Texas Blue Wave Jolts California Transplants Who Moved for Red Politics
Democratic victories in Texas’s Senate and gubernatorial races have unsettled some Californians who moved to the state for lower housing costs and a political climate they felt suited them better. Some are now weighing moves to Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee or the Carolinas; one person has even wondered about returning to California for its weather.
Marie Bailey, 44, moved from El Segundo to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2017. She said she is considering Oklahoma or Florida after the election. Bailey runs a Facebook group for people moving from California to Texas, with about 45,000 members, and a real estate business serving California transplants. Posts in the group after the results included comments from people upset about the Democratic victories, including one person closing on a Texas home the following week.
Another California transplant, Breana Janel, said she was heartbroken by the results and worried Texas would not return to Republican control. She is considering Tennessee, the Carolinas or Georgia.
Joshua Blank, who oversees research for UT Austin’s project studying Texas politics, said Californians moving to Texas tend to be moderate or conservative. He doubts they drove the state’s political shift. Many, he said, were chiefly motivated by housing costs, with politics playing a secondary role.
Bailey has said cost of living is the leading reason her clients move, followed by politics. She and her husband constructed a Texas residence costing $750,000; she said a small fixer-upper in El Segundo would have cost more than $1 million. Blank said the election does not mean transplants need to move again, and cautioned against making a decision on that basis.
Texas Results Show Why People Need More Than Lower Housing Costs
Texas’s Democratic victories have shaken some California transplants who moved for lower costs and a state they believed better matched their politics. Now some are considering Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee or the Carolinas, while one has entertained a return to California for its weather. The election has made clear that moving for a preferred political climate is no guarantee of getting the politics one expects.
Marie Bailey, who moved from El Segundo to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2017, said she is thinking about Oklahoma or Florida. She runs a Facebook group of about 45,000 people interested in moving from California to Texas, where members responded to the results with anger and uncertainty. One person said they were closing on a Texas home the following week and were upset by the election.
Breana Janel, another California transplant, said she was heartbroken and feared Texas would not return to Republican control. Tennessee, the Carolinas and Georgia are among the places she is considering.
But the idea that Californians drove Texas’s political shift is disputed. Joshua Blank, a researcher with UT Austin’s project examining Texas politics, said many California arrivals are moderate or conservative, and that housing costs are often their main motivation. Bailey has also said affordability comes before politics for her clients. She and her husband built a Texas home for $750,000; she said a small fixer-upper in El Segundo would have cost more than $1 million.
The results leave transplants weighing whether their political expectations justify another move. Blank says they need not leave Texas, and warns that making a move because of an election is not a sound decision.
Texas Blue Wave Has Californians Rethinking Their Red-State Move
For Californians who left home seeking lower costs and a more conservative political climate, Texas’s Democratic victories have raised a blunt question: where to go next? Some are now considering Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee or the Carolinas. One transplant has even wondered whether California’s weather makes a return worth considering.
Marie Bailey moved from El Segundo to the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 2017 and said she is now thinking about Oklahoma or Florida. She leads a Facebook group of about 45,000 people interested in moving from California to Texas. Members voiced frustration after the election, including one person who said they were closing on a Texas house the following week and were upset by the results.
Breana Janel said she was heartbroken by the Democratic wins and feared Texas would not return to Republican control. She is considering Tennessee, the Carolinas or Georgia. Her concerns reflect the political stakes some transplants attached to their move, even though those considering a new destination may find Democrats have also won races in some of those states.
The move to Texas was not only about politics. Bailey has said cost of living is the leading reason her clients relocate, with politics second. She and her husband constructed a residence in Texas costing $750,000; she said a small fixer-upper in El Segundo would have cost more than $1 million.
Joshua Blank, who directs research for UT Austin’s Texas politics initiative, said many California arrivals are moderate or conservative, and doubts they caused Texas’s political shift. He says transplants need not move again and calls election-driven relocation a poor way to decide. For those who moved partly to escape Democratic politics, however, the results have revived the question of whether Texas still fits.
Reported by Los Angeles Times, New York Post, The Daily Wire.
