Dallas, TX – The November 3 elections delivered a historic defeat to the Republican political machine that has dominated Texas politics for decades. Democrat James Talarico defeated Republican Ken Paxton in the race for U.S. Senate, while Gina Hinojosa unseated Governor Greg Abbott. Across the state, Republicans suffered a sweeping defeat, losing every statewide executive office on the ballot, while Democrats captured the Texas House of Representatives for the first time in more than two decades.
The election marks the end of more than 30 years of uninterrupted Republican victories in statewide races. Senator Ted Cruz is now the lone Republican representing Texas statewide, an extraordinary reversal in a state long considered a stronghold of the Republican right.
Decades of reactionary rule
Beginning with the rise of the Republican right in the 1980s, Texas became a stronghold of hard-right, pro-business politics. Under successive Republican administrations, from George W. Bush and Rick Perry to Greg Abbott, the state’s political establishment pursued an agenda of corporate giveaways, attacks on immigrant rights, LGBT rights, women’s rights and organized labor, as well as pushing the privatization of public education.
For decades, Republican politicians championed the so-called “Texas Miracle,” promoting the state as a paradise for business while turning it into a haven for corporate interests and reactionary policies.
Texas’s anti-union policies, including its so-called “right-to-work” laws, have undermined organized labor, while Republican politicians have consistently sided with employers against workers fighting for better wages and safer working conditions.
Public education has faced chronic underfunding and privatization, millions struggle with rising costs and inadequate healthcare, and the state’s Republican leadership has pursued increasingly aggressive attacks on immigrants, women, LGBTQ people, and democratic rights.
Meanwhile, corruption scandals and the enormous influence of wealthy corporate donors have become central features of the state’s political establishment.
This reactionary political machine, backed by some of the wealthiest capitalist interests in the country, appeared virtually unchallengeable for decades.
Now, that machine has suffered a historic defeat.
A historic rejection of Republican rule
The scale of the Democratic victory reflects profound dissatisfaction with the political direction of Texas. After decades of Republican dominance, millions of Texans have expressed their frustration with a political establishment that prioritized corporate interests and right-wing social policies while working people struggled to make ends meet.
The election represents a major shift in the state’s political landscape and a rejection of the assumption that Republican control of Texas was inevitable.
But while the Republican establishment has been dealt a serious blow, the powerful economic interests that sustained it remain firmly entrenched.
The corporations, billionaires and wealthy landowners who have exercised enormous influence over Texas politics will not simply surrender their power because Democrats have won an election, if for no other reason that the Democratic Party is the other party of monopoly capitalism.
Working people cannot assume that the Democratic Party will deliver the changes they need.
The struggle for real change begins now
The election has opened new political possibilities, but real change has never been won through elections alone.
The history of the labor movement and the civil rights movement demonstrates that meaningful victories have come through organized mass struggle. The eight-hour workday, the right to organize unions, and victories against racial segregation were won through generations of strikes, protests, and collective action.
The challenges facing working people in Texas remain enormous. Higher wages, stronger unions, affordable housing, fully funded public education, immigrant rights, LGBTQ rights, reproductive freedom, and an end to police brutality remain central demands of people’s movements across the state.
Winning these demands will require continued organizing in our workplaces, unions, neighborhoods, and college campuses. It will require building fighting people’s movements capable of confronting the wealthy and powerful, regardless of which political party holds office.
The lesson of this election is clear. The defeat of Republican officeholders represents a significant political opening and creates new opportunities to advance the struggles of working and oppressed people. But this is only the beginning. The fight for meaningful change must continue in the streets, in our workplaces, and in our communities.
Now is the time to get organized, strengthen our unions, build fighting people’s movements, and continue the struggle for a better Texas.
The Freedom Road Socialist Organization (FRSO) is committed to building and strengthening these movements, organizing among workers, students and oppressed communities in the fight for democratic rights and ultimately for socialism.
For those who want to make a difference, the time to get involved is now. Join the Freedom Road Socialist Organization and join the struggle!
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