(By Bethany Blankley/The Center Square) – Another longtime Texas Democrat has switched parties, joining the Republican Party, this time in the border county of Webb.
Webb County flipped red in November, joining other border counties that flipped red for the first time in over 100 years, The Center Square reported.
The region has been a Democratic stronghold since Texas became a state in 1836. The majority of residents and voters in south Texas are Hispanic. For the first time in Texas history, nearly all border counties voted for Donald Trump, including Webb County.
Webb County Judge Tano Tijerina this week announced he was leaving the Democratic Party, saying like many others before him that “the party left me, and the people of South Texas, behind.”
In a Facebook post, he said, “As Webb County Judge, I have fought to protect our shared values here in South Texas – hard work, faith, family, and freedom. Unfortunately, the radical National Democrat party no longer stands for these values, and I want to be a part of a party that not only stands for these values but also protects them.
“South Texas spoke loudly in the last election, with President Trump winning Webb County. Now and always, I am standing with my fellow South Texans, proudly declaring that I no longer want to be associated with the radical national Democrats. I will continue to fight for what matters most in our community in order to build a bright future for South Texas.”
In response, Gov. Greg Abbott said, “This is excellent. Democrats in South Texas are switching to the party that aligns with their values – the Republican Party. South Texas Hispanics in particular are joining the party of faith, family, freedom & common sense – the Republican Party. Welcome!”
In an interview with Fox News, Tijerina said he left the Democratic Party because over the years he saw it drift “further left, embracing policies that don’t reflect the values of our community,” adding that the “radicalization” of the party “pushed me away a long time ago.”
Tijerina highlighted issues of importance to him and his constituents.
“We need to have border security,” he said, in a county where law enforcement is participating in Abbott’s border security mission, Operation Lone Star.
A recent poll found that the majority of Hispanic Texans surveyed want illegal border crossers deported.
U.S. Rep. Monica De La Cruz, a Republican from Edinburg, has long argued that President Joe Biden and the Democratic Party doesn’t understand Hispanic Texans living in border communities.
“Parents want the best for our children, but under Biden everything is more difficult at the border,” she said earlier this year. “We see the disaster that Biden has caused. At the beginning of his term, he stopped enforcing the laws and now the cartels and many criminals enter our country. … What’s humane about allowing someone to kill our people? Republicans want to stop this.”
Tijerina also took issue with the Biden administration attacking the oil and gas industry, saying, “The oil and gas industry has been threatened here in South Texas.”
The industry is leading U.S. oil and natural gas production and job creation. Major projects in south Texas include expanding the port of Brownsville for liquified natural gas exports, extensive infrastructure and other support jobs for the industry in the region, The Center Square reported.
Tijerina also pushed back against “the woke movements,” including boys playing in girls’ sports, which Hispanic Texans overwhelming oppose.
The Democratic Party’s chair was forced to resign after devastating losses in November and after he argued the party went too far pushing a transgender agenda, The Center Square reported.
Multiple high-level Texas Democrats also endorsed U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, a Houston Republican, also claiming the Democratic Party no longer represented their values. Texas border counties also overwhelmingly voted for Cruz.
Tijerina joins former state Rep. Shawn Thierry of Houston, who left the Democratic Party in August and who also said the party left her and embraced a radical, far left agenda. Thierry took a stand against a medical industry profiting off of gender mutilation of minors, voting with Republicans to ban the practice in Texas.
Last year, Dallas’s former mayor, Eric Johnson, also left the Democratic Party citing fiscal responsibility, as did State Rep. Ryan Guillen from Rio Grande City in Starr County.
Starr County also flipped in November, voting for Trump, and for a Republican for the first time in 132 years.