When Democratic Texas State Senator Wendy Davis filibustered an omnibus anti-abortion bill for over 10 hours, she single-handedly lit a fire under the progressive movement in Texas.
Quite frankly, Texas was one of the last states that I thought that I would see a progressive uprising take place. You have to remember that Texas has traditionally been a conservative state. Even though Democrats had an iron grip on Texas politics for over a century following Reconstruction, the vast majority of those Democrats had very conservative political views, and they would fit in with the Republicans who currently dominate Texas politics.
However, Texas's rapidly-changing demographics, as well as the unwillingness for Texas Republicans, just like their counterparts elsewhere in the country, to adjust their views in order to account for the changing demographics, has given Democrats an opportunity to significantly loosen the Republicans' iron grip on Texas politics. Already, national Democrats are pouring money and resources into Battleground Texas, a long-term project to turn Texas, which currently has 38 winner-take-all electoral votes, into a competitive state in presidential elections.
However, when Texas Republicans proposed an omnibus anti-abortion bill and displayed their blatant disregard of the interests of Texas women, they awoke the progressive movement in Texas. I've noticed that people are writing diaries on this website about Texas politics more frequently than before, and Democrats and progressives in Texas and across America took to Twitter and upstaged the traditional news media in this country by showing their support for Wendy Davis's now-famous filibuster.
Yes, there are progressives in Texas, and they're not ashamed to admit it!