Soros-Backed Group Again Aiming to Turn Texas Blue

Leftist billionaire George Soros is in pursuit of the long-sought political “white whale” for Democrats: finally turning Texas blue. Soros is pouring millions into a super PAC called Texas Majority PAC to flip the state in the 2026 midterms and beyond. He donated $1 million this past April and $2.1 million in 2024. 

Texas is the second-most populous state in the union with more than 30 million residents. Democrats have long suspected it could shift blue due to a rise in Democrat-supporting minority groups in the state, although President Donald Trump has raised a hurdle to that hope with his record support among minorities. 

Soros’ move comes as the Republicans are in the midst of a heated primary challenge for one of Texas’ Senate seats between incumbent Republican Sen. John Cornyn and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a fellow Republican. Paxton is currently leading in several polls in the GOP primary race while simultaneously trailing Cornyn in hypothetical matchups against prominent Texas Democrats. 

In 2018, Democrats shelled out more than $70 million in an attempt to unseat incumbent Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, by then-Rep. Beto O’Rourke, D-Texas. Meanwhile, Cruz marshaled more than $33 million in his defense. The flood of Democrat cash nearly succeeded, with Cruz winning by just 2.6 percentage points, or fewer than 215,000 votes.

The election was the closest Senate race in Texas since 1978. Democrats have not won a statewide elective office in Texas since 1994. 

In a hypothetical race against O’Rourke, who has not totally ruled out running again, Cornyn leads him 48% to 43%, while Paxton bests the Democrat 49% to 45%. For his part, Cruz has said he will not endorse a candidate in the primary, and Trump has yet to weigh in on the race. Cruz did endorse Cornyn back in 2020.

Some Democrat strategists see making Texas a battleground state as essential in their comeback strategy for both the presidency and reclaiming majorities in both houses of Congress. 

Katherine Fischer, the deputy executive director of Texas Majority PAC, told the Wall Street Journal, “If a win is on the table in 2026, we don’t want to leave it there by not being organized.”

“There is no choice for Texas or for anyone else in the country who wants to see a Democrat in the White House after 2032 but to find a pathway through Texas,” Fischer continued. That’s because congressional reapportionment will occur after the decennial census in 2030.

It will be an uphill battle, however, because Trump won Texas by more than 13 points. Texas is just one red state that has benefited from emigration of Republicans from blue states who could no longer take COVID-19 restrictions, high taxes, and a breakdown in law and order. Traditional Republican states in the southern U.S. including North Carolina, South Carolina, and Florida have also seen a rapid increase in population moving from liberal states like California, New York, and New Jersey.

A recent data analysis by the liberal Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law found that Democrats could lose as many as 12 congressional seats after the 2030 census as a result of changes in voting and Republicans migrating to Sunbelt states.

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