When Texas state senator Wendy Davis held an eleven hour long filibuster to block Senate Bill 5, legislation that would create new abortion regulations in Texas, she was hailed as the new liberal hero by media outlets.

Southern Methodist University student Haley Waring details Davis’ biography and why this should worry Americans, in light of her gubernatorial ambitions.

So why should the average liberty-loving American care what Davis says or does? Texas is a seemingly solid red state and this election isn’t exactly in the forefront of most people’s minds right now. It’s easy to write her off as a summer sensation that will fizzle out in the red sea that is Texas politics. The source of donations that poured in during the days following the filibuster suggest that such a prediction seems reasonable. By the end of June, Davis received 15,290 donations and only about 4,900 were from Texans. This means about 68% of Southern Methodist University |Davis’s initial wave of donations came from outside of Texas. While the battle may very well already be lost for Senator Davis, liberals across the country evidently don’t seem to think so.

Democrats nationwide are invested in this election because they get it. They fully understand what’s at stake. A Davis victory could set the stage for a blue or at least purple Texas, a dream they’ve had since Ann Richards moved out of the mansion in 1995.

Are the goals of Battleground Texas and Organizing for Action finally going to reach fruition come November 4th, 2014? Could the future of Texas have a lot less Abbott and Cruz and a lot more Davis and Castro?

While the GOP chorus assures constituents that there is no need to worry, poll numbers may suggest otherwise. Attorney General Abbott, the leading GOP contender is only leading Davis by single digits.

It’s too soon to tell if the left can successfully pull this off, but I will say this, and I don’t make this type of prediction lightly, if Texas turns blue the Republicans will not win another national election for a very long time. If the democrats gain Texas’s 38 electoral votes and add them to the traditionally blue states, a GOP victory is simply mathematically impossible.

Wendy Davis’s election as governor would foster a new norm in Texas. We must be alert to the reality of what would befall us if we were to ever lose the state that has become a beacon of hope to conservatives across America. Texas is a fertile ground for strong values, fiscal responsibility, job growth, and gun rights. There are endlessly wonderful things about this state and it’s diverse population but Wendy Davis could change all of that. Come 2014, a Governor Davis would not just be an issue for the lone star state but for the entire country. If Texas turns blue, we all turn blue.