For many years the Republican Party was against being able to do so. When we started to win elections that changed and now we are for it. I was there when my SREC Rep had the conversion and said " we got 14,000 straight party votes in Ft Bend this time and need to keep it."
I am sure that GOPc knows the lady. (initials are TR)
During the last session when I was pushing for that bill, I talked to one of the suburban GOP state reps from an outlying county around Dallas. He was arguing that it helped the GOP because his county was majority republican and in that county, the straight ticket votes were overwhelmingly republican. I asked him to take a look at the stats for Houston in 98 and 00. Out of the total votes cast countywide here, we've averaged 54% of voters using that straight ticket option. Keep in mind that Harris is a GOP county with roughly a 55-56 ORVS on any given day. But when you look at the straight ticket voters alone and which party they picked, the Dems matched us in 1998 and outvoted us in 2000. The same thing happens in most urban counties because the Dems, like sheep, use that one button as their ONLY guide on how to vote in every single race on the ballot. Marginal GOP and former GOP states up north have discovered this and moved to change the law, albeit too late. Now they're in the minority or barely in a majority without the votes to change the law. Texas needs to wake up before that happens here.