Texas is a key state in any presidential election – and Texas Republicans are worried Trump could lose it in the next election.

Urging the President to pay the kind attention on Texas usually paid to battleground states, Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey has reportedly expressed these concerns to Trump’s campaign, the Republican National Committee, GOP donors, and activists within Texas.

“Texas could turn blue in a presidential contest for the first time since 1976”

If this happened, it would be a huge turn of events for the President and his party.

The Washington Examiner reports, “Nationally, Republican operatives and donors have historically taken Texas for granted and directed their financial and organizational muscle to more competitive regions. Separately, Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, up for re-election next year, has spoken with new RNC co-chairman Tommy Hicks, a Lone Star State native, about concerns that Trump could lose the state.”

“Along with other senior Texas Republicans, Dickey and Cornyn are moving to secure the money and grassroots support needed to withstand a feared Democratic surge statewide in 2020,” Washington Examiner notes. “If left unchecked, they are convinced Texas could turn blue in a presidential contest for the first time since 1976.”

“The challenges we face in Texas are very real”

“We are talking to everyone,” Dickey told the Washington Examiner. “The challenges we face in Texas are very real.”

It is hard to see a path to re-election for President Trump without getting Texas’s 38 Electoral College votes. Texas has gone red for decades in presidential elections, but it is noteworthy that liberal Democrat Beto O’Rourke was more competitive against conservative Republican Ted Cruz than anyone expected in the midterm election.

Are Texas Republican activists ready to help re-elect Trump?

Referring to O’Rourke’s relative success even though he didn’t win, veteran GOP operative Chris Homan told Washington Examiner: “Because of what happened organically on the Democrat side, Republicans in Texas have a large organizational gap that exists. In 2018, we simply did not have the kind of people and activists at the scale the Democrats enjoyed. This is a significant advantage the Democrats have going into this cycle.”

Will this help the Democrats in Texas in 2020? Or was the Beto O’Rourke phenomenon just a fluke, as many Republicans contend?

Time will tell, but Republicans would be fools to take Texas for granted.