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DAVID MARCUS: California transplants in Texas are voting Democrat and they see no irony in it

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Cite

Marcus, D. (2026, October 30). DAVID MARCUS: California transplants in Texas are voting Democrat and they see no irony in it. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/david-marcus-california-transplants-texas-voting-democrat-see-no-irony

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Fox News · collected 2026-10-30 · by David Marcus analysis

Quick Summary

David Marcus reports from McKinney, Texas, where migrants from California are influencing local elections despite moving for lower costs and a less progressive environment. Voters like Oren and Daniel moved to avoid high taxes and big government but still support Democratic candidates who advocate for social services and policies such as public transit and transgender rights. This contrasts with long-time residents like Terry and Clint, who worry about the transformation of traditionally red states into more liberal ones due to in-migration patterns.
Written by AI on 2026-10-31, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

In McKinney, Texas, voters recently transplanted from California are tilting the political landscape towards Democrats despite moving for lower costs. On October 30, David Marcus reported in Fox News that these newcomers prioritize social services and public transit over cost savings, potentially influencing key elections like Senate and governor's races. One voter named Oren moved due to cheaper living but supports Democrats for additional social programs, even though this could lead to higher taxes and bigger government—contradicting his initial reason for leaving California. Another McKinney resident, Daniel, also prioritizes progressive policies despite moving for economic reasons. This trend suggests that transplants from California are voting against their stated motivations, which could reshape Texas’s traditionally conservative electoral map.

Written for “DAVID Marcus On Transplant Vote Behavior” on 2026-10-31, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans right (beta estimate) Confidence high 2 quote(s) discarded as not found in the article
Leaning: leans right for article 118699 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-10-31

Story

📰 DAVID Marcus On Transplant Vote Behavior
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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Nothing to compare against. No article is close enough to this one for the pipeline to have linked or judged the pair.
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
27
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
15%
4 of 27 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans right
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
69/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-31 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6056 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

David Marcus
13 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 On Election Day, it is these newcomers who may well tip the balance not just in the Senate and governor's races.
🔮 Mark declined to tell me who he was voting for, or even whether he would vote, but I suspect Talarico can count on him, especially given Mark’s less-than-favorable view of Republican Ken Paxton.
🔮 When asked what Republicans could do to get a foothold in the region, he said, "I don't really know, when the state's been Democratic [for so long]. ...
🔮 Philip, a lifelong Mainer in his 70s from Bangor, told me in an accent straight out of "Murder, She Wrote": "It would be stupid, in my opinion, not to vote for Susan, she's chairman of the appropriations committee, and she's brought a lot of money to the state," adding, "we've got new fire stations in every little town you can think of." The appreciation for Collins among ordinary Mainers represents the daunting uphill battle Democrat Troy Jackson faces in a race where polls give him a slight lead, but the word on the street has him dead in the water. Speaking of fire stations, I met Andy and Hank, both firefighters, at Seasons restaurant in Bangor.
🔮 So what will tip the balance?
🔮 For nearly a year now, the assumption from the chattering classes has been that the 2026 midterm election will be decided on the issue of affordability, but on the ground, in the mid-American states that will decide control of the senate, it is local issues that dominate, not the vague, overarching question of prices.
🔮 It breaks one’s heart to see the monumental architecture of past glory, as intricate in detail as it is overpowering in scale, brought low — often literally empty shells of a once mighty Midwestern city.
🔮 While Michigan Democratic Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed and Colorado’s House candidate Milot Kiros have snagged headlines for their far left views, Flanagan has been able to hide a bit. However, the tightening race in Minnesota, as shown both through on-the-ground reporting and in polling, is putting Democrats everywhere in an awkward position because they had thought Flanagan’s leftist lunacy would float under the radar this cycle.
🔮 His speech, about the future of the nation, could have been addressed directly to the town of St. Cloud, Minnesota, and its environs.
🔮 For Tafoya, as well as gubernatorial candidate Lisa Demuth and others down ballot for the GOP — not to mention their potential voters — the general attitude toward Trump is that while they support much of what he has done, they also represent what a post-Donald Trump Republican Party could look like.
Also by David Marcus
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 13 articles by David Marcus →

Topics

California Democrats Fox News Digital McKinney Texas

Subjects

Texas GPE · 11× California GPE · 6× Democrats NORP · 4× Oren PERSON · 4× Clint PERSON · 3× Daniel PERSON · 3× Fox News Digital ORG · 2× McKinney GPE · 2× Lone Star State GPE · 1× Senate ORG · 1×

Narrative

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.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-31
🔮 On Election Day, it is these newcomers who may well tip the balance not just in the Senate and governor's races.

Claims (27 extracted, 4 hedged)

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
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