will also trickle down to that Senate race. Winning Cruz’s seat will give Democrats some cushion when it comes to retaining control of the Senate.

    • Rhaedas@fedia.io
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      21 days ago

      NC is going to do for Harris what they did for Obama in 2008. Maybe even better. But I do hope Texas goes purple and the results take all night to figure out. That would be huge, even if it’s not enough.

  • GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world
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    21 days ago

    Don’t forget that had just 5% more of the registered voters in 2016 voted for Hillary, TX would have been blue.

    Biden was even closer to winning TX in 2020.

    Your vote matters! Do not wait until the last minute to vote! We can not only turn TX blue for Harris, but we have another opportunity to rid ourselves of Cruz this year. There are also 3 seats on the TX Supreme Court, all US and TX reps, 15 state senators, railroad commissioners, 3 members of the criminal court of appeals, 7 members of the state board of education, and many more judges, sherrifs, and local officials among other positions at stake this election. Check all the offices here:

    https://www.sos.state.tx.us/elections/candidates/guide/2024/offices2024.shtml

    Polls will open Oct 21-Nov 1, with one final day to vote on Nov 5. Polls will be open at least 9 hours the first week and at least 12 hours a day (typically 7 AM-7PM with no wait) during the second week, and at least 12 hours with a wait on the final day of voting.

    Check your voter registration, important election dates, polling locations and hours (won’t be posted until sometime in October), and more at votetexas.gov

      • GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world
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        20 days ago

        At the time of their invention, railroads were huge for industry. We could now transport a lot of heavy goods quickly across the state and country. We needed someone to be in charge of the railroads, trains, and their regulations.

        Nowadays, the railroad commission doesn’t have jurosdiction over rails in TX, instead they have primary regulatory jurisdiction over the oil and natural gas industry, pipeline transporters, natural gas and hazardous liquid pipeline industry, natural gas utilities, the LP-gas industry, critical natural gas infrastructure, and coal and uranium surface mining operations.

        https://www.rrc.texas.gov/about-us/

        I think the idead behind it being an elected position, rather than an appointed position, is to mitigate corruption. If the citizens see corruption taking place in the department, they can elect a new railroad commissioner in a few years that will set it all straight.

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      At the very least, it will cause Republicans to expend more resources in what was a previously safe state.

    • UnpopularCrow@lemmy.worldOP
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      22 days ago

      That’s how I feel. I don’t think Texas will actually flip (not impossible though!), it is the message these types of polls are sending that’s important.

      • Tyfud@lemmy.world
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        21 days ago

        A long, long time ago way back in the 90s Texas had a Democrat governor. And it was awesome. One of the best states to live in at the time.

        Not for the last 25 years though. Not since the Republicans took over every aspect of the state.

        • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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          21 days ago

          Ann Richards didn’t manage to get a lot done though, did she? I wasn’t super politically aware in the early 90s, but I was under the impression that Texas was pretty red back then too.

          • Tyfud@lemmy.world
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            21 days ago

            She was a democrat along the same lines as LBJ. And a Texas Democrat, so very moderate by today’s standards.

            But she was well loved, respected, and surprisingly, did accomplish a decent amount, including prison reform, drug and alcohol rehabilitation programs, significantly improved the educational system, etc.

            But her big black mark was signing the anti-homosexuality act into law, even though she campaigned against it as Mayor.

            Still, after her came George W. Bush, so in my mind, she was the last good governor Texas has had in almost 30 years.

            • HelixDab2@lemm.ee
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              21 days ago

              True enough.

              Better than we had when I lived in Illinois, where all the governors seem to end up as the target of federal investigations or prosecutions.

  • kescusay@lemmy.world
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    22 days ago

    That’s very hopeful. A five-point spread can be overcome. And I’m still wondering what the polling error will be this year. For the last few years, Democrats have handily out-performed the polls, and it’s not like people under 50 are getting easier to poll.

    But don’t get complacent. It’s possible the polls this year are over-correcting for that. We won’t know for sure until the election is over.

    • Logi@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      But don’t get complacent. It’s possible the polls this year are over-correcting for that. We won’t know for sure until the election is over.

      Not only that. You may need a quite healthy margin to overcome the various voter suppression and other plans the Rs have in place to steal the election. A Texas sized margin might do.

