Watch this space: Split over Trump could cost GOP its dominance over Texas | Opinion

Prominent Republicans declaring their opposition to Donald Trump isn’t exactly new.

It was nonetheless noteworthy when former Rep. Liz Cheney campaigned recently with Democrat Kamala Harris — and, at the local level, when former Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley declared he, too, would back the California Democrat. Both also dipped into Texas’ competitive Senate race, endorsing Democrat Colin Allred over incumbent Republican Ted Cruz.

It’s one thing to step away from Trump and his controversies. It’s another to go all the way to voting for Harris and encouraging others to do the same. It demonstrates the effects of ongoing political realignment and a pitfall for Texas Republicans, who risk shrinking the big tent that has helped them dominate the state for nearly 30 years.

Whitley, a Hurst Republican who served more than two decades on the Commissioners Court, cited the Jan. 6 Capitol attack as the ultimate turning point, along with the war in Ukraine.

“A lot of Republicans are going to go into that booth and say, ‘I can’t support the insurrection. I’m a Texan, I’m an American, before I’m a Republican or a Democrat,’ ” he told WFAA-TV’s “Inside Texas Politics.”

Whitley has also indicated he’ll probably vote for Democrat Patrick Moses for Tarrant County sheriff. That’s a rejection of Republican Bill Waybourn, whom Whitley backed on issues such as jail staff performing immigration-status checks.

Whitley told the Editorial Board that he’s concerned Waybourn isn’t paying enough attention to the jail amid a spate of inmate deaths. Whitley argued that most were not out of the ordinary and blamed the state for not providing enough mental-health treatment. But Waybourn, he said, hasn’t done enough to remove problematic staffers.

“Sometimes the sheriff doesn’t focus as much on the jail, and that should be his top priority,” the former judge said.

Some local Republicans responded just as Whitley predicted: declaring that he had never been much of a conservative fighter. It’s true that he represents the business-oriented faction that rose to power in the GOP more than the culture-warrior side, but when a 30-year officeholder feels compelled to cross over, it’s worth examining why.

Some of it is the ongoing splinter over Trump. The vast majority of the party, especially in Texas, embraces the fact that the GOP is now made in the former president’s image. What happens once he’s off the scene, or at least no longer the party’s presidential candidate? Would a Cheney or a Whitley come back to the fold, and would they be welcome?

“As long as Trump is around, it’s not going to get any better,” he said.

For now, Whitley lamented, the hard-core right has taken over the party.

“We’re so focused on parties, we’re not focused on issues and problems that we need to be solving,” he said.

Whitley said the solution may be to change primary voting so that the top-two finishers advance to the general election, regardless of party. California and Louisiana, two states that share little politically in common, use such systems.

And then, there’s the conspiracy theory problem. Hurricanes Helene and Milton have brought out the worst of the paranoid faction of the GOP, from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s assertion that someone was controlling the weather to less fantastic, but still unproven, assertions that the Biden administration was deliberately slow-walking aid to Republican-voting areas.

Distrust of government is natural, even healthy. But disaster relief is difficult, and ascribing problems to deliberate malfeasance when the more likely explanation is incompetence or overwhelmed resources only adds to the pain and havoc. Republicans like Whitley have long believed in effective but cost-controlled government services. Their party now wants to both weaponize government toward its aims and yet still dismantle what little trust remains in it.

Democrats have versions of these problems, too. Most now are quiet about any reservations on Harris or Allred — they’d rather win first and ask questions later. But progressives may come to challenge their moderation.

Besides, Democrats don’t run anything in Texas. The state of the GOP simply matters more when it comes to governing results.

Texas Republicans have focused in recent years on purity fights. After 30 years of winning, they act like they will never lose. This year, they probably won’t. But shrinking the party by spurning stalwarts like Whitley will catch up, perhaps soon.

Put it this way: Whitley’s endorsements probably won’t mean much for Allred or Moses in uphill races. But they should mean something to the Republican Party.

This story was originally published October 11, 2024 at 5:18 AM.