A D&S Special Report

Rep. Joe Moody

No-Vote Texas: The Roots of Voter Apathy in the Second Most Populous U.S. State

Bernie Sanders supporters fill the Abraham Chavez Theater in El Paso last February, seven weeks before the candidate suspended his campaign. Now Texas Democrats worry whether the party can recreate “that energy and enthusiasm” moving into the November elections. (Photo by Joe Moody)

By Jose Nieves Herrera and Catherine Chojnowski

One Saturday afternoon in February, Texas State Representative Joe Moody sat in the Abraham Chavez Theater in downtown El Paso surrounded by thousands of people, many of them young Latinos who were awaiting the arrival of Bernie Sanders. The theater was at full capacity. The energy and passion were palpable, recalls Moody.

The scene inside the theater appeared to defy a long history of voter apathy in Texas. “The saying you hear a lot is Texas isn’t a red state, Texas is a non-voting state,” said Moody, who represents Texas House District 78 in El Paso.

State Representative Joe Moody and his son attend the Bernie Sanders rally in El Paso in February. (Photo by Lyda Ness-Garcia)

However, that was seven weeks before Sanders suspended his campaign. Now Moody worries whether the Democrats will be able to recreate “that energy and enthusiasm” moving into the November elections.

Texas is the second most populous state in the United States. And, although the U.S. recorded the highest voter turnout in more than a century during the 2018 midterm elections, Texas had the third lowest voter turnout that year.

The stakes this coming November are exceptionally high. Texas has become a battleground for Democrats, even as the Covid-19 outbreak will likely hinder voter turnout in the midst of one of the most consequential presidential elections in modern American history. The coronavirus has upended retail politics, which means that campaigns must  establish a digital presence in order to engage voters and fundraise if they have any chance to succeed.

And it is not just the presidential election that is at stake. Texas Democrats are aiming to flip the state house, which has been in GOP control since 2003.

A  range of forces have converged to make Texas a low-vote state. In a state with a rich history of political corruption, Texans harbor a general mistrust in government. Other contributing factors include, gerrymandering, voter suppression and lack of civics education.

Latino voters, particularly young Latinos, are vital to the Democratic Party’s efforts to flip Texas blue in November. As voter registrations in Texas trend upward, voter turnout remains low. In Moody’s district, which encompasses part of El Paso, around 13,000 voters participated in the last primary election, out of 470,000 registered voters in the county.

“Our voter turnout is really poor,” said Moody. “And I think if you ask most people on my side of the aisle that is by design.” Over 70 percent of the voting age population is registered to vote in Texas, yet registered voters continually fail to show up at the polls.

On Super Tuesday, voters experienced long waiting lines to vote in the Democratic primary. A report by the Leadership Conference Education Fund found that Texas had the most polling- place closures in the country. Texas closed 750 polling places since 2012, and Dallas, Travis and Harris County were at the top of the list.

The majority of El Pasoans are low-income and work hourly jobs, making travel to polling sites difficult. Many communities around El Paso are rural as well, requiring residents to travel long distances to cast their votes. For those reliant on public transportation, trips to polling sites can be quite costly.

Texas State Representative Mary González represents Texas House District 75 in El Paso, which is overwhelmingly Latino. González said people of color and marginalized communities not voting is arguably intentional.

Texas State Representative Mary González says the lack of online and same-day voter registration discourages Texans from voting. (Photo courtesy of Mary González)

“There is no reason why in Texas we shouldn’t allow online voter registration,” she said. “There’s no reason in Texas why we shouldn’t allow for same-day voter registration, There’s all these arbitrary rules and the only reason they exist is to make it harder to vote, but specifically harder to vote for people who are marginalized and who have intentionally been discouraged not to participate in democracy.”

In González’s district, which encompasses over 125,000 people over the age of 18, only around 10,000 voters participated in the last primary election .

The Voting Rights Act of 1965 eliminated obstacles, such as poll taxes and literacy tests, that made it nearly impossible for marginalized communities to vote. Under Section 5 of the Act, Texas was among several states that required pre-clearance before changing voting laws and procedures – including changes to district lines.

In recent years, gerrymandering has become easier to execute due to recent U.S. Supreme Court rulings that effectively nullified the Voting Rights Act

In 2013, in Shelby v. Holder, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the formula used to determine which states must obtain pre-clearance to change voting laws and procedures was outdated, and hence unconstitutional. The House of Representatives tried, in 2019, to pass an updated version of the law, the Voting Rights Advancement Act, but it never got a vote in the Senate.

The law does still permit federal court petitions for pre-clearance before changing voting laws and procedures if plaintiffs can prove discriminatory intent. However, in 2018, in another gerrymandering case – Abbott v. Perez – the Supreme Court reversed a lower court finding that the Texas legislature had intentionally discriminated against Latino and African-American voters. The court noted that under representing a particular racial or ethnic group does not, by itself, prove discriminatory intent—thus, raising the bar for pre-clearance petitions.

