As you read the rest of this chapter, keep in mind that the predominant factor "on the ground" in Texas electoral politics today is the surge in the Republican Party's success and whether they can hold onto their gains going forward. In 2002, Republican candidates swept all statewide races and took control of both houses of the Texas Legislature, effectively taking over the institutions of state government. The following year the Legislature revisited the apportionment of districts for the U.S. House of Representatives and effectively set the stage for a final Republican offensive on Texas's representation in that body.

After a series of battles over redistricting legislation in 2003, Republicans succeeded in passing a bill implementing a congressional district map that promised to level the last institutional stronghold held by Democrats. In 2003 the Democrats still managed to retain a 17-15 advantage in the state's U.S. House delegation, an advantage the new electoral map was designed to undo.

The 2004 election subsequently served as the completion of a long cycle of Republican ascendancy. Texas's presidential electoral votes were all but guaranteed to go to native son George W. Bush. Yet, candidates for the U.S. House fought pitched and expensive battles in the newly redrawn congressional districts - particularly in those districts drawn to put incumbent Democrats on the defensive. By election's end, four Democratic incumbents were defeated, and Republicans held a 21-11 seat advantage. Only two of the six districts targeted by Republicans were retained by Democrats. The 21-13 Republican advantage in the Texas congressional delegation was maintained in the 2006 election for the new congress. In 2008 Texas seemed to be moving back to a more competitive electoral environment in which the Republican still enjoy a majority, but within the context of a much stronger and more competitive Democratic party. In the 2008 election, while Republicans lost some ground in state races, the they gained a seat in the Congressional delegation and will send 22 Republicans and 12 Democrats to Washington, DC in 2009.

The Republicans' hold on government and the Democrats' determination to regain lost ground reveal how far the state has come since the days of Democratic Party hegemony. In 2004, both parties exhorted the faithful to get out the vote through time-honored grassroots organizing on the local and precinct levels, while simultaneously utilizing new technologies and techniques to maximize partisan mobilization. As a direct result, in many parts of the state, turnout soared above historic averages.