Lawmakers in the Lone Star state have been trying recently, and for many years, to close the GOP primaries here in Texas. Texas is a red state and always will be. The GOP runs the show, and they draw the Lion's share of voters in the state. That though has not stopped Democrats from their pipe dream of turning the state blue.
The Democrats have pumped millions and millions of dollars into multiple losing efforts in Texas. Robert Francis O'Rourke, Collin Allred, all of them were once shining starts of the Democrat party who had their political careers annihilated at the hands of the Texas GOP machine. So, the Democrats have had to find other ways to yield some kind of influence.
Their method has been abusing the open primary system in Texas for years. That is, Democrat voters can cross the aisle, and vote for the candidate they see as weaker in a GOP primary. Thus, in their mind, giving them a better chance at wielding some shred of respect in the state. The GOP has expressed its frustrations with it, but not all of them. Texas Senator John Cornyn has been among one of the most vocal supporters for keeping the primaries open.
Cornyn, who lost his primary runoff race for Senate in May, said recently that closing the primaries in Texas would "narrow our base of support leading into general elections." All of it some kind of turncoat move to stick it to the Republican party that scorned him for being, for lack of a better phrase, entirely useless as a Republican.
Joe Chalfant of Townhall says Cornyn has fought against this every step of the way, mostly out of pure self-interest.
"The Republican Party of Texas had sued to move to have the primaries closed, Cornyn fought furiously against that," he says. "The reason why is because, it is pretty obvious to everyone, he needed Democrat support to stay electorally viable...and even with that, he was soundly defeated."
Attorney General Ken Paxton won convincingly over Cornyn, who has been in the Senate since 2002. That after Paxton received the endorsement of President Trump, which clearly upset Cornyn. Since then, Cornyn has been bashing President Trump and any Republican efforts to fix the country. He even held up the confirmation of Todd Blanche as U.S. Attorney General, all to cry over the DOJ's proposed anti-weaponization fund.
Cornyn can blame anyone he wants for losing in the primary. He can blame the mailman, the tooth fairy, whoever he wants, but the facts remain the same. Cornyn lost his seat because he has completely fallen out of touch with GOP voters.
"He is not representing the interests of Republicans in Texas...Republicans know that, and they wanted to see him gone," says Chalfant.
He adds that voters need to come out in force this November, especially since the GOP establishment has made it clear they do not support grassroots candidates that Americans truly want.
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