Partisan gerrymandering is more common in Texas, “because Texas is diversifying,” said González. Since many Latinos tend to vote Democratic, she added: ”There is a fear of Republicans losing the majority and so there’s a lot of effort to maintain that.”

With its population growing rapidly, Texas is projected to gain at least two seats in the House of Representatives after the decennial census. If Democrats fail to flip the legislature, a GOP-controlled legislature will retain the power to draw legislative maps favoring them.

Corruption also has hindered trust in government–in El Paso and throughout the state. Mary González’s unlikely victory in 2012 owed much to the arrest of her opponent, former County Commissioner Guillermo Gandara Jr. on charges of drug smuggling and money laundering; he pleaded guilty. “If the elected officials are doing shady stuff, then people lose faith in the governmental process and the officials,” said González.

The Covid-19 pandemic poses new obstacles that could further depress voting, especially if voters fear getting sick. Vote-by-mail is seen as crucial for getting out the vote among eligible Democrats—especially low-income Latinos.

Currently, the disabled, seniors, and voters absent from their county during the period of early voting and election day are permitted to vote by mail. Texas Democrats have brought litigation forward to expand vote-by-mail—though that effort is unlikely to succeed before November’s election. Meanwhile, campaigns are doubling down on efforts to make sure individuals who are eligible to vote by mail are applying to do so.

Election results and voter registration data collected from Texas Secretary of State archives. (Graphic by Jose Nieves Herrera)

Increasing turnout among young people is another challenge—one that is being taken on by the El Paso Young Democrats, a local chapter of the Texas Young Democrats and one of the largest partisan youth organizations in the country. The group is working to educate and engage young El Pasoans in the political process to overcome an often-common sense of defeat that follows when a candidate they are enthusiastic about loses an election.

Many young El Pasoans were devastated by Bernie Sanders’s withdrawal from the presidential race. What worries J.J. Martinez, President of El Paso Young Democrats, more than turnout “is Biden’s ability to appeal to the Sanders supporters in Texas.”

Beto O’Rourke’s failure to unseat Republican incumbent Ted Cruz in his 2018 Senate bid was another major blow, said Martinez. O’Rourke, a former U.S. congressman from El Paso, won nearly 74 percent of the vote in El Paso.

Members of the Young Democrats of El Paso canvas for Elisa Tamayo, a candidate for state representative for District 96. (Photo courtesy of Young Democrats of El Paso)

During the Senate race, El Paso’s voter turnout nearly doubled between the 2014 and 2018 midterm elections to 45 percent in 2018. O’Rourke generated great enthusiasm among Black and Latino youth.

The lack of adequate civics education also contributes to voter apathy. “In Texas specifically, we start teaching people about government and politics too late,” said Martinez. “The public education system doesn’t seem to have an interest in educating young people earlier about politics and government.”

While Texas high school seniors are required to take a course on government in order to graduate, Martinez explained that these courses tend to only offer a very broad picture of how the U.S. government functions. Unless the course falls on an election year, students are unlikely to learn how to register to vote, or about candidates and their policies.

Carmen Crosse, Assistant Superintendent of Secondary Education from the Socorro Independent School District, counters that school principals in her district continuously work to engage young, future-voters in political matters and encourage them to participate in the electoral process by holding voting drives at several of their campuses.

“We do that at the beginning of registration time, we do that in our government and economics classes to make sure that all of our seniors, especially our upcoming 18 years olds are informed as to what they need to do in order to register to vote and what is their responsibility,” she said.

In light of the Covid-19 outbreak, the various issues that hinder voter turnout are likely to be exacerbated. While El Paso has lifted the “stay at home” order to comply with Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s initiative to begin reopening the state of Texas, health concerns are still looming and are expected to discourage voter participation.

“The fewer people you have engaged in their government, the easier it is to maintain the status quo,” said Representative Moody. “It is our job to inform and educate people and engage people on why these things matter to them and their daily lives … [and to] make sure those families understand that getting engaged in this process can play a role in changing the dynamic in our communities.”

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The Making of a Crossover Politician: In A Rural Border District, State Representative Mary González Straddles the Partisan Divide

Despite her liberal-Democrat pedigree, Representative Mary González has developed bipartisan credibility in the Texas State House—a necessary trait in an overwhelmingly Latino, but socially conservative, district. (Photo courtesy of Mary González)

By Catherine Chojnowski and Jose Nieves Herrera

In 2013, Mary González, a freshman state representative, stood on the Texas House floor to give her first opposition speech. She was arguing against a bill that would weaken standards for colonias, unincorporated mostly rural communities that lack vital infrastructure, such as sewage systems and roads.

As she began her speech, a prominent Republican leader walked up behind her and held two fingers up in the air, signaling to other legislators that they should follow González’s lead and vote against the bill.

