5 Progressive Takeaways from the Texas Republican Convention 2024

Toplines & Key Facts:

• Texas Republicans advance anti-American platform 
• Republicans are pushing for Texas to be a one party state, forever
• A call to action for all patriotic Texans

Republican Platform is a Warning Sign ⚠️

As the 2024 Texas Republican Convention has concluded, it's crucial to reflect on the key takeaways. While such gatherings are meant to energize party faithfuls and set agendas, they should also serve as warning signs for the direction of a party's priorities. In Texas, where political battles often shape national discourse, the Republican Party of Texas adopted a 50-page far right extremist platform highlighting several concerning issues that will negatively impact us all. Here are 5 key takeaways from the newly adopted platform. 

1. Erosion of Voting Rights 

One proposal in the Texas GOP Platform is aimed at limiting access to the ballot box by endorsing radical voting restrictions like eliminating mail-in ballots and requiring stricter ID rules, and restricting in-person voting to just three days prior to an election day. In the proposal, candidates vying for statewide office would have to win a majority of counties in the state, rather than a direct majority of voters, to win the position they’re seeking. In Texas, that means that the 90% of us who live in metropolitan counties would have our voting power drastically, drastically cut by conflating the number of counties with the number of people living in them. So long “one person, one vote.” Scared of Texas’s battleground state status, this anti-American policy would cement Republican rule perpetually.

2. Denying LGBTQ+ Rights

The Texas GOP platform refers to homosexuality as "an abnormal lifestyle choice" and opposes any government efforts to grant rights or recognize the marriages of same-sex couples. This bigoted view denies the equal protection under the law guaranteed to all Americans in the 14th Amendment. 

3. Undermining Public Education

Another troubling aspect of the Texas Republican Convention was the continued assault on public education. Proposals discussed at the convention sought to divert funds away from public schools, instead funneling them towards private and charter schools. This push for privatization threatens to exacerbate educational disparities and undermine the accessibility of quality education for all Texans.

4. Climate Change Denial

Despite all evidence of the existential threat posed by climate change, the Texas Republican Convention featured a dismissal of environmental concern. Denial of climate science and advocacy for deregulation of environmental protections were prevalent themes, placing short-term profits over the long-term health of the planet. They ignore, at our peril, that there is no Planet B.

5. Embrace of Extremism and Authoritarianism

What Texas abortion rights advocates have warned of, for more than a decade, is that overturning Roe was just the beginning. The death penalty for abortion patients was proposed in the platform, equating abortion to homicide. Keep in mind that murder charges have no statute of limitations, so this could impact women who had their abortions even decades ago. Most concerning to Texas progressives should be the embrace of authoritarian tactics and rhetoric. Calls for increased executive power and attacks on the judiciary signal a dangerous departure from democratic norms, threatening the checks and balances essential to a functioning democracy. This would essentially turn Texas into a one party state with intentions of keeping Texas a red state for decades.

Call To Action

The Republican Party of Texas is inflicting severe harm through their regressive agenda that undermines our core values and democratic principles. We as Texans and Americans are wholeheartedly committed to defending democracy and counteracting the damage done by Republicans at every turn. This November, your vote carries monumental importance—make your voice heard at the ballot box to uphold democracy.