The 31st Congressional District of Texas in Bell County has been a Republican stronghold since this century. Incumbent John Carter (R) has served consecutively beginning 2003 and is currently running for re-election. Texas’s 31st congressional district is an excellent example of political and demographic change over the past 25 years. With more than 900,000, this district has changed hands four times since George Bush became President. The 31st Congressional District was redistricted in 2003 after control of the state legislature shifted to Republicans. Citizens are very involved and take great pride in their community, whether through public service or participation in numerous local organizations or events. Consequently, the political climate in the community is friendly to incumbents and candidates endorsed by the local party leadership.
Texas is by far the most Republican state in the US when it comes to political allegiance. A majority in the Texas Senate, the Texas House of Representatives, and the Texas State Board of Education have all been handed over to Republicans by their voters. Republicans now control 107 counties in Texas, home to two-thirds of the state’s residents. The 43rd President of the United States, George W. Bush, is a native of Texas and served from 2001 to 2009. It’s important to know the history and demographics of Texas in order to understand how the Republican Party of Texas got to where it is now.
In contrast to the other thirteen colonies, Texas was never a British colony. Although several countries attempted to subdue Texas at various times, none could hold rule over the state’s fiercely independent men and women for an extended period (Calvert et al.,2020). With foreign armies regularly invading and the everyday challenges of living in the Wild West, Texas evolved an independent spirit, a sense of self-reliance, and an unequaled work ethic out of necessity. Texas would not have lasted without such traits. Republicans have ruled Texas elections since 1991. The United States does not elect its leaders by public vote; instead, they rely on the Electoral College. Texas last voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in 1976, when Jimmy Carter won his one-term presidency.
Both congressional and presidential elections in the 31st Congressional District of Texas and Texas State have been predominantly Republican for the last 25 years. Since Bill Clinton’s win over George Bush in 1992, there have only been two occasions where the Democratic nominee has won either the state or district. In addition, since 1966, the community has only voted for a Democratic presidential nominee twice. The district has been represented by a Republican congressman since 1966, except for two years between 1993 and 1995 when Democrat Charlie Stenholm represented it. In the last election, incumbent Republican representative Roger Williams won re-election significantly. The significant issues in this election were national security and immigration, which Williams emphasized during his campaign. Williams has also endorsed Williams on Twitter, which was an essential factor in his re-election campaign (Soukup & Holloway,2021).
In contrast to the 2016 election, where Williams won re-election with a large majority, the 2018 midterms are predicted to be much closer than previous elections due to antipathy towards President Trump and dissatisfaction with Republican government policies. Similarly, the state of Texas has largely elected Republican senators and presidents over the past two and a half decades. Since 1994, Democrats have not won a statewide election, while Republicans have won all presidential elections since 1976.
Texas has a Republican trifecta as well as a Republican triplex, according to the Associated Press. The Republican Party has sway over the governor’s office, the secretary of state’s office, the attorney general’s office, and both houses of the state legislature. Texas has been a Republican state in recent national and gubernatorial elections, with Republicans holding all but one state-wide office, both U.S. Senate seats, and controlling both chambers of the legislature since 2002 (Brown et al.,2021). The massive influence f Republicans in Texas is significant considering that in the 2020 census, Texas recorded over 29 million people living in Texas, making it the most populous state, with a population nearly as large as that of California and Florida combined. Texas has voted mostly Republican in recent years, with the condition generally trending conservative. This can also be seen in the governor’s office, as the first Democratic governor since 1991 took office in 2015(Brown et al.,2021). To explain this trend, it is essential to understand which issues voters prioritize and to whom they relate on these issues.
Regarding social issues such as gun control and abortion, voters tend to gravitate toward conservative candidates because of their pro-life, pro-gun stances. On economic issues like taxes and spending, voters often feel they pay too much in taxes. At the same time, the government wastes money on “nonessential” programs like food stamps or welfare benefits for unemployed people. This combination results in a preference for low taxes but limited government regulation/interference when possible (e.g., limited healthcare coverage).
Even though pollsters and experts predicted that Trump would lose Texas to Biden because of the state’s changing demographics, Trump won the state with 52.1% of the vote, the same percentage he won within 2016. While Hillary Clinton won the state in 2016, Joe Biden increased his 2016 vote share by 3.24 percent, making him the first Democrat to win since Jimmy Carter did it in 1976. There has not been a Republican with a 5.58-point margin since 1996. As a result of this year’s election, Texas landed in the top 10 closest states for the first time since 1968 and voted to Ohio’s left for the first time since 1976. Citation is required. However, Trump surpassed his polls in this state, as he did in most others in 2020. Since 1992, when George H. W. Bush and Ross Perot were on the ballot, the state’s voter participation has risen to its most significant level.