Winning the support of that Republican, Byron Cook, the former Republican Texas House State Affairs Committee Chairman, was key to defeating the colonias bill. It was also a sign that González, despite her liberal-Democrat pedigree, had developed bi-partisan credibility—a necessary trait in an overwhelmingly Latino, but socially conservative, district and one increasingly rare both in Texas and nationally. Representing a district that is neither completely Democratic nor Republican, Gonzalez has won support across ideological and party lines.

Texas State District 75 encompasses east El Paso County, and the towns of San Elizario, Socorro, Clint, Fabens and Tornillo. It includes six school districts and over 260 colonias.

González is an unlikely candidate for cross-partisan appeal: she is relatively young, 37, single, outspoken and openly a member of the LGBTQ community. Upon first being elected, she explains that she faced a certain degree of backlash from the community.

Initially, she said: “Nobody wanted to be my friend.”

González’s championing of agricultural issues and public education, however, helped her gain the support of her colleagues early on.

“She looks for ways to bridge divides, and she promotes policies that create conversations rather than push people into familiar camps,” said Representative Joe Moody, a colleague in the Texas State House.

González’s relationship with Byron Cook who would become her mentor also helped solidify her bipartisan credentials. One day, Cook told Gonzalez she was the same age as his daughter. “He said on this House floor, you are my daughter,” González recalled.

The two were an odd duo: “He’s this tall, skinny, older conservative Republican, and I’m this short, little, Mexican, fluffy Latina,” said González.

As a legislator, González strong support for public education, a key issue for both parties, also has won her bipartisan support. She authored House Bill 89, which mandated that school districts with high drop-out rates allocate part of their school funding “for developing and implementing research-based strategies for drop-out prevention.” Another bill authored by González,  created measures for assisting homeless and former foster-care students enrolled in public colleges and universities.

“I feel since I’m a rural Democrat, I’ve had a lot of opportunities to connect with some rural Republicans because we still have the same issues,” she said.

González, who lives in Clint, a rural town outside El Paso, has championed agricultural issues, including a bill mandating animal-tracking to identify the source of disease outbreaks among livestock, that have won her bipartisan support. (Photo courtesy of Mary González)

Currently serving her fourth term in the State House, she is a member of the appropriations and public education committees, and has served as vice chair of the Local and Consent Calendars Committee since 2019. This year, she also was appointed to the Legislative Budget Board, one of the most powerful boards in the state.

González, who once taught at the University of Texas at Austin and served as Assistant Dean for Student Multicultural Affairs at Southwestern University—she has a doctorate in Cultural Studies in Education—said her academic background helped her bring “different tools” to her job as a legislator.

González lives in Clint, a rural town just outside El Paso, where she grew up, and raises goats. In the legislature, she also has taken a leadership role on agriculture issues. For example, she co-authored a bill that enforced a strategic plan by the Department of Agriculture to prevent crop diseases and pests in the state, and has supported a bill that would mandate animal-tracking to prevent and identify the source of disease outbreaks among livestock. She also championed policies important to the dairy and pecan industries “because they would open up economic opportunities for her district,” said Moody.

“I end up creating these really interesting alliances with rural Republicans because of the work that I’m doing in agriculture,” she said. “When they need something in agriculture, they come to me to help them explain it to the Democrats.”

Despite her bi-partisan support, her gay identity has caused some tension among her constituents, on occasion, and she said that if her opponents had brought her gay identity to light during her initial election, she would have most likely lost. She compared the ongoing support of her constituents, despite ideological divisions, to her relationship with her father, who is a conservative Republican.

Border politics, however, is where González’s bi-partisanship ends; she strongly opposes Republican wall building. Although most of Gonzalez’s constituents identify as conservative, 90.6 percent are also Hispanic. Yet, many constituents know someone, or are related to someone, who works for the border police—a well-paying occupation in her district. When addressing issues relating to the border, González tries to maintain an objective tone; she said she tries to identify the “root of the problem,” while also trying to “highlight its complexity.”

A champion of public education, González regularly speaks to school children about the importance of voting. She says voter apathy is due to years of voter suppression. (Photo courtesy of Mary González)

One problem that continues to confound González is low voter participation. Out of the nearly 200,000 constituents in her district, only around 10,000 participated in the last primary election. Gonzalez ran unopposed in her district’s 2020 Democratic primary, and has run unchallenged by a Republican in the general election since first winning office.

González blames the lack of political interest to years of voter suppression that has “done so much over generations to tell people not to vote, not to care, not to know,” and a lack of cultural consciousness by those trying to engage potential voters with donations. In an attempt to engage the youth in political issues, she holds assemblies in schools throughout her district, reminding future voters that their participation can make a difference.

“I’ve been working very hard over the last decade to show that democracy is vital to the ways that we live and that there are good elected officials in the world,” González said.