Fact Check

A Massive Texas County Turned Blue. Then The GOP-Controlled Senate Voted To Overturn Their Elections. https://t.co/YFq5HGgkeU via @TPM

— Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) May 11, 2023

All of the urban counties of Texas (with the exception of Tarrant, Fort Worth to you Yankees) are Democratic, and have been for most of this century.  The article indicates this “shift” happened “recently,” without any indication of a real timeline.

Districting/gerrymandering renders most of the Democratic vote diluted for most legislative offices, state and federal.. But Texas is sharply divided between red and blue, with red rural voters usually turning out in greater numbers than urban voters, for statewide races. But Republicans are relentlessly looking for reasons to further control the vote, especially after 2020.

And while we’re fact checking “facts” about Texas:

This is the logical outcome of the laws Texas Republicans have passed that arm bounty hunters and incentivize them to threaten and harm pregnant people and abortion providers. https://t.co/ysjA9NscOM

— Shannon Watts (@shannonrwatts) May 12, 2023

The facts of this case are appalling, but are in no way justified by Texas law (not even the indefensible “stand your ground” laws). The NPR article she links to regards SB 8, which only gives individuals a right to sue in civil court. It doesn’t, in other words, “arm bounty hunters and incentivize them to threaten and harm pregnant people and abortion providers.” I mean, abortions are already illegal in Texas, which is why this poor woman left the state. “Bounty hunters” can sue, but as the article says, nobody has so far. I suspect this violence was “incentivized” by factors other than Texas law.

Things are bad enough without making shit up. Leave that kind of lie to Trump.