Frustrated California Conservatives Are Moving To Texas

Some frustrated California conservatives have finally found a solution for the bad schools, creeping crime and outrageously high taxes fostered by the liberal politicians who dominate the state’s legislature and executive branch.

It’s called “moving to Texas.”

Fox News reports that some conservative Californians who’re tired of “high taxes on everything from your home to your plastic bags,” “violent crime that may be seeping into…seemingly idyllic neighborhoods,” and “subpar public schools” have found refuge in the Lone Star state, with many Sunshine state expats clustering in the suburbs near Dallas. The cable network spoke with Paul Chabot, a 43-year-old native of Southern California, who twice ran for Congress as the Republican candidate in the state’s 31st Congressional district.

Following his second defeat in 2016, Chabot, his wife Brenda and their four children arrived in McKinney, a town about 30 miles north of Dallas. They soon realized that many of the 168,000-plus residents of the town were also California expatriates.

Chabot, who grew up during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s when the golden state was ruled by Republican governors like George Deukmejian, Pete Wilson and Ronald Reagan, said the state has done a “180” since the days of his youth.

“‘When I was growing up in a Republican state, we had safe towns and great schools,’ Chabot told Fox News. ‘But California has done a 180. It’s not a family-friendly state anymore so we decided to move to Texas.’

While California during the 1980s and early 1990s was anything but serene – there was the crack cocaine epidemic, widespread tensions between the African-American community and the police and a rash of homelessness, just to name a few issues – Chabot argues that unlike that time, it is almost impossible to maintain the type of middle-class existence he had during his childhood. He added that things like rising taxes, legalized marijuana, gun restrictions, sanctuary cities and declining public schools have all added to the disappearance of the state he once knew.

“California is no longer the representation of the American Dream,” he said. “California has fallen morally on so many levels.”

Shortly after arriving in his new home, Chabot sensed a business opportunity in helping conservative families living in blue states settle in a more agreeable place. So Chabot started a company called “Conservative Move.” The company helps its clients up with realtors to sell their property and help them find a new home in Texas. More importantly, Chabot says, it helps them find a job by connecting them with prospective employers. In its first five months in operation, Chabot said he has received more than 1,000 inquiries from people in 40 states, with the vast majority being from California.

“Leaving California is like leaving a bad relationship,” Chabot added. “When you’re gone, you can see all the problems much more clearly.”

However, the state’s shifting demographics could threaten its status as a conservative inverse of California, as cities like Austin and Dallas threaten to transform Texas into a purple state, according to Fox.

“Texas is not doing any better now than California,” Daniel Hamermesh, a professor emeritus of economics at the University of Texas in Austin, told the Los Angeles Times. “California costs more to live in, but for many, you get what you pay for. The California coast is a much more pleasant place to live.”

Still, Chabot seems well positioned to capitalize on the striking polarization that exists in modern American politics. As we’ve noted, 12 northern California countries went for Trump in November. Some residents have complained to the New York Times about the state’s one-sided political culture.

To this, Chabot says Texas’ “fighting spirit” makes a great destination for disillusioned Californians.

“Texas represents the fighting, freedom-loving spirit of America,” Chabot said. “I don’t miss California, the California I knew growing up and that is what I found in Texas.”