Dems squandering opportunity in Texas [View all]

[TexasTowelie]

By Carlos Sanchez
Editor of The Monitor
McAllen, Texas

Years ago, a savvy lawmaker told me that the political reality of Texas pointed to a two-party system in which the Republican Party would become the last bastion of a white power structure and the Democratic Party would emerge as the place for minority political power.

Of course, the lawmaker, a white Democrat who lost his next election, said this privately because of the sensitivity of his comments. But his observation may prove prescient this election season as two women — Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte — vie to make history by becoming the first all-female governor and lieutenant governor team to be elected simultaneously in any state in the country.

Davis may be garnering national accolades by Democrats after her 12-hour filibuster last year over the nation’s most restrictive abortion legislation, but it’s Van de Putte who could be the key to breaking the 20-year-long Republican lock on statewide offices in Texas because of the very trend my lawmaker friend predicted.

Leticia’s maiden name is San Miguel and her Hispanic heritage runs as deep as the Latino population in San Antonio, the city where she was raised and which she now represents. She may have been born out of state, where her father was stationed in the military, but she is a ninth generation Tejana.

More at http://www.themonitor.com/opinion/columnists/carlos_sanchez/article_684cdca2-8557-11e3-97b4-001a4bcf6878.html .