Marie Bailey, a Dallas-Fort Worth-area real estate agent who leads a large Facebook group for Californians moving to Texas, told the Los Angeles Times she is actually thinking of moving to Oklahoma because of this.
Or Florida, after Democrats James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa won the states U.S. Senate and governors races, respectively.
In the Move to Texas from California group, one member wrote, If I have to tolerate blue I might as well have good weather so maybe back to CA? Or give FL a try? Another, who is not Bailey, wrote, I am literally closing on a house in Texas next week! I am so pissed.
Bailey, who moved from El Segundo to a Dallas-Fort Worth suburb in 2017, has said cost of living and politics are the top reasons her clients leave California. Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, told the Los Angeles Times that a significant share of the Californians transplanting to Texas tend to be moderate to conservative in their views, cautioning against pinning the midterm results solely on West Coast arrivals.
Blank also said Californians already in Texas dont have to move back, adding, And if they do, Im gonna tell them theyre silly. Its not a good way to make decisions. The Times reported that some transplants are now discussing Oklahoma, Florida, or even a return to California, even as researchers doubt that the California exodus itself turned Texas blue.
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