The only state keeping the Republican Party viable at the national level in presidential races is the state of Texas. Texas and its 38 electoral votes help to form the backbone in any Republican quest for the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.Republicans have not lost Texas since 1976, when Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford after Nixon resigned in the wake of the Watergate scandal. Whether Republicans have won or lost the overall race, Texas has been blood red (Mitt Romney won by 16% there in 2012).But now with Donald Trump as the Republican nominee, suddenly the race has seriously narrowed in Texas.Donald Trump is still winning in the deep red state, but his advantage has dropped precipitously from double digits to under 5 percent in the last two weeks. The last three polls in the state show him ahead of Hillary Clinton by only 2 points in a Washington Post-SurveyMonkey poll, 3 points in a University of Houston poll and 4 points in a Survey USA/Texas Tenga poll.All of those most recent polls were conducted after the Oct. 7 release of a tape in which Trump bragged about sexually assaulting women. Polls conducted in the prior month show the GOP candidate leading by at least 12 and up to 22 points. A couple of earlier polls had signaled the race might be closer than expected, but there hasn t been consistent evidence until now.A Clinton win in Texas isn t required for there to be considered a major ground-shifting development. Even a single-digit Texas loss would be a huge step forward for Democrats there, and a shock to the system for Republicans.The growing Latino population in Texas has consistently raised Democratic hopes that the state could be tipped into their column like it has been in Colorado, Nevada, and New Mexico. Democrats are also hoping for success in Arizona, where incumbent Senator John McCain recently denounced Trump for his crude comments with Billy Bush.Things are changing in the southwest, and they might change faster than anyone expected.Featured image via Flickr