Why the race for TDP Chair matters.
State parties not only serve a vital role in our democracy but also are important in making the state competitive - this cycle might give us an even better shot than we had in 2018.
In Wisconsin, North Carolina, Arizona, and other competitive regions, we can see clearly how state parties have been playing essential roles in their elections. And in general, all state parties are uniquely positioned to serve as an invaluable vehicle for centralizing resources, and fully leveraging the data and financial infrastructure to optimize scaled programmatic work and reduce unnecessary duplication of efforts.
If we hope to build long term Democratic success, Texas Democrats must have a strong state party to build the infrastructure year-round.
For the past year, we’ve gone backwards. We’ve lost valuable donor and strategic partner relationships, as well as trust and credibility at the national level. According to the last FEC report, TDP currently has $150K in our federal account which is far from what we need to defeat the $100M GREG ABBOTT ALONE committed in his well-publicized quest to flip Harris County red.
We need professionals at the TDP who know what to look out for to ensure the elections run smoothly and that each vote is counted on election day. This election is too high stakes and the state is too important to the fight for control of the U.S. House, U.S. Senate, and presidency to risk the continued decline of the state party.
This is the time for Democrats to raise our aspirations; to think bigger and to do more.
I worked at the State Party as the ED starting in 2023. After speaking to hundreds of activists and leaders on the ground before I started that role, I knew that our job was to build infrastructure, and support party leaders and candidates so that they could have the tools and skills they need to win across the state.
I was hired on as a reformist but was saddled with six-figure debt and a fractured ecosystem. But we got to work; we:
Set up a finance committee that I called the Avengers;
Had conversations early with the U.S. Senate candidates to talk about how we could be strong partners;
TDP secured a joint fundraising agreement before the official start of the general election to help optimize the financial resources for the U.S. Senate race;
Promoted talented individuals from within the ranks and increased gender and racial representation at the director level;
We secured a solid collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the staff union and set our eyes on long-term planning for better benefits, including better health care and wage increases. We did this because we knew that these are the things that attract top tier professionals to TDP.
Reconstituted the County Services Department and moved primary elections underneath their purview so that the county chairs had seamless communication from recruitment to onboarding and through the primary election;
Hired a full time organizing director to support local parties and assisted them in the recruitment and training of precinct chairs, as well as identified new county chairs for vacant jurisdictions;
We built upon the incredible work of countless activists and leaders on the ground over the years, and launched a program called Lone Star Rising which aimed to recruit, train, and support both county parties and candidates. Underneath this program, we brought leaders from all across the state together to work on candidate recruitment and had one of the most successful efforts in years and all done within a very tough election cycle.
And much more….
As the next Chair of the Texas Democratic Party, the first thing I’ll do is launch an independent financial audit to get to the bottom of important questions which have been raised about the party’s fundraising and spending.
Additionally, I would build off of the great work from the time I was the executive director and include the ideas I have heard from even more elected leaders, Party leaders, donors, activists, national organizations, and volunteers. Here are some priorities I would tackle immediately to ensure we are prepared for the critical November elections:
Top 5 Priorities for the Texas Democratic Party
Ramp Up the Data Team Operations
We need to bring back staffing to the level we had in 2024 and prior in order to ensure the voter file has the most up-to-date, accurate, and accessible vote history, voter contact info, and voter targeting data. And the data team must be ready and able to respond to emergencies and answer questions from candidates, campaigns, county parties, and volunteers in a timely manner.
When I was ED, one of my immediate goals was to continue supporting our nationally recognized Data Team. I secured a six-figure commitment from an institution to fund the team so that we had in place the staff that could be responsive to the needs of the people and candidates on the ground. This is critical because this is the team that maintains the data , and conducts trainings and analytics, so candidates and party leaders can pull quality lists from VAN and target volunteers and voters . What happened this year with VAN should have never happened in the first place. We will make sure that not only is the staff in place to support all 254 counties but the voter file is maintained for this critical election in November.
Deploy a Robust and Vigilant Voter Protection Program
Voter protection is the team that is always on high alert to look out for Republican shenanigans and voter suppression. We need to scale this team with lawyers, volunteers, reporting tools and rapid response capacity so that TDP, along with elections officers and our allies partners can stop Trump and his cronies’ threats to free and fair Texas elections.
This election is TOO IMPORTANT and we already know that the Republicans will try any play in their playbook to destabilize elections.
Always “On” Communications
The Texas Democratic Party must be well-positioned to hold Republicans accountable each and every day. That means fighting in the mainstream press, along with social media, and new forms on creator-based content.
But it is not enough to just hold Republicans accountable for their failings — we’ve got to tell our story, too. The TDP needs to show that when Democrats fight and win, we deliver for working families.
The TDP Chair Should Serve Our Candidates and Community
When the Texas Democratic Party asks our fearless activists and donors on the ground for money to support candidates, we need to make sure that money is actually going to support those candidates and build the infrastructure.
If you look at the TDP’s financial reports right now, you’ll find consultants supplanting the duties of the permanent staff — many hired without a competive bidding process. Meanwhile, the TDP raised hundreds of thousands of dollars off of the brave Texas House Democrats’ quorum-busting trip to fight redistricting — a fight which inspired millions of activists across the country, and even led to Democratic redistricting in California and Virginia. But despite those valuable dollars raised, TDP has given virtually zero funds to support Democratic members of the House and House candidates across the state. TDP should not be a free-for -all for consultant friends while leaving our candidates, including our state legislators, out to dry.
Supporting County Parties and Clubs
We need a thorough analysis of what our local parties and clubs’ strengths and needs are throughout the state so that we can better serve local candidates and volunteers.
Today the TDP has a handful of "satellite