Texas could go from red to blue in this year's election for governor

Screenshot from Twitter

Historically, Texas has actually been a blue state rather than red. It was only until former Governor William P. Clements won as a Republican in 1971 with a brief stint of Democratic power for four years with Governor Dorothy Ann Williams Richards holding the seat from 1991 to 1995.

After that, the seat in Austin, Texas was predominantly run by Republicans from Governor George W. Bush from 1995 to 2000 and then Rick Perry held the top office from 2000 to 2015. Now current Governor Greg Abbott is fighting against challenger Beto O’Rourke for this year's election for governor on November 8, 2022.

So will Texas return back to blue in the 2022 election?

Governor Abbott held a strong lead but the recent Uvalde shooting could turn voter’s against him. Uvalde’s state senator, Roland Gutierrez, asked the governor to call a special session on gun violence.

This was not the first incident on the governor’s watch as there were seven other shootings during his time in office.

These were the other Texas shootings provided by the Texas Tribune:

- 2009 Fort Hood shooting

- 2014 Second Fort Hood shooting

- 2016 Dallas police shooting

- 2017 Sutherland Springs church shooting

- 2018 Santa Fe High School shooting

- 2019 El Paso Walmart shooting

- 2019 Midland Odessa shooting

- 2022 Uvalde school shooting

A University of Texas poll shows citizens are divided on gun control with 40-50% wanting stricter gun laws. Over the past 13 years, the majority of laws passed by the Republican-controlled Legislature actually expanded gun control. This includes open carry and who can have firearms on school property.

So now, challenger Beto O’Rourke who is behind Governor Abbott in election polls is using the recent Texas incident as a way to improve his standings as he wants stricter gun control.

With a little over four months before the election, O’Rourke is close to turning Texas blue once again. Abbott’s reign as a Republican governor could come to an end.

U.S. Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York visited Texas earlier this year and said Texas will turn Blue one day.

We flip the country...Texas turning blue is inevitable. The only question is when.

Could her statement become true in 2022?

What are your thoughts - will Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke beat Republican Governor Greg Abbott and turn Texas Blue again?