Why do these guys run as Republicans if their hearts are elsewhere? Probably so they don’t have to do battle in a democrat primary.
When the political winds shifted in Texas in the 1980s, just about every major Democrat switched to the GOP. However, many kept beliefs more at home in the party of LBJ and FDR than that of Reagan.
They're at best Rockefeller Republicans. Many are simply undocumented big government Democrats who run as Republicans.