Texas Republicans warn Trump could lose Texas in 2020

Republican leaders in Texas are reportedly cautioning that President Trump could lose the reliably red state during his reelection bid in 2020 if he does not devote adequate attention and resources there.

Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey has reportedly conveyed such warnings to the Trump campaign, the Republican National Committee (RNC), GOP activists and donors in the state, The Washington Examiner reported Tuesday.

Separately, according to the outlet, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) has discussed concerns about Trump losing Texas in 2020 with newly minted RNC co-chairman Tommy Hicks. The Examiner reported that Cornyn is making moves to secure fundraising and motivate grass-roots movements to support Republicans.

“We are talking to everyone,” Dickey told the Examiner this month. “The challenges we face in Texas are very real.”

{mosads}The Hill has reached out to the Texas GOP and Cornyn’s office for comment.

Chris Homan, a GOP operative in Texas, said he’s concerned that Democrats will be more energized and organized during the next presidential cycle.

“Because of what happened organically on the Democrat side, Republicans in Texas have a large organizational gap that exists. In 2018, we simply did not have the kind of people and activists at the scale the Democrats enjoyed. This is a significant advantage the Democrats have going into this cycle,” Homan said.

Cornyn has previously warned that his home state is no longer “reliably red” and on the verge of becoming a swing state in 2020.

“Texas is no longer, I believe, a reliably red state,” Cornyn said on Hugh Hewitt’s radio show in November. “We are on the precipice of turning purple, and we’ve got a lot of work to do to keep it red, because we lost, we got blown out in the urban areas. We got beat in the suburbs, which used to be our traditional strongholds.”

The reported concern in the Lone Star State comes months after former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D) narrowly lost his Senate bid to unseat Republican incumbent Ted Cruz, raising more than $80 million in his race.

The Examiner noted that two Republican stronghold districts in Texas also flipped to Democrats during the 2018 midterms.

Texas controls 38 votes in the electoral college, meaning Trump would likely struggle to reach the 270 votes needed to secure his second term in office if the state flipped to Democrats. Democrats have not won Texas in a presidential contest since 1976.

O’Rourke’s campaign drew national attention and sparked widespread calls for him to challenge Trump in 2020. The former congressman has reportedly not ruled out a bid for the White House.

If he decides to run, he would face a crowded field of high-profile Democrats who have already announced their candidacies, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

According to a poll released last week from a left-leaning outlet, Trump lags behind Democrats who have already announced 2020 bids.