Blexas Prediction Come True: Casey McQuiston Looks Back at White, Royal Blue After Texas Wins (Exclusive)

Fans celebrate a Texas prediction

On election night, results showed Senate candidate James Talarico and gubernatorial hopeful Gina Hinojosa pulling out wins. Fans of Red, White & Royal Blue and its movie adaptation responded with memes celebrating “Blexas,” shorthand for “Blue Texas.” Some posts linked the excitement to the upcoming sequel novella, Red, White & Royal Blue: The Private Correspondence, due December 1. McQuiston reposted a fan meme on Instagram Stories and said they had received many more.

McQuiston said they usually maintain digital boundaries and avoid looking up their name or visiting reader spaces, but the memes proved hard to resist. They described feeling delighted for Texas and for the people they love who live there.

Why Texas shaped the story

McQuiston said the book reflected their view that Texas was more complicated than many people assumed and that its residents deserved better. They saw the state as a possible dramatic turning point in an election story, given its electoral votes.

They also said Texas offered a distinctly American setting alongside the novel’s British aristocracy. The contrast with an “American gunslinger vibe,” as McQuiston put it, helped shape the story’s world.

Politics and romance

McQuiston said they would welcome a collaboration with Talarico’s campaign. They also raised concerns about trans sports bans, describing them as a means of targeting trans people through legislation.

They urged people to pay attention to anti-trans measures, even when those policies might seem minor. In their view, political change can happen gradually, with lawmakers testing what they can get away with.

McQuiston argued that romance has always been connected to politics, including stories about women’s behavior and virtue. They said romance centered on women and marginalized people carries political weight, even when its plot is not explicitly about politics.