Facing a rapidly changing voter base, anti-Trump fervor and a more motivated Democratic Party, the state GOP is moving earlier than ever to prepare after watching two House members lose in 2018 and another half-dozen win by fewer than 5 points…

“I still think people are trying to decide how much of [the midterm results] were idiosyncratic,” said Republican campaign strategist Jerod Patterson, “or how much is structural changes in electorate.”

But Texas Republicans acknowledge that they have to win over voters like women, minorities and others that President Donald Trump has alienated and who are moving to Texas towns.

“Be real about it,” said Brendan Steinhauser, who was Sen. John Cornyn’s campaign manager in 2014 and worked for McCaul and fellow Republican Rep. Dan Crenshaw. “Don’t try to run away from the President if you voted with him 85 percent of the time.”