There's a concern amongst many red-state Americans that their policies are working too well. When a place like Florida can light a torch for freedom as an example to the rest of the country, and people respond by going there in droves, it certainly shows that conservative ideals are attracting new residents. But what if those residents move in for the opportunity but continue to vote like they did in the blue states?
Research shows that is not the case.
Texas, for example, has billboards asking people to leave their liberal policies where they left them. But they don't have to worry so much. According to a Texas Tribune and UT Austin poll from 2013, "The California arrivals were 57 percent conservative compared to 27 percent liberal."
Texas Policy breaks down the numbers by region. Among domestic migrants to Texas:
-New Texas residents from the Mountain West favored Trump over Biden by 13 points.
-New Texans from the South favored Trump by 8.
-New Texans solely from California favored Trump by 5.
All three of these groups account for high influx Texas migration, and are at least 5 points higher than native Texans.
The take-away is that not only are new Texas residents NOT turning the state blue, they're keeping it even redder. Which matches the rest of the country, where you're seeing blue states shrink and get bluer, while red states grow and get redder.
Even international (legal) migrants to Texas, who cannot immediately turn around and vote, polled at 43 percent identifying as conservative, while only 15 percent identified as liberal, with most (40ish percent) opting to stay out of politics. This means in the decades ahead, this group of international migrants should only push Texas further right.
The democrat dream of flipping Texas was not far off in 2018, but it looks to be getting further and further out of reach.
Ryan Wiggins is the author of the extremely serious and not funny robot novel, The Life of Human, and is a writer and producer of television shows. He is the host of Wiggins America on 97.1 FM Talk in St. Louis.
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