For the first time in 12 years, someone without an Aggie Ring was elected governor.
With Gov. Rick Perry having opted not to seek reelection, the race for his successor ended Tuesday, as Republican Greg Abbott topped Democrat Wendy Davis in the Texas gubernatorial election.
At a national level, the Republicans snatched enough senate seats away from the Democrats to earn a majority in both houses. Both results could have policy repercussions at the state and federal level.
Judith Baer, political science professor, said an electoral win from Greg Abbott means the Republican status quo remains the same, keeping with the term “maintaining election.”
Baer said she thinks with Abbott in office, policies will more or less stay the same, with Abbott following in Perry’s footsteps.
Dwight Roblyer, political science lecturer, said Abbott has focused throughout his campaign on immigration, keeping taxes low and being friendly to businesses, Roblyer said.
“Texas is still pretty much firmly in the grips of the more conservative portions of the political spectrum when it comes to who votes and who they vote into office,” Roblyer said.
Roblyer said regardless of who sits in the governor seat, there are steady changes coming to Texas, mainly demographic, that no one will be able to control. Roblyer said Texas will look very different in 20 years as a changing ethnic makeup affects the way people vote.
Given the shift in Republican momentum in the U.S. Senate, Roblyer said he expects there will soon be more of a push toward Republican policies, but that doesn’t mean the party will be without restrictions.
“Just because the Republicans retain control in the legislature or in congress or in the governorship doesn’t mean they are going to be able to do whatever they want,” Roblyer said. “There are mainstream Republicans and there are the more conservative Republicans that call themselves Tea Party. We see this within Texas to some degree … all of a sudden instead of the fighting being between Republicans and Democrats, the fighting you see is between the two halves of the Republican family.”