Robert Miller had an interesting blog post this morning about the importance of the urban vote in the Texas Republican primary and ultimately picking statewide winners.

The Republican primary vote has come to be dominated by the three corners of the Texas triangle.  In 2010, the Houston area[1] cast 19.34{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of Republican primary votes; DFW[2] cast 25.29{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}; and the Austin/San Antonio corridor[3] cast 14.36{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}.  In 2012, the Houston area cast 21.51{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of Republican primary votes; DFW cast 21.25{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}; and the Austin/San Antonio corridor cast 13.95{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}.

It is very important to read his footnotes to understand what he is talking about because those of us in “Houston” know we have a major problem.

“Houston” for purposes of this analysis means the Houston-The Woodlands-Sugar Land, TX Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) consisting of Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, San Jacinto and Waller counties.

The problem is that the Harris County Republican Party, which should be the driving force behind all Texas politics, is a mess of inflated egos and exclusion. County Chair Jared Woodfill has actually managed to shrink the party’s influence in the Texas Republican primary even as the county itself has experienced record growth. Here are the facts:

Since Woodfill took office in 2002, the share of Harris County primary voters in the Texas Republican primary has dropped from 13..5{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} to 11.1{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}:

And this happened even as the population of Harris County was booming:

Unless and until we get new leadership at the top of the Harris County Republican Party, this trend will continue.

You cannot keep minorities, gays, and young people out of your political party and expect it to grow and continue to win elections. Think about that when you choose a party chairman next March.