{"id":2698040,"date":"2026-11-04T13:00:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-04T18:00:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntuesdays-blue-tsunami-proves-texas-problem-was-never-candidate-quality\/"},"modified":"2026-11-04T13:04:17","modified_gmt":"2026-11-04T18:04:17","slug":"utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntuesdays-blue-tsunami-proves-texas-problem-was-never-candidate-quality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/utm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntuesdays-blue-tsunami-proves-texas-problem-was-never-candidate-quality\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Tsunami Proves Texas\u2019 Problem Was Never Candidate Quality"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Futm_sourcerssutm_mediumrssutm_campaigntuesdays-blue-tsunami-proves-texas-problem-was-never-candidate-quality%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2698040&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>After Tuesday\u2019s elections turned Texas decisively blue, many were quick to blame \u201ccandidate quality\u201d for Republican losses &#8211; a line repeated by outlets like Fortune and Bloomberg and echoed by a White House official who said the president promoted some nominees more effectively than they promoted themselves.Critics pointed to scandals surrounding Senate hopeful Ken Paxton and controversial remarks by Railroad Commissioner candidate Bo French as reasons voters stayed away or flipped.<\/p>\n<p>But the vote totals tell a more nuanced story. With over 95% of ballots counted,Paxton captured about 43% of the vote,only roughly 2.7 points behind Gov.Greg Abbott\u2019s 45.7%. French finished near 46%, a share comparable to or better than Abbott\u2019s, suggesting these individual candidacies alone don\u2019t explain the GOP\u2019s broad defeats.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, the piece argues, larger forces were at work. The author says the war with Iran and the inflation and affordability problems tied to it drove turnout dynamics: Democrats turned out in large numbers-some reporting turnout \u201cas if this were a presidential year\u201d-while many Republicans,including crucial blocs like evangelicals,stayed home. Party leaders in Washington also get blamed for failing to use the GOP\u2019s recent trifecta to pass popular measures (the SAVE America Act is cited) and for declining to financially back Paxton\u2019s campaign, reducing incentives for their base to vote.<\/p>\n<p>The column accuses the establishment GOP of alienating its own voters. It singles out former Sen. John Cornyn and members of the Bush family for publicly criticizing primary winners and opposing the choices of Texas Republicans after the primary, behavior the author says exemplifies the entitlement that cost Cornyn his seat. The piece notes Paxton beat Cornyn in the primary by a wide margin (about 63.8% to 36.2%), arguing that Texans had already rejected Cornyn\u2019s approach and that there\u2019s no evidence Cornyn would have performed better in the general election.<\/p>\n<p>in short, the author contends the Texas losses stem from broader political and policy failures-foreign policy, economic pressures, and the GOP establishment\u2019s antagonism toward its voters-rather than simply a few poor-quality nominees. The article closes by identifying the writer: Jordan Boyd, an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-cruelty-is-the-point-folks\/\" title=\"The Cruelty Is the Point, Folks\">award-winning staff writer<\/a> at The Federalist and producer of The Federalist Radio Hour, who studied political science and journalism at baylor University.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Americans looking for someone or something to blame for Democrats\u2019 sweeping victory in Texas on Tuesday might be tempted to name \u201ccandidate quality\u201d the culprit. After all, the narrative that President Donald Trump\u2019s choice to endorse <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/campaign\/6151541-gop-candidate-quality-decline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">\u201cgrossly<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/opinion\/campaign\/6151541-gop-candidate-quality-decline\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unfit candidates\u201d<\/a> like Ken Paxton began <a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?q=https:\/\/archive.ph\/wMOGS&#038;source=gmail&#038;ust=1793899777105000&#038;usg=AOvVaw36vY2TfncqkzWJ03OWYFaX\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">before<\/a> the election was over.<\/p>\n<p>By the time the blue tsunami toppled a red Texas, the blame game was in full force. Corporate media outlets like <a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2026\/11\/04\/trump-personal-handpicked-candidates-midterm-election-blame-game-blue-wave\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Fortune<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bloomberg.com\/news\/videos\/2026-11-03\/texas-race-could-hinge-on-candidate-quality-john-thomas-video\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bloomberg<\/a> agreed that Republicans lost because the candidates Texans needed to vote for were subpar.