Similarly, the major political party trends in the elections of Senators in Texas have been Republican domination since 1994. Despite that, research findings indicate that several seats are at risk. Political analysts see the state gradually shifting towards Democrats as a result of demographic changes and also an effort to mobilize new voters.
My Representatives
John Carter (Republican Party) represents Texas’s 31st Congressional District in the House of Representatives. Born in Houston, Carter has spent much of his life in central Texas, where he was raised. The University of Texas School of Law awarded him a J.D. in 1969 after completing his law degree in 1964 after he graduated with a history degree from Texas Tech University. After graduating from law school, Carter worked as the first general counsel for the Texas House of Representatives’ Agriculture Committee. He established a private legal firm in Round Rock after that. Williamson County’s 277th District Court appointed Carter as its judge in 1981. For the first time in the county, a Republican elected to a local office was elected to the post (Brown et al.,2021). On January 3, 2003, he was sworn in as the next president. He will be out of office when his current term expires in 2023. To represent Texas’ 31st Congressional District, Carter (Republican Party) is re-elected. On November 8, 2022, he will be on the ballot in the general election. On March 1, 2022, he won the Republican primary. The House Appropriations Committee has included Carter since 2004. During the 115th Congress, he was the chairman of the Appropriations Subcommittee on Military Construction and Veterans Affairs. Carter is also a co-chairman of the House Army Caucus, which brings together members of both parties in Congress. According to Carter’s website, identity theft was made simpler to establish and prosecute when President Bush approved Carter’s identity theft law in July 2004, which “defines and imposes penalties for aggravated identity theft.” Carter worked as a district court judge in Williamson County, Texas, for more than two decades and a private practice attorney before entering politics. It’s reasonable to say that Carter is one of the most dependable Republican votes in Congress, as determined by various outside rankings.
Ted Cruz and John Cornyn are the state’s two senators. Texas Senator John Cornyn (Republican) stood for re-election to the United States Senate in 2020 and won on November 3, 2020. Corny began his career as a real estate agent before attending St. Mary’s University in 1977 to acquire a law degree. After that, he went into private practice in San Antonio, where he defended doctors and lawyers accused of negligence. After marrying Sandy Hansen in 1979, he and his wife went on to have two children. The University of Virginia awarded Cornyn a Master of Laws degree in 1995.
As Bexar County’s district judge, Cornyn held the position until he was elected to the Texas Supreme Court in 1990. In 1996, he was re-elected, but he resigned from his post to run for state attorney general the following year. In 1999, he was elected and entered office. The U.S. Supreme Court twice heard arguments from Cornyn before he retired in 2002. He ran for the seat left by Phil Gramm in the U.S. Senate that year. Following the resignation of Gramm in December 2002, Cornyn was elected with nearly 55% of the vote. The following year, he became a member of the Republican Party Senate’s deputy minority whip team and ascended the ranks to become minority whip in 2012. He became majority whip three years later. Since being elected to the Senate in 2006, Cornyn has solidified his conservative credentials while being more associated with the Republican establishment than the Tea Party. Defense, veterans’ affairs, and immigration were all important to him. A proponent of transparent government, he championed the OPEN Government Act (2007). This program changed the Freedom of Information Act to guarantee that petitioned government agencies took action more promptly than before allowed. A part of his proposal was to prevent Congress from passing legislation without a corresponding tax transparency declaration.
A Juris Doctorate from Harvard followed his undergraduate degree from Princeton. On the other side, Ted Cruz received both degrees from Harvard. Before entering private practice, Ted clerked for Chief Justice Rehnquist at the Supreme Court. When George W. Bush ran for president in 1999, Ted was one of his advisers on domestic policy. Ted’s most memorable encounter on the Bush-Cheney campaign was with Heidi Nelson, another policy team member. After the campaign, Heidi and Ted were married. Ted has been a tireless advocate for fiscal responsibility, economic development, and national security (Brown et al.,2021). Many of his proposals have been passed into law, including extending 529 college savings accounts, abolishing Obamacare’s mandate and placing penalties on terrorists who use civilian victims as human shields, identifying North Korea as an official state sponsor of terrorism, and attacking Putin’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline via various bills that hindered development and delayed it from being completed. He has sponsored scores of legislative measures that have been signed into law.
