A writer born and raised in Texas says recent election results have renewed her affection for the state, after years in which she felt increasingly distant from it. She points to the victories of James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa as signs of a political shift and a Texas she had long hoped to see.
The writer describes growing up in Dallas and holding liberal views from an early age, while continuing to LOVE Republican friends and relatives despite their political differences. Over time, she began to notice some of those people expressing unease with President Donald Trump’s remarks and, after the fall of Roe, supporting women’s health organizations.
Other moments also suggested changing attitudes, she writes: campaign signs for Talarico in the conservative Dallas neighborhood where she grew up, volunteers registering voters in Austin, and public boos for Ken Paxton and Greg Abbott. She also notes that the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders voted to unionize.
The election results have made her feel that the warmth she remembers from childhood could be part of Texas’s future. She describes the outcome as either a vote for a “New Texas” or a recognition of a more welcoming Texas that had been there all along.
Sources: Vogue.