Retiring GOP Rep. Will Hurd warns the Republican Party it faces a racial reckoning in Texas

Will Hurd.
(Image credit: REUTERS/Erin Scott)

Texas is changing, and that might be bad news for Republicans, Politico reports.

Shifting demographics and a "suburban revolt" against President Trump have turned the Lone Star state into a real political battleground, in which Democrats are making substantial gains for the first time a long time. Politico reports that there are at least eight House seats that should be up for grabs, and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) is "bracing for a competitive re-election race."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Hurd, the only Republican in the state to represent a border town, said that he was able to hang onto his district (which voted for Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general election) by engaging with minority communities in the area. Other candidates would presumably need to do more of the same in what Hurd says is now a "purple state." But he also said it won't be easy, especially in light of President Trump's recent rhetoric directed at four congresswomen of color, as well as his attacks on Baltimore.

"That kind of rhetoric hurts when you're trying to take a message to a group of people," Hurd said. Read more about Texas' political metamorphosis at Politico.

Explore More
Tim O'Donnell

Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.