There are tens of thousands of Democrats in Texas who support the state seceding from the United States, according to Daniel Miller, president of the Texas Nationalist Movement (TNM).
Miller, as leader of the broader movement known as “Texit,” has become more vocal towards Texas Governor Greg Abbott and other statewide officials in light of the state’s battle with the federal government over how to secure the U.S.-Mexico border. While illegal migrant encounter numbers dropped both nationally and statewide between December and January, the issue remains front and center and is being supported by fellow elected Republicans around the country.
After writing a letter to Abbott in January “to honor the wishes of the voters”, to call a special session in the Texas Legislature and “to put the Texas question to a vote,” Miller and others endorsing secession visited Abbott’s office on February 13 to personally submit more than 170,000 garnered signatures—part of a legislative effort to place the initiative on the Republican primary election ballot in the state.
Illustration by Newsweek, source image Getty
Miller told Newsweek via phone on Friday—the same day that Abbott announced a broader military operation on the southern border in the form of base camp—that the petition crossed the required threshold and “and completely blew it out of the box for the Republican primary.”
Of the 170,000-plus signatures, 139,456 belonged to Republican petitioners. The remainder were Democrats, to which Miller said, “We would be having a whole different conversation [across the state]” if more Democrats were in support for swifter action.
“What we have seen pretty steadily is that almost equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans [support secession], and over 60 percent of all voters and 66 percent on average—those Democratic voters jump on and support the Texit issue simply because they recognize that the core issue doesn’t lend itself to the normal partisan differences we’re accustomed to,” Miller said.
Miller said that neither Abbott nor anyone from his office has directly communicated with him or the TNM to entertain the notion of a special session, which gained steam after the U.S. Supreme Court in a 5-4 decision ruled that federal Border Patrol could remove concertina wire put up by the Texas National Guard that was installed to deter illegal migrants.
Newsweek reached out to Abbott’s office via email for comment.
Abbott and other conservative leaders may be more forceful in pushing a special session after the state’s presidential primary and prior to the November ballots being issued, Miller suggests. The state’s GOP primary election takes place March 5.
The petition only shows a fraction of the total support for Texit, he added. Miller, who has personally worked on the issue since 1996, said registered voter support on the Texit website exceeds 600,000—making it the biggest political association in Texas, only smaller in scale when compared to the Republican and Democratic parties. For reference, as of November 2023, there were 17,759,273 total registered voters in the Lone Star State.
Part of making the movement more widespread has been encouraging political candidates to take the “Texas First Pledge.” It requests candidates “to prioritize Texas and Texans’ interests, including supporting legislation for a vote on Texas independence.”
The TNM website lists 34 candidates who have taken the pledge, including some endorsed by Abbott, former President Donald Trump, Senator Ted Cruz and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Texit also cited how popular secession was during the Texas Republican Party’s 2022 convention when more than 80 percent of delegates voted in favor of calling for a vote on the initiative.
“We call upon all candidates for public office to pledge their commitment to a contract with Texans, promising to vote and act solely in the best interests of Texans,” reads a statement on the website Take Texas Back.
It continues: “This pledge instills a level of accountability that compels officials to carefully consider each decision they make, whether in Austin or in your local communities, ensuring that these decisions align with your values and the Texas Constitution.”
Miller said that while the immigration issue currently remains front and center, Texit is being spurred by other factors including economics and generally overpaying into the federal system—a couple of “a whole litany of reasons for why people think Texit is the path forward.”
“What you have is a lot of folks who are—I’m not gonna say it’s a prime motivator [for voting],” he said. “It becomes the most public visible sign of the broken relationship between Texas and the federal government.”
He remains conscious about the difference between a referendum and secession actually becoming a reality, though he believes Texas is firmly on a trajectory where “it will 100 percent happen in the next three decades.” He says the overall system is dysfunctional and hinders the cause.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.