Texas Republicans Accidentally Deliver 2020 Playbook To Democratic Inboxes

HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 22: U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage for a rally in support of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on October 22, 2018 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Cruz, the incumbent, is seeking Senate ... HOUSTON, TX - OCTOBER 22: U.S. President Donald Trump takes the stage for a rally in support of Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) on October 22, 2018 at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. Cruz, the incumbent, is seeking Senate re-election in a high-profile race against Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke. (Photo by Loren Elliott/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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Texas Republicans’ 2020 election game plan somehow made its way into Democratic inboxes Monday evening, listing 12 statehouse districts to attack and focusing on how to mitigate “the polarizing nature” of President Donald Trump.

According to the Dallas Morning News, Republicans intend to set up attack “microsites” for the 12 incumbents who won by less than 4 percent in 2018. Part of the plan includes buying ostensibly supportive domain names to reroute them to the negative sites.

The document is also permeated with Republicans’ concern about the Trump effect on down-ballot races.

“Given the polarizing nature of the President, I suspect some Republicans will refuse to turnout during the General Election because they don’t want to vote for him – though I don’t know that we will know what this universe would look like without us or a stakeholder creating a model,” the document reads. “Regardless, I suggest we set up a contingency budget to target these folks with mailers, digital ads, and texts to encourage them to turnout for U.S. Senate, State Senate, State House, and so on.”

Democrats are aiming to win the majority in the Texas House for the first time since 2003, after making significant gains in the 2018 blue wave.

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