On Election Day, it is these newcomers who may well tip the balance not just in the Senate and governor's races.
uncertain
who → tip → races
They may also decide whether the once ruby red Lone Star State will continue to grow bluer.
uncertain
State → decide → ?
I met Oren at The Celt on the picture-postcard town square, where we played a friendly game of pool.
asserted
we → meet → pool
He moved from California about a year ago "because it’s a lot cheaper to live" but is voting for Democrats because he believes that Texas needs "more social services and public transit" and more support for transgender kids.
asserted
Texas → move → kids
When I gently tried to press Oren on the apparent illogic of moving away from a high-tax, big-government blue state for reasons of cost only to vote to make his new home a high-tax, big-government state, he was unmoved, almost arguing that real California progressivism has never been tried.
asserted
progressivism → try → cost
It turns out that Oren was not as much of an outlier as I had expected because, not long after, I met Daniel, who works at a local restaurant and moved to McKinney a few years ago with his best friend and girlfriend to start a business.
asserted
who → turn → business
He has also proudly brought his politics with him.
asserted
He → bring → him
"It’s in the Constitution," Daniel told Fox News Digital.
asserted
Daniel → ’ → Digital
"We can go anywhere we want.
asserted
we → go → ?
It's meant to be that way."
When I asked him if he could understand why so many people born and raised in Texas are worried about transplants changing its politics, he shrugged and said, "Things change."
uncertain
Things → mean → politics
In the space of about five hours, I met two more refugees from California prepared to keep voting for Democrats.
asserted
I → meet → Democrats
Like Oren and Daniel, they really did not see any irony in the fact that they may be recreating in Texas exactly the conditions they escaped in California.
uncertain
they → see → California
The natives, however, do see the problem with the Californication of Texas.
asserted
natives → see → Texas
Terry, a longtime local in her 60s, told me, "I love to see the growth, and there’s a lot of it, but if they bring Democratic politics with them, then we stand to lose the whole thing bringing people here."
asserted
we → tell → people
Clint, who was in town from his home just on the other side of the Oklahoma border, is worried not just about Texas turning blue through domestic migration, but even about the Sooner State eventually turning blue.
asserted
State → worry → migration
"I cannot comprehend why someone would move from a state because there’s high taxes and then come down here and vote for high taxes.
asserted
someone → comprehend → taxes
I just can’t comprehend it," Clint told Fox News Digital.
asserted
Clint → comprehend → Digital
"And I’ve asked them to explain it to me, but they just cuss me out.
asserted
they → ask → me
Thankfully, nobody cussed out this columnist for asking, but Clint is correct that the liberal transplants see no problem with transforming the red states they arrive in into blue states, and it's not just Texas.
asserted
it → cuss → states
Arizona and even Montana have seen influxes of liberal California voters.
asserted
Arizona → see → voters
West Virginians have similar fears regarding their neighbors to the south in Northern Virginia, who are also attracted by the low taxes and cost of living.
asserted
who → have → living
In Texas, there is a kind of double-pincer political invasion because, along with the Cali converts, unchecked immigration — illegal and otherwise — over decades has also pushed the needle left in the state.
asserted
immigration → be → state
This is, in a nutshell, the new Democratic Party coalition: wealthy, college-educated Whites and immigrants.
asserted
This → educate → nutshell
The bottom line for Republicans — not just in Texas but in many red states — is that Americans are moving at stunning rates to cheaper states, which almost always means Republican states.
asserted
which → move → states
The good news is that red states stand to gain in the Electoral College and in Congress after the next census, but that won’t matter if Democrats take them over.
asserted
Democrats → stand → them
Between now and then, and especially on Tuesday, "Don’t you turn my red state blue" has to be the mantra of the GOP.
asserted
you → turn → GOP
If Texas falls this time, then anywhere can, and that is exactly what the Democrats moving to red states are hoping for and creating.
asserted
Democrats → fall → states