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Outgoing Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, a Republican, acknowledged Thursday that the Lone Star State “turned purple” after Democrats’ so-called blue wave swept statewide races and flipped the governor’s office, a U.S. Senate seat and Texas House.
During his latest episode of the “Lt. Dan Podcast,” Patrick acknowledged that Texas’ political makeup is shifting left but stopped short of saying the state had turned blue after many others had described it as now a blue state.
“Right now, I’d say it’s purple,” he said. “We’ve been winning consistently, and people see it as a red state. But this time, the Democrats turned out more of their Democrat voters than Republicans turned out of their voters. But what really made the difference were the independent voters, the voters who don’t vote in Republican or Democrat primaries. They only vote in general elections.
“For almost every election, we’ve been winning those voters. We didn’t win them now. Will they stay voting for Democrats in the future? Two years ago, they almost all voted for the president. Four years ago, almost all voted for [Gov.] Greg Abbott, myself and the other Republicans. So, I wouldn’t say we are a blue state, but we’ve turned purple for this moment.
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Outgoing Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick acknowledged that the Lone Star State “turned purple.” (Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images, File)
“The wave election, a lot of factors involved from the top down, from Washington down to Texas and all the other states where Republicans lost,” Patrick added.
“I would say it’s a group of voters who are willing to change their vote election to election depending on how they feel and how they feel about who’s in charge. So, we’re not a blue state, but we’re going to have to work too hard to be sure in ’28 and ’30 and ’32 we don’t become one.”
Patrick, who ran for re-election but lost his race to Democrat Vikki Goodwin, was among the Republicans hit by Democrats’ blue wave. Abbott, who was vying for a fourth term, lost in his re-election bid to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, and Texas Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton was defeated by Democrat James Talarico as part of huge Dem gains in the state and across the country, including in other traditional GOP strongholds.
Democrats won every statewide race in Texas, bringing an end to decades of Republican control in contests that had once been considered sure bets for the GOP and leaving Sen. Ted Cruz as the only Republican holding statewide elected office.
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Democrats won every statewide race in Texas, bringing an end to decades of Republican control. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle, File)
Patrick said Republicans lost voters in places and demographics they had gained in 2024, including the Rio Grande Valley and young voters. He joined President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other Republican leaders in attributing the party’s disastrous showing last week primarily to voters’ frustrations over affordability and the Iran war, which has caused soaring fuel prices.
Gas prices are about 83 cents per gallon higher than a year ago, according to AAA, which listed the national average at $3.91 per gallon on Thursday, compared with $3.08 a year earlier.
“We were in a tidal wave, a tsunami that washed across the country where people just said, ‘I can’t afford to feed my family. I can’t afford to pay my bills. I can’t even afford to fill up my car or truck,'” Patrick said.
“It was almost to the point where, no matter what our message was, it didn’t matter. People were unhappy, and I get it.”
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott lost his re-election to Democrat Gina Hinojosa and Texas Attorney General and U.S. Senate candidate Ken Paxton was defeated by Democrat James Talarico as part of huge Democrat gains in the state. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images, File)
“People can agree with you on cultural issues or policy issues, but it doesn’t mean they’re gonna vote for you if they can’t afford groceries,” he added.
Patrick further acknowledged that the war in the Middle East has increased the cost of fuel but refused to denounce Trump’s decision to attack Iran.
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“I totally support the president on that. If they had intelligence that Iran was gonna get a nuclear weapon, we could be in the middle of World War III if he didn’t take action, or Israel could have already been blown off the map,” Patrick said.
“So, I support what the president did, but the reality is that had an impact.”