State Rep. Ryan Guillen switches to GOP in latest blow to South Texas Democrats – By Patrick Svitek (Texas Tribune) / Nov 15 2021
The Rio Grande City lawmaker was the least liberal Democrat in the Texas House this year, according to a political scientist’s rankings of lawmakers.
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FLORESVILLE — Longtime Democratic state Rep. Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City is switching parties as Republicans press to make new inroads in South Texas and after redistricting made his district much more favorable to the GOP.
Guillen made the announcement Monday morning at a news conference here where he was joined by Gov. Greg Abbott and House Speaker Dade Phelan, R-Beaumont.
“Friends, something is happening in South Texas, and many of us are waking up to the fact that the values of those in Washington, D.C., are not our values, not the values of most Texans,” Guillen said. “The ideology of defunding the police, of destroying the oil and gas industry and the chaos at our border is disastrous for those of us who live here in South Texas.”
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