Texas 2022 megathread

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This is currently the only source reporting on it, but it seems like Lina Hidalgo may want to put her hat into the race?

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/coronavirus/article/Hidalgo-Abbott-mask-lifted-political-ratings-gov-16014934.php

I really really hope not. Shes got all the time in the world to be wait until Texas gets more blue/purple.

I just don't want her to waste her political points on a race where she'd get 47% tops.

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Hate to do 3 posts in a row, but we've got some breaking news:

https://twitter.com/dallasnews/status/1378089356292919305?s=20

I guess he has read the polls and he knows that with a +15/20 approval rate Abbott is not vulnerable

Abbott could still be, but without Beto on the ballot, that may spell trouble for democrats.

It's gonna be trouble no matter what for Texas Democrats during a B I D E N M I D T E R M

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After "hell ya we're coming for your guns" (or whatever he said along those lines on the debate stage), I doubt Beto could win state wide in Texas. If I was the Texas Democratic Party, I'd be pushing Mathew McConaughey to "Make Texas Alright, Alright, Alright again."

Part of me thinks the “hell yes” comments won’t hurt him as much as some people think, but rather his church taxing comments could be what hurts him more. A lot of hispanics in Texas are VERY religious, and those comments could cause another south Texas rightward swing if they are played very commonly in attack ads.

I 100% agree with everything you said. Also, I'm already getting get sick to death of every Beto-related post mentioning that quote. I can't imagine how much more annoying it'll get if he actually gets in the race.

But I'll let Past Me take it from here:

Also, much has been made about his gun comments because they're the most soundbite-friendly, but I think his anti-gay tax exemption comments are what might've really halted his Texas future. I'm against tax exemptions for churches in general, but he really pigeonholed himself by limiting it to just LGBT issues. Not to mention how much of a slippery slope that could be in the long term. In my opinion, easily more foolish than the gun comments.

The only thing he accomplished by running for president was tripping his tongue on self-inflicted landmines and wasting a year he could've spent helping the TX Democratic Party. Stacy Abrams outclassed him on the latter without question. 2019 shifted the question from "What does the future hold for Beto in Texas?" to "Does Beto have a future in politics?".

And this choice quote

I like how the gun comment somehow killed his political career based on nothing but punditry; no polling or focus groups, just punditry.

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Safe R

Texas isn’t flipping for anything until 2024 at least.

We know.

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New drinking game.

Take a drink anytime a post mentioning Beto is followed up by the "Hell yes we'll take your AK-15s" quote

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I take it this thread is gonna be nothing but comments regarding the gun line for the next year?

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Great.

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/tweet
Almost 100+ town halls by Beto vs. not a single campaign stop by Abbott, absolutely shameful. The man literally thinks he can walk into the governorship because of the (R) next to his name.

To be fair, so does practically everyone in this thread.

I'm glad Beto is putting up a hell of a fight though. Just because everyone sees it as a forgone conclusion doesn't mean you should just roll over and give up. I don't know if I'd have predicted a year or two ago that Beto would have a more competitive race than Abrams, but that might end up being the case.

Also, I see this November as a fun anecdotal test of whether TX or FL will be more interesting to follow in 2024.

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Why does Beto's campaign think it's a good idea to run on gun control in not just any red state but Texas of all places! It isn't going to gain him any votes either, but could turnoff many swing voters.

Because the Texas of 2022 isn't the Texas of the 90s? It's still a lean R state but it's not some conservative bastion anymore and "swing voters" actually care about gun control measures.

The people who support gun control were already voting Democrats. No one is a single issue anti-gun voter, they are likely to be liberal on most other issues. However, a state like Texas there are many people who will be turned off by that. It's not even like it's just a policy in his platform. Beto is making gun control the cornerstone of his campaign and seems to be embracing his "Hell yes" comments and that will likely hurt him.

So you're saying this race would be a tossup right now if he never made the comments & didn't make gun control a central part of his campaign?

Considering very few people think he has a chance to win this year, with or without the comments, might as well stand your ground and perhaps persuade some hearts and minds.

Personally, I like that he's owning and embracing his comments rather than cowering and coming off as feckless. Especially after the events of Uvalde.

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Seems there's this unofficial quota where someone has to mention how TX-GOV won't flip on every page of the thread

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Seems there's this unofficial quota where someone has to mention how TX-GOV won't flip on every page of the thread

The quota lives for another page!

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Not sure its been said yet, Abbott is likely going to win his race