  • TheHiddenCatboy@lemmy.world
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    21 days ago

    I’m hoping that Harris/Walz spends a few resources here, to make Republicans nervous. Not a LOT of resources, but enough to make the Republicans nervous. We need Dems to turn out in all 50 states, Safe Red, Safe Blue, or whatever, to ensure that we have a resounding victory. Fellow voters, you shouldn’t need to be told this, but if a few million here or there in Texas and Florida gets Dems out to vote while putting the fear of Dog into Republicans and force THEM to spend resources there, it’s a good strategy in my book.

    • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
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      21 days ago

      Idk, drumming up excitement can help people get to the polls to vote Cruz out. The Presidential race can help shore up the down ballot races. I’m hoping at least Walz shows up in MT. I would love to see them both but in particular he would appeal to people here and could boost Tester’s numbers.

      • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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        21 days ago

        Trump won Texas by 5 1/2 points in 2020 - 52% to 46.5%. So this poll is consistent with the direction of Texas partisanship. Time and money spent to campaign Texas can be better used elsewhere.

        • lagomorphlecture@lemm.ee
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          21 days ago

          Ted Cruz won in 2018 by like 2%. So getting people out to vote absolutely can make a difference. And you don’t just turn a state overnight, it takes time and work.

          • Rapidcreek@lemmy.world
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            21 days ago

            Allred is going to need a blue wave to win in any case. Harris needs to get there before she can even think about Texas

    • PM_Your_Nudes_Please@lemmy.world
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      20 days ago

      Yeah, I had a 5 minute wait to vote in my (majority red) area. 30 minutes away in (majority blue) Dallas, wait times were in the hours, because they keep closing polling locations in blue areas.

      • Got_Bent@lemmy.world
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        20 days ago

        I’ve moved from Denton County to Dallas since the last election. I’m curious to see the difference in voting. Lewisville was staunch Republican area. Voting took about thirty minutes surrounded by red hats with scowling faces in line.

    • chiliedogg@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      More than people realize. Between the Civil War and this century, the Texas delegation to the US House of Representatives was Majority-Democrat. We had a Democratic governor just 3 Governors ago.

      But in 2003 the Texas legislature went majority-Republican for the first time in over a century, and the first thing they did was massively gerrymander the state just a year after it had been redistricted for the 2000 census.

      In the 2002 election, 17 Democrats and 15 Republicans were elected to the US House. Following the redistricting, the 2004 election had 21 Republicans and 11 Republicans elected to the House.

      With a single map change they went from a minority to a 2:1 majority.

    • Reyali@lemm.ee
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      20 days ago

      Texas is also a voter apathy state. A lot of the apathy comes from gerrymandering, which I’d call a form of voter suppression, so your point still stands.

      Also reminder for every state except Maine and Nebraska: your voting district has NO effect on who gets the electoral college vote for your state. Even if your state is gerrymandered to all hell and there’s no chance your district will go blue, that has literally zero affect on whether your vote is counted for president.

      So go vote, even if it’s hopeless for the local races. Your vote can help flip a state!

    • GlendatheGayWitch@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      Even Hillary almost flipped the state. If only 5% more of the registered voters had cast a vote for her, she would have won! The problem is that people just won’t go to the polls. We were the first state to have an early voting period (since 1980) but people just won’t take 15 minutes to stop by a polling station on their way somewhere. There’s never a line during the 2 weeks weeks of early voting.

      Check voter registration and polling location/hours (won’t be posted until October) at www.votetexas.gov

      Polls open Oct 21-Nov 1, with one final day to vote on Nov 5. Don’t procrastinate and you won’t have to wait in line!

    • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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      21 days ago

      Apathy, suppression, and a state party that is interested only in shutting out progressives.

        • Ensign_Crab@lemmy.world
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          21 days ago

          Consider 2022 in the Rio Grande Valley. Jessica Cisneros was a progressive primarying the incumbent Henry Cuellar. The party called in help from the national party to make sure the progressive lost to the anti-choice NRA stooge Cuellar. Cuellar won by 289 votes. In the neighboring district, Michelle Vallejo, a progressive, actually won her primary and was up against the MAGA chud Monica de la Cruz. The party pulled Vallejo’s ad funding during the final month of the campaign.

          This was during the 2022 election when the party was doing ad buys for MAGA candidates.

    • UnpopularCrow@lemmy.worldOP
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      21 days ago

      Unfortunately, not just voter apathy but voter suppression. Texas is a lot closer to blue than they want to admit, but have done an excellent job with disenfranchisement.