Go ahead, try to California our Texas with liberal policies. It won’t work. Here’s why

People are moving from California to Texas in droves. Statistics show that from 2010 to 2019, nearly 900,000 people moved to Texas and about 34 percent — more than 300,000 — were from California.

The concern? That Californians will try to “California our Texas,” or support and implement policies that make Texas, a wonderfully free red state, turn liberal.

It’s easy to see why people are moving here:The cost of living is far more reasonable than California, and our economy is booming. We have Elon Musk, ExxonMobil, and Blue Bell Ice Cream. (What else does anyone even need?) Heck, Buc-ees thrives here, if you like that.

Sure, the landscape is not as pretty as California, and you may not run into many celebrities, unless you count our favorite Maverick Mark Cuban. But the people are nice, the tacos are delicious, and there’s lots to do, especially for families.

In fact, there’s more to do here than California, legally, economically and philosophically speaking, because it hasn’t turned into a nightmare of progressive thinking that’s pulling California down. Freedom is Texas’ battle cry, and it’s inherent in state policy, whether it’s protecting yourself with a firearm or enjoying margaritas to-go. About the only thing you can’t do is kill babies in utero, which is supposed to be a bad thing, but it’s not to the majority of Texans.

Like any sensible American, I do love the Golden State in theory, especially Southern California: The beach waves, the Hollywood glamour, the infectious sunshine.It’s a fantastic place to visit. And its progressive laws and liberal governor represent the views of many California residents, a boon for federalism if you appreciate that.

My challenge to new residents? Go ahead, try to “California our Texas.” You won’t succeed. Texans don’t want the California way of life. The way Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state’s legislature lead California is a master-class in failed liberalism. San Francisco, once a gorgeous coastal city, is slowly becoming a wasteland of drug addicts and homeless people under Democratic rule.

California has a top income tax rate of 13.3 percent, the highest in the nation, even besting Hawaii. Texans have never even heard of a state income tax.

Newsom destroyed the local restaurant economy during COVID when he kept the state shuttered for over a year: One-third of California’s restaurants have permanently closed now.

Whether it’s alotting taxpayer dollars for transgender people to have surgeries or advertising for abortion until viability even in states outside California, Newsom is the poster boy for far-left ideas.

Even in his campaign for Texas governor, Beto O’ Rourke has leveraged California’s star power. He’s convinced Hollywood stars to host fundraisers in Los Angeles. Hollywood icons Mathew Broderick and Sarah Jessica Parker are hosting a fundraiser for Beto at their New York City home next week.

Nothing says “Beto for Texas” like a bunch of people who made their money in Hollywood throwing fundraisers for his campaign to represent Texans.

I have no doubt that on hot-button issues like abortion, Texans will shift their views. But as a whole, Texans appreciate their way of life and hold to a different set of values than Californians do. Here, we value personal responsibility, a free market economy, and a local and state government that fosters freedom and equality.

So go ahead, try to California our Texas. Do your worst. It won’t work. In the meantime, enjoy the margaritas — and the freedom.