In this week’s issue, Ryan Lizza examines the Republican Party’s problem attracting minority voters, specifically Hispanics, through the efforts and concerns of the G.O.P. in Texas, “the largest and most important state in the Republican firmament.” Lizza talks to Ted Cruz, the Hispanic senator-elect from Texas, about the future of his party in the state, and, ultimately, the nation. “If Republicans do not do better in the Hispanic community, in a few short years Republicans will no longer be the majority party in our state,” Cruz tells Lizza. And, “in not too many years, Texas could switch from being all Republican to all Democrat. If that happens, no Republican will ever again win the White House … If Texas is bright blue, you can’t get to two-seventy electoral votes. The Republican Party would cease to exist.” 

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