Does The Kirk England Party Switch Portend A Democratic Takeover In The Texas House Of Representatives?
The recent move by Rep. Kirk England (R D-Grand Prairie) has left the GOP leadership surprised & disappointed. This party switch brings the Democrats to within five votes of taking over the Texas House. Although some experts believe the District was trending Democratic, the GOP could have held it, now it looks doubtful and 2008 will be an even more challenging election cycle. It’s clear the Democrats have learned that to be a majority you have to get party switchers, and now they are. Why is the GOP losing ground? Many reasons: failures on property tax reform, a new business tax on phantom income (the gross receipts tax), hypocrisy on illegal immigration, neglect of infrastructure, the Trans-Texas Corridor, failure to control state spending, (hostility to the CLOUT lawsuit) and too many broken campaign promises. Of course, the major problem has been that in a generally conservative state, GOP control in the House and Senate has not meant conservative control. Too many RINO’s have slipp
