DALLAS — The nation is in the homestretch of campaigning, and while Texas is typically a shoe-in to stay red, this election has been anything but typical.
Polls show Biden and Trump neck and neck in the Lone Star State, and that has the Biden camp making last minute efforts to try to flip this state for the first time in decades.
"The Republicans know that we actually have a chance to flip the state and also flip some seats that will be in Austin. We're in a position to make some changes and right now the Republican Party are backpedaling because they know that we're coming and we're coming very strong,” said Dallas County Democratic Party political director Tramon Arnold.
Four more years of the Trump administration, or a dramatic change of pace with the Biden camp? Voters have come out in droves during early voting, hitting record numbers.
"People are going to the polling sites as families, together. You have a lot of first time voters that are very excited about coming out to vote, so this is just a good opportunity as a whole for people to come as one,” Arnold said. "As president, you know, you’re supposed to be uniting the country. We have had a president that has been very divisive. So this is a time that we’re all coming together and we’re ready for change. And we’re going to see change come November 3."
But the Dallas County Republican Party says not so fast. Communications Director William Busby is confident Democrats are wasting time and money on a state that he says is staying red.
"Democrats, they really want Texans to go to their side. But whenever you say you're going to increase regulation and you're going to kill jobs and you're going to raise taxes, Texans don't want that,” Busby said. "The Biden-Harris plan will be nothing but higher taxes, more regulation and job killers. Transitioning from oil and gas, that's a billion dollars a year for the permanent school fund that Texans are going to have to pay for some other way. Whenever you take away those jobs and you add regulation to that, where does that burden fall back on? It falls back on the taxpayers and Texans are aware of that. And Texans love oil and gas, we are an oil and gas state, that’s what makes the Texas model so successful.”
Regardless, Democrats are spending the final days of early voting focusing on Texas, and regaining control after decades of Republican rule.
"We're still knocking on doors, we're still sending out text messages, we're still making phone calls. So we're still hitting the grassroots effort as far as just the whole campaigning, despite the situation and the pandemic that we're in,” Arnold said. "We’re in a position where we actually have the chance to turn Texas blue. So what we're doing is just bringing all the resources that we have in.”
The Cook Political Report on Wednesday marked Texas as the newest toss-up state and it’s clear both parties are working harder than ever to win.
"Texas is definitely a battleground state, if we win Texas, there's no mathematical way that Trump will be able to win. So definitely Texas is important, Texas is a battleground state, and we will win,” Arnold said.
"Is everybody happy with Trump? Probably not. But do they recognize that giving the left power would absolutely escalate things and would create more problems than it would fix? Absolutely. So we're ready to re-elect Donald J. Trump for another four years,” Busby said.