Texas GOP Supports a State Electoral College in Age of Polarization

Rising Star is a sleepy Texas town of 899 souls, surrounded by thousands of acres stretching to the horizon in a place that seems stuck in time.

Cowboy hats are as common here as raising cattle, and the metallic clang of pumpjacks spitting out oil remains commonplace.

Like many towns in West Texas, it has a town square with shuttered buildings and dark windows coated with dust from a constant wind. The Family Dollar and CEFCO Convenience stores are the happening places in Rising Star.

Though starkly populated, rural Texas consists of stalwart Republicans who believe in traditional values. They have been a counterweight to the deep blue urban cities of Texas, strung along the spine of Interstate 35 running from Gainsville to Laredo.

Grant Poynor and Sara McGowan Poynor grew up in rural Texas where voters focus on economics and the rule of law. (Courtesy of Sara McGowan Poynor)

So, it is no wonder that the Texas GOP put creating a state electoral college on their wish list to counter the growing political might of Dallas, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston, with their millions of Democratic voters.

Retirees Grant Poynor, 72, and Sara McGowan Poynor, 67, grew up in Rising Star. Though Grant sees himself more as a libertarian, he told The Epoch Times he votes Republican with his wife.

Rural folks are concerned with economics now—the cost of gas that must sustain large pickups for long-distance chores of feeding cattle and hauling hay. Jobs to pay for housing, food, and utilities are needed. Beyond that, they vote on principles—the rule of law is fundamental to salt-of-the-earth Texans.

“It’s very important at this particular moment in time,” Poynor said, adding that the freedom to pursue life without government interference is key.

Ideas born in the urban world are foreign to

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