A phenomenal surge in Hispanics has fueled the population growth in Texas, which gained more people over the last decade than any other state, according to United States Census Bureau figures released on Thursday.
People who identify themselves as Hispanic accounted for two-thirds of the state’s growth in the last decade. Hispanics now make up 38 percent of the state’s 25.1 million people, up from 32 percent a decade ago.
At the same time, demographers say, the growth in the population of white people who are not Hispanic has slowed markedly, rising by only 4 percent. Non-Hispanic whites now make up just 45 percent of the Texas population, down from 52 percent in 2000. Blacks continue to be about 11 percent of the state’s population.
So what does this mean? Well, for starters, Texas gained four more electoral votes for the 2012 election, bringing its total to 38, second only to California. And although Texas hasn't voted Democratic since 1976 -- when it had only 26 electoral votes -- it's been getting more and more purple. In fact, by 2012, with that increasing Hispanic population, it could even go blue.
Cause for celebration among Democrats? Only in the short-term. Because ethnic groups -- as a rule -- get more and more Republican as time goes on.
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