As the 2024 presidential race intensifies, with three more Republicans expected to throw their hats into the ring this week, for the first time in five decades, there's a chance no Texan will step into the arena. 

What You Need To Know

  • For the first time in five decades, there's a chance no Texan will pursue the White House in 2024

  • Since 1972, there's been a prominent Texan in the running. In the most recent campaign cycles, they've mostly been Republicans 
  • "It is kind of surprising, but when you look at the Texas bench, there aren't a lot of viable candidates," said Brian Smith, a political science professor at St. Edward's University. "There aren't really a lot of Texans on the rise or have a lot of name recognition, access to money to be able to make a real presidential bid" 

  • Republican Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, bowed out of the 2016 presidential election once Trump took a commanding lead in the GOP primary, and now Cruz is focused on his Senate reelection campaign

Texans from both parties have catapulted from the Lone Star State to the White House. Since 1972, there's been a prominent Texan in the running for president. In recent campaign cycles, they've mostly been Republicans. 

"Well, Texas is a big red state. There's a lot of money and a lot of Republican primary votes here in Texas," said Brendan Steinhauser, a Republican strategist and partner of Steinhauser Strategies, an Austin-based public relations and political communications firm.

"Any governor of Texas and a U.S. senator has to take a hard look at it to say, 'Is running for president something that I want to throw my hat into the ring for?' Because there's an opportunity for them to raise a lot of money to compete, and to make the case that we should make Washington, D.C., more like Texas," Steinhauser continued. 

But as the 2024 election kicks into gear, with an open Republican primary getting more crowded by the day, there's no Texan in the running.

"It is kind of surprising, but when you look at the Texas bench, there aren't a lot of viable candidates," said Brian Smith, a political science professor at St. Edward's University in Austin. "There aren't really a lot of Texans on the rise or have a lot of name recognition, access to money to be able to make a real presidential bid." 

Smith believes that when it comes to vying for the White House, there's an elephant in the room.

"[Former President] Donald Trump's out there," said Smith. "And he is really taking a lot of oxygen out of that room and really grabbing a lot of Republican support, even for the first primary vote."

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, bowed out of the 2016 presidential election once Trump took a commanding lead in the GOP primary. Now Cruz is focused on his Senate reelection campaign.

As for Gov. Greg Abbott, he's still occupied with an extended Texas legislative session.

Meanwhile, another Republican governor from a big state, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, has been busy rallying across the country with some swings in the Lone Star State.  

"I think if you were to ask them, they would say, 'Hey, I'm not going to give up this job, I'm not going to risk it, unless I know there's a really good chance that have an opportunity to be president of the United States,'" Steinhauser said. "And certainly, they're also young enough where they can look to the future and say, if I don't run this cycle, perhaps I can run in the future." 

With so many voters, Texas will loom large in 2024. But with no hometown favorites, Texans will have to look beyond their state to pick the next commander in chief.