Ex-party chair tells Texas Republicans: Unite or expect Senator Talarico | Opinion

Steve Munisteri of Austin remembers back when young Texans were Republicans.

Now, he’s a senior adviser with a warning:

Republicans can lose.

The party’s former state chairman brought a sobering message to two Fort Worth-area Republican clubs last week: Texas Democrats can elect James Talarico to the U.S. Senate and maybe win more races if Republicans keep bashing each other after the May 29 runoff.

In a week when the party’s deep divide was garishly displayed in Texas — for example, state Rep. Jared Patterson of Frisco wrote on X.com that current state party Chairman Abraham George represents the “low-IQ base” after the state party tried to ban some incumbents from the ballot — Munisteri put it bluntly:

• “The Democrats are united now. Believe me, nothing unites a losing party more than the hope that they might not be the losing party.”

• “In 30 of the races [nationally since January 2025] in which a party has flipped a seat from one party to the other, our party is 0-30.”

• “Is the best way to [win] to be mean to your other Republicans? ... You need their votes. We need everybody’s votes.”

• “Does anybody this think this state has become more Republican with our population going up about 400,000 [people] a year?”

Munisteri advises Gov. Greg Abbott and has worked for U.S. Sen. John Cornyn. He served in the White House from 2017 to 2019 as a deputy assistant during President Donald Trump’s first administration.

He comes from the libertarian-minded wing of the party and has also advised U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, a Texan.

But his primary role is promoting party unity, supporting Republican officials and using analytics to persuade new voters and demographic groups to vote Republican.

It’s been a rough last few years for Republicans who want a bigger, more broad-based party.

In 2024, more Republican voters in Texas were older than 80 than were under 30.

The party has lost ground with women and minority groups, despite early South Texas support for Trump.

Some Texas Republicans seem intent on driving away centrists and making the party smaller and more pure.

It’s like a small-town church that preaches fire and brimstone against the moderate churchgoers across town.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, leader of two Trump state campaigns, has warned Texans that they are not Good Republicans if they don’t rally behind either Cornyn or Attorney General Ken Paxton after their May 29 runoff.

Munisteri’s message in Fort Worth was that Texas Republicans can no longer afford to bicker at all, or drive voters away.

As proof, he offered an example close to home: the 1961 Texas Democrats.

Back when moderate and conservative Democrats ran Texas, before fiscal and social conservatives switched to the Republicans, Democrats fought among themselves to fill a U.S. Senate vacancy when Lyndon Johnson was elected vice president.

A total of 71 candidates ran in a May 1961 special election, including moderate Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Wright of Fort Worth.

Democrats divided among conservative, moderate and liberal candidates. Republicans mostly voted for Wichita Falls college assistant professor Republican John Tower, running as an independent-minded candidate promoting the need for a two-party state.

In his runoff against conservative Dallas Democrat “Dollar Bill” Blakley, almost half the Democratic voters stayed home.

Tower won with 51% of the vote.

That was the springboard for Republicans such as future President George H.W. Bush to lead the party takeover in Texas.

“Had [Texas Democrats] been united, there never would have been a Senator Tower,” Munisteri warned the Cowtown Republican Women meeting at River Crest Country Club, comparing Tower to Talarico.

Democrats lost, he said, because they were divided: “They were fighting among each other.”

Democrats never won the seat back.

Tower was succeeded by U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm and by Cornyn.

“When you have a United States senator, you have a huge impact on the appointment process,” Munisteri said.

“You can then raise money. People want to see you. But most importantly, you give your party hope.”

Republican infighting is already giving Democrats hope.

This story was originally published May 7, 2026 at 10:59 AM.