According to an article published in the Houston Chronicle, Texas is only the 18th most conservative state.  You could have fooled Red, since Republicans have had a lock hold on state-wide elective office for over 20 years or ever since George W. Bush’s election as Governor.

Despite Texas’ reputation as a Republican bulwark and a stronghold for conservatism, the state’s electorate doesn’t lean as hard to the right you’d think. Not by a long shot. Data from Gallup Daily tracking interviews in 2014 – which interviewed more than 177,000 U.S. adults – showed that Wyoming and Utah are the top two most Republican states again. Wyoming (Republican advantage: 35.5 percent) and Utah (33.1 percent) have topped the list every year since 2008.

The 10 most Republican states all hold advantages over the Democratic Party by more than 10 percent. But Texas is not among these “solid Republican” states nor the “leaning Republican” states (states where the party gap is between 5 and 10 percent). Instead Texas is among the 18 competitive states, with Republicans holding a 3.9 percent advantage over Democrats.

That small percent still means a more than 1 million voter-advantage for Texas’ Republicans. Still, with the state’s changing demographics, analysts expect that gap to dwindle even further. However it could be at least a decade before Texas realistically has a shot of becoming a purple state. 

Red aint holding his breath.