No mystery here. Until the 1980s, Republicans were rare in Texas. We had conservative Democrats versus less conservative Democrats.
I know several older people who are solid conservatives but won’t vote for a Republican because they still remember the stories their grandmother told them about what happened during Reconstruction.
For what it’s worth, the last Democrat I voted for was Senator Lloyd Bentsen, an honorable man who had the good sense to be the first major member of the Clinton administration
Ack. Meant to say that Bentsen was the first major member of the Clinton administration to leave.
Though I don’t recall any comments from Bentsen at the time, most people here believed that he wised up and didn’t want to be associated with a skank like Clinton.
The last Democrat I voted for was Zell Miller ...who got so pissed off at his own party that he spoke at the 2004 Republican Convention.