click to enlarge Gage Skidmore, Flickr.com

Need more proof Texas is becoming a swing state?Republican Sen. John Cornyn this week said his home state is no longer “reliably red” and looking closer to lilac on the political color wheel."Texas is no longer, I believe, a reliably red state," Cornyn told radio host Hugh Hewitt . "We are on the precipice of turning purple, and we've got a lot of work to do to keep it red, because we lost. We got blown out in the urban areas. We got beat in the suburbs, which used to be our traditional strongholds."As evidence, Cornyn pointed out that Ted Cruz, R-Texas, barely eked out a victory over Democratic wunderkind Beto O'Rourke in the midterms thanks to rural support. O'Rourke, a former El Paso congressman, trounced Cruz in most of the state's urban and suburban districts.Cornyn's remark comes as the Texas legislature prepares to convene with 12 new Democratic members in the House and two in the Senate.To be sure, the senator's comment is more evidence of Texas' shifting politics. And it's not coming from the mouth of someone known for his lefty sympathies.