<\/p>\n<p>Even the White House <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hugolowell\/status\/2117812157005935040?a=dkLtHopnId1_LqHIgBI&#038;s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">joined the dogpile<\/a>, insisting that \u201ccandidate quality matters.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresident Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates than the candidates did themselves,\u201d one White House official claimed. <\/p>\n<p>The ruling class can pretend that it was Senate Candidate Ken Paxton\u2019s affair and corruption allegations, and Railroad Commissioner Candidate Bo French\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/09\/15\/assimilation-means-more-than-going-to-a-football-game\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">commentary<\/a> on the racial makeup of the student section at a University of Texas football game that kept people home or maybe even pushed them to vote Democrat. <\/p>\n<p>Voter data, however, tells a different, truer story. Make no mistake that Tuesday proved to be an undeniably historic and overwhelming defeat for Lone Star State Republicans across the board. A closer look at the margins, however, doesn\u2019t lend any credence to the idea that Paxton or French alone torpedoed the GOP\u2019s chances. <\/p>\n<p>With more than 95 percent of the vote tallied, Paxton received <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/11\/03\/us\/elections\/results-texas.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">43 percent<\/a> of the state\u2019s support. That\u2019s only 2.7 percentage points less than incumbent Gov. Greg Abbot\u2019s 45.7 percent. By Wednesday afternoon, vote totals suggested French\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2026\/11\/03\/us\/elections\/results-texas.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">46 percent<\/a> yielded a higher margin than even Abbott did.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p>\u2014 Jordan Boyd (@jordanboydtx) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/jordanboydtx\/status\/2117987255197253809?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">November 4, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>That didn\u2019t stop self-proclaimed \u201cprincipled\u201d conservatives and \u201cnative born\u201d Texans from gloating about the losses. <\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>So what was <em>really<\/em> responsible for turning Texas blue? Despite the administration and corporate media\u2019s attempt to avoid mentioning it, the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/seanmdav\/status\/2117805282956820493\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Iran War and the affordability issues<\/a> that directly resulted from it played a massive role in the midterm turnout. While Democrats turned out in droves, \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/lennybronner\/status\/2117837760425865514?a=br1bLWEDiLYrKKzn43g&#038;s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">as if this were a presidential election\u201d<\/a> year, a notable percentage of Republicans, including key <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/megbasham\/status\/2117850960391213078?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">voter blocs like evangelical Christians<\/a>, appeared to stay home.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>A good chunk of blame for the Election Day bloodbath also falls squarely on elected Republicans, specifically those in the Senate, who wasted the last Republican trifecta for a long time instead of passing key legislation like the SAVE America Act. Their staunch unwillingness to act, as well as their reluctance to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/08\/31\/senate-gop-would-rather-surrender-texas-to-dems-than-to-its-own-voters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">help fund Paxton\u2019s race<\/a>, did nothing to incentivize GOP voters to get to the polls.<\/p>\n<p>That brings us to the heart of Democrats\u2019 Texas election sweep and an ongoing problem in Texas and Republican politics: the establishment GOP\u2019s hatred for its own base.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have tried for a long time to turn Texas blue. Their efforts were only helped this year by people like ousted Republican Sen. John Cornyn and the <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/BBCWorld\/status\/2112962541852754214?a=m4fghBRNc5l4MTuwkq4&#038;s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Bush family<\/a>, who spent the time between the primary runoff and the general election complaining about and fighting Texas voters\u2019 choices instead of doing everything to support them.