Down in South Texas, strange things keep happening.  I mean strange if you are a Democrat and grew up believing that your party had a lock on the vote.

On the day that former representative Beto O'Rouke announced his candidacy for governor, a Democrat switched parties down on the border.  This is from The Texas Tribune:

Longtime Democratic state Rep. Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City is switching parties as Republicans press to make new inroads in South Texas and after redistricting made his district much more favorable to the GOP.

Guillen made the announcement Monday morning at a news conference here where he was joined by Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont.

"Friends, something is happening in South Texas, and many of us are waking up to the fact that the values of those in Washington, D.C., are not our values, not the values of most Texans," Guillen said. "The ideology of defunding the police, of destroying the oil and gas industry and the chaos at our border is disastrous for those of us who live here in South Texas."

Rep. Ryan Guillen (D R-Rio Grande City)
Texas House of Representatives, public domain photo.

Are you listening, Beto?  This is more about Representative Guillen:    

Guillen was one of seven House Democrats who voted earlier this year to allow permitless carry of handguns. He stayed behind this summer when most House Democrats fled to Washington, D.C., in protest of Republicans’ priority elections bill. And he was the only Democrat to vote last month for a bill preventing transgender students athletes from playing on teams that correspond with their gender identity.

The Democrats are calling Mr. Guillen an opportunist.  I'm sure there is truth to the opportunistic accusation.  Yes, Representative Guillen is looking at the border and realizing that staying a Democrat is hard to do.    

PS: You can listen to my show (Canto Talk).

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