Little Silicon Valley: what and how the red Republican state of Texas lives

Warm air in autumn, live music everywhere: at the airport, on the street, in cafes and bars. A large guitar monument at the bus stop as a sign to get to the city center, and a cowboy monument near the city hall. A typical weekday in the democratic city of Austin in the red, conservative state of Texas in south-central America passes through work and political debate during the day and music, beer and stand-up comedy in the evening.

How Texas lives, whether it should be democratic and how local people prepare for elections with the help of experts and politicians who visit the region - read in a special report by the correspondent of Novina.LIVE in the USA, Ulyana Boychuk.

What is Texas like?

Texas is the second most populous state in America. Almost 30 million people live here in the south-central part of the United States, and the number is constantly growing due to migration. Not the main reason why people from other states move to Texas is the absence of a state tax in the state, which greatly simplifies business life. Locals also share that it is cheaper to live in Austin, for example.

The city is growing right before our eyes, because in just three days, several new streets were closed for construction, the streets are filled with construction workers. Over the past two decades, well-known companies have moved here: Tesla built a large factory near Austin, Samsung, Indeed and others relocated their offices or opened new branches here, which caused a great development of the IT sector in the region. Now, many Haitians work here, and locals call the city of Austin, which is the state capital, the little silicon valley because of its proximity to the big one.

An important point: the state of Texas has almost the largest border with Mexico. The border problems are the Achilles heel of the administration of the current US president, and the one that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is going to solve, as he constantly emphasizes during his election campaign.

"They want to close the border and leave America isolated from the world. But that's not possible, because America needs allies and other countries to develop and be America as it is," said an Austin resident in a conversation with a journalist.

The climate here has changed recently. Locals say that there was no winter here until a few years ago, and now autumn has arrived according to the calendar, the evenings are getting colder and colder, but during the day , heated air, with a little warm humidity, meets when leaving the airport. In the evenings, there is a lot of live music and beer in the city, and the main tourist attraction is to watch the colony of bats that immigrated here from Mexico, numbering 1.3 million people. Every evening, they fly out from under one of the bridges in the dark after sunset, while locals and tourists gather by the water to watch this action.

State policy

"People in the state itself are migrating a lot internally: they are moving from the north to the south, which also affects the politics of the state. Well, the trend is that for several elections in a row, the Democrats are losing everything by a smaller margin. Could this mean that Texas is becoming democratic? ?" — asks a rhetorical question during a conversation with a journalist, local resident Felicia.

Texas has always been a proudly red Republican and conservative state since the 1950s. However, the last decade has seen changes here: like a wave, the Democrats lose everything with a smaller margin to the Republicans. Many are worried about this, and many people, like Felicia, are wondering what the consequences will be - positive or negative. Meanwhile, an experienced politician, former governor of the state Rick Perry is sure that the color of Texas, like the views of the people, is unchanged there.

"The trend is coming, coming and coming, but it won't come for two reasons: the first is that the candidate and who's on the ballot matter. Choose a good candidate and everything will be fine," says Rick Perry, who along with other politicians gathered in Texas for the several-day festival "Tribune Fest" to reflect on the future of the country and the state, in particular, after the elections.

"Another reason: the increase in the number of people who graduate from high school, which compared to 2000 has increased from 28% to 86%. The population is growing intellectually. And while Texas is doing something, all the other states are watching. To do this, it must remain moderate." — its former governor Rick Perry proudly describes the state during one of the panels of the political festival.

The kitchen table is America's most important table

Once a year for 14 years in a row, the Texas Trumpet Fest takes place in the capital city of Austin. It is a three-day event that brings together many thought leaders, public figures, politicians, etc. in the state. They discuss and consider urgent issues, now it's an election.

"The kitchen table is America's most important table. Not the corporate table or the bureaucrat's table, but the kitchen table. It's where ordinary Americans make decisions about their children's education, their jobs, how they'll cope, pensions, health care, prescription drugs — and it all depends on how people see that the public servant meets their needs. And that's what needs to be worked on," said the leader of the Democrats in Congress, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

The American election is global in the world

Globally, US elections are about America, and the US economy will play a key role in this year's race. Of course, no one will forget about the support of Ukraine and key partners, because it is important for the Americans - what the people of Ukraine choose and do, but this will not be the problem on which they will concentrate in these elections. This is what Susan Page, editor-in-chief of USA Today, said in response to Ulyana Boychuk's question.

"There is tremendous respect in the United States and Americans for what the people of Ukraine have done. You know, this is an important issue because it concerns the United States, our role in the world. And I think that Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have very different views on what should be America in the geopolitical picture and what are the ways to change it. It will be difficult, but the priority will be the economy. Today's concern about the future of democracy, which turned out to be a surprisingly powerful political issue, is what Americans will really vote for."

Regarding the geopolitical agenda, Texas Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw says a more hostile view of China is needed. This, by the way, is the position of many Republicans who support Trump. It looks like they are changing their focus from Russia to China.

"The wins are felt in the aggregate. The losses are felt in very specific areas. And that has to be taken into account. I think libertarian economic policy works great domestically. But when you're dealing with countries with completely different labor laws and environmental laws, and countries like China, which are very prone to trade violations, fraud and intellectual theft, doing all the things they do, we need to take action," says Dan Crenshaw.

Among the 30 million people who live in Texas, there are many different communities: there is a large Spanish community, there is a migrant community from Mexico, there is often a language that is different from both English and Spanish. People here are different, and one gets the impression not only of another state, but also of another country. It is the diversity of the state that can cause confusion in the choice, so it is worth rallying around how to help people understand and make the right choice, says Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat.

"It is important not to talk over people and not to bypass the difficult issues that are happening, but to tackle them directly. This is the meaning. You need to resolutely look at problems directly in the eyes, tackle them and call things by their names, offering a completely different vision and solution." adds Ms. Witmer.