On the Senate floor in Texas, he’s leading efforts to support the state’s economy and rein in Big Tech, mitigate immigration, and fundamentally reassess the relationship with China. He’s also leading efforts to hold China accountable for covering up the coronavirus pandemic and for human rights atrocities committed by the Chinese Communist Party.
Legislative proposals
Ted Cruz’s The Combating Racist Training in the Military Act of 2021 ensures that no taxpayer dollars are used for the training of U.S. military personnel in “critical race theory” and “white privilege,” which, according to U.S. Senator Ted Cruz, have no place in the U.S. armed forces. The bill is ideal since it supports what God says in John 13:34-35, which states, “A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” Ted, who has sponsored countless positively transformative bills, is often proud to site his role in the legislative adapting of this bill.
Similarly, John Carter’s H.R.1225 – Restore Our Parks and Public Lands Act sponsored in the 116th Congress encapsulates Ted Cruz’s campaign promises to support the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Federal Land Transaction Facilitation Act that establishes more state parks, national monuments, and heritage sites and support education programs in our public schools. Specifically, the bill addresses the backlog of maintenance projects of the National Park Service, which includes $200 million to address the Park Service’s priority projects,$150 million for necessary maintenance of National Park Service and Forest Service roads and trails, $90 million for essential maintenance and construction of facilities in national parks already open to the public. It allows for a maximum of $300 million for deferred maintenance at Bureau of Indian Education schools. This legislation is significant because I know how much Americans enjoy our National park stewardship. It equally promotes stewardship of God’s creation, as evident in Genesis 2:15 ‘The Lord God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.’
Interest Group Ratings
Congressman john carter has a long history of delivering results and is a conservative leader in Conservative policy. The American Conservative Union, which rates Members of the Senate and House based on conservative votes, ranks Congressman Carter at 100%. He is a life member of the group. The Christian Coalition, an influential right-wing political action group that spreads misleading and often false religious and morally-based “voter guides,” has awarded Representative John Carter 95%. Carter’s conservative approach equally drives the high score to factors such as abortion. According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Rep. Carter’s voting record supports limiting individual freedoms guaranteed in the United States Constitution; hence 90%scores the legislator earns from the group (Brown et al.,2021). The American Diabetes Association hasn’t recognized Congressman John Carter’s support for diabetics. He was given a rating of 20% because he voted no to the Affordable Care Act, which would cover 25 million Americans with pre-existing conditions like diabetes. As one of the leading Republicans, Ted Cruise gets 100 by the American Conservative Union, 25% by ACLU, and 100 by the Christian Coalition of American Diabetes Association, 15%. Both Congressman John Carter and Ted cruse are conservative because they are in congruence with the traditional values of the United States, share a strong belief in free-market economics, vigorously defend social values that they deem “traditional,” support aggressive militarism and unilateral military action, and are sometimes critical of immigration.
Conclusion
The Congressional voting records of John Carter (TX-31) and I differ in almost every area, demonstrating that he does not share my values. If re-elected, he will continue to vote against healthcare, economic fairness, and the interests of Central Texans. Rep. Carter has voted multiple times to defund or repeal the Affordable Care Act, denying over 7 million Texans access to health insurance and causing uninsured Texans to skyrocket. Rep. Carter has also voted against progress towards marriage equality and LGBT rights and defunding Planned Parenthood health centers that provide birth control and cancer screenings for women around the country. Rep. Carter’s extreme voting record will hurt those already struggling in Central Texas. Mr. Cruz does not support our core values of inclusiveness and tolerance for all. I would feel uncomfortable having him represent me, which does not speak well for the GOP. My concerns are based on his recent call for a Constitutional Amendment to ban same-sex marriage. This is about equal rights, as it was with women’s suffrage, civil rights, and gay rights. It cannot be denied that gays are protected by the Constitution and deserve the same treatment as others under its interpretation by the Supreme Court.
References
Brown, L., Langenegger, J. A., Garcia, S., Biles, R. E., & Rynbrandt, R. (2021). Practicing Texas Politics. Cengage Learning.
Calvert, R. A., De León, A., & Cantrell, G. (2020). The history of Texas. John Wiley & Sons.
Soukup, J. R., McCleskey, C., & Holloway, H. (2021). I. Background of texas politics. In Party and Factional Division in Texas (pp. 3-3). University of Texas Press.
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