<\/p>\n<p>This entitlement is the exact attitude that got Cornyn voted out in the first place. Cornyn was elected to go to Washington to work for the people. Instead of rewarding Texans\u2019 trust, Cornyn <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/03\/05\/10-times-john-cornyn-betrayed-trump-and-maga\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">turned on his base<\/a> by working with Democrats to attack the Second Amendment, call conservatives terrorists, and throw money at another overseas war. <\/p>\n<p>If Paxton was such a bad candidate, he shouldn\u2019t have beat out Cornyn in the primaries. Instead, Texans took <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/05\/20\/rino-crash-out-over-trumps-paxton-endorsement-shows-how-much-the-gop-hates-its-voters\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Trump\u2019s Paxton endorsement and Paxton\u2019s attorney general track record to heart<\/a> and voted 63.8 percent to 36.2 percent to kick Cornyn to the curb.<\/p>\n<p>The people spoke, and the verdict was Cornyn should be punished for his betrayal. Cornyn\u2019s firing was a natural consequence of his actions, but he wasn\u2019t done complaining about it. Over the next several months, Cornyn <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JohnCornyn\/status\/2111249551252148309?a=CVuU6MbPu-J7k2O1agk&#038;s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">dogged Paxton<\/a> about not debating Democrat Senate Candidate James Talarico and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JohnCornyn\/status\/2101353070303072757?a=tqD3v4YYH2O8FxB60TU&#038;s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">took aim at French<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/JohnCornyn\/status\/2100328982264565761?a=AGFRMwrXIReUl12oAQk&#038;s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">heritage Americanism<\/a>. He even committed to not voting for the Republican Railroad Commissioner candidate.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>There is no evidence that Cornyn would have fared better in Tuesday\u2019s bloodbath than Paxton did. That didn\u2019t stop him from rubbing it in with a no-caption picture of the Texas Capitol and following that post with congratulations for the newly elected Talarico. <\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<hr>\n<p>      Jordan Boyd is an award-winning staff writer at The Federalist and producer of \u201cThe Federalist Radio Hour.\u201d Her work has also been featured in The Daily Wire, Fox News, and RealClearPolitics. Jordan graduated from Baylor University where she majored in political science and minored in journalism. Follow her on X @jordanboydtx.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Paraphrase:<br \/>\nSome Americans may look for a single scapegoat for Democrats\u2019 sweep in Texas, pointing to \u201ccandidate quality\u201d and arguing that Trump\u2019s endorsements of so-called unfit candidates like Ken Paxton helped the Democrats win. Yet after the outcome, even mainstream outlets and the White House suggested that what mattered was the quality of candidates, not any one misstep. However, the data don\u2019t support the idea that Paxton or Bo French alone ruined the GOP\u2019s chances: Paxton drew about 43% statewide, only a couple points behind Gov. Abbott\u2019s 45.7%, and French\u2019s around 46% would have yielded a bigger margin than Abbott in some tallies. The bigger story is about turnout and policy concerns. The Iran War and its cost increases seemed to drive Democratic enthusiasm, while a significant portion of Republicans, including evangelical voters, stayed home. The piece also blames Republican leadership for not advancing key legislation and for insufficiently supporting Paxton\u2019s race, arguing this disheartened GOP voters. It frames the Texas result as evidence of the establishment GOP\u2019s antagonism toward its base, noting that critics like Cornyn and the Bush family spent more effort attacking Texas voters than backing them. Paxton\u2019s primary victory over Cornyn is cited as proof that voters punished betrayal, and Cornyn\u2019s post-election comments are portrayed as rubbing salt in the wound. <\/p>\n<p>55-character summary:<br \/>\nBlaming candidate quality hides GOP-wide failures today<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":490,"featured_media":2698041,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Screenshot-2026-11-03-at-7.48.06-PM-scaled-e1793757088174.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[4138,7064,6571,3694,60255],"class_list":["post-2698040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-blue","tag-candidates","tag-elections","tag-texas","tag-tsunami-2"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Screenshot-2026-11-03-at-7.48.06-PM-scaled-e1793757088174.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2698040","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/490"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2698040"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2698040\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2698044,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2698040\/revisions\/2698044"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2698041"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2698040"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2698040"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2698040"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}