A surprise Democratic sweep in Texas is sending some Californians who moved to the state to escape liberal politics scrambling to figure out where to go next, with Oklahoma, Florida, Tennessee, the Carolinas and Georgia all in the conversation.
The unrest follows midterm results in which Democrats James Talarico and Gina Hinojosa won the Senate and gubernatorial races in Texas, a state that has long been a top landing spot for Californians frustrated with cost of living and Democratic governance back home.
Marie Bailey, 44, originally from El Segundo, California, runs a large Facebook group dedicated to helping Californians relocate to Texas. She told the LA Times she’s now considering leaving her Dallas-Fort Worth-area home herself.
“I’m actually thinking of moving to Oklahoma because of this,” Bailey said. “Or Florida.”
Members of her group expressed similar frustration after the election results came in. “If I have to tolerate blue I might as well have good weather so maybe back to CA? Or give FL a try?” one member wrote. Another, who said they were in the process of buying a Texas home, wrote: “I am literally closing on a house in Texas next week! I am so pissed.”
Breana Janel, a baseball mom and fellow California transplant who once supported Republican Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco in California’s gubernatorial race, said she saw the shift coming but didn’t expect it so soon.
“I don’t know that I can justify moving from one blue state to another…And I fear that Texas will never flip back,” Janel wrote. “Now that they have control, I don’t think they’ll let go.”
Janel questioned the logic of relocating within Texas or to another state only to end up somewhere that eventually resembles California politically. “That’s a lateral move. And for what? For it to look even more like California in four years?” she said. She’s weighing Tennessee, the Carolinas or Georgia instead — though Democrats also posted notable wins in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia this cycle, part of a broader night in which Democrats flipped both chambers of Congress.
Not necessarily a transplant-driven shift
Despite the narrative of disillusioned Californians fueling the blue wave, at least one researcher says that doesn’t track. Joshua Blank, research director of the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, told the LA Times that Californians moving to Texas “tend to be moderate to conservative in their views.”
Blank also pushed back on the idea that transplants should uproot again over election results. “They don’t have to move back,” he said. “And if they do, I’m gonna tell them they’re silly. It’s not a good way to make decisions.”
Cost of living still the bigger driver
Politics aside, affordability remains the primary reason Californians cite for leaving the state, according to Bailey. “Ninety-nine percent of our clientele are people moving from California,” she said. “No. 1 [reason] is cost of living and No. 2 is politics.”
A 2025 analysis from the California-based RAND policy research institute found that building multifamily housing costs more than 2.3 times as much in California as it does in Texas.
Bailey’s website has featured success stories from families who made the move, including one couple who sold a two-bedroom, one-bathroom house in Orange County and bought a five-bedroom, four-bathroom home in Texas. “Our enthusiasm for Texas is real, our abundance is overflowing, and we are grateful, y’all,” they wrote.
Another family, the Gomezes, said they left California after the pandemic nearly destroyed their business, putting them “within an inch of total financial ruin.” After one visit to Texas, they decided to relocate for good. “If you’re on the fence, this is your sign. Take the leap. The weight has lifted and we’re beyond blessed to be in Texas,” they wrote.
