A sign that the political battlegrounds are shifting?

HOUSTON – Vice President Kamala Harris will visit Houston this Friday ahead of the upcoming election.

It's a remarkable move in a state that has been reliably conservative for more than 40 years.

RELATED: Vice President Kamala Harris will campaign in Houston ahead of Election Day on November 5th

KPRC 2's Candace Burns sat down with University of Houston history professor Dr. Nancy Beck Young, to discuss the significance of Harris' stay in the Lone Star State, especially as the 2024 elections approach.

“It's an indication of what Texas might look like in another cycle or two,” Dr. Young.

“Texas has never really been a competitive state. “If you go back to the 20th century, Texas was quintessentially Democratic – it almost never voted Republican and there were almost no Republican officeholders in the state,” Dr. Young. “At the end of the 20th century, Texas began to turn Republican.”

However, in recent elections, Young pointed out that the margins have narrowed. She noted that former Congressman Beto O'Rourke's narrow 2.6% loss to Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 and Joe Biden's narrow margin of victory in the 2020 presidential election signal that Texas may be moving toward the middle.

“Trump led the state by just nine points in 2016, and in 2020 Joe Biden was 5.6 points away from leading the state,” Dr. Young.

Although Dr. While Young said Vice President Harris was unlikely to win Texas for Democrats in 2024, she suggested Harris' visit signaled a long-term strategy.

“I think this is about 2028 and 2032 as well as 2024,” she added. “It’s about positioning Texas as a battleground state for future elections.”

Dr. Young also pointed to the growing influence of new Texans — people moving to the state from other parts of the country — who may bring different political values ​​with them.

“New people are coming to the state with the political values ​​they had before,” she explained. “They don’t follow the generational voting patterns that we’ve seen since the 1970s and 1980s.”

This is the first time in 30 years that a presidential candidate has stopped in Texas so close to the election. Details of Harris' campaign visit are limited at this time.

KPRC 2 will continue to provide updates as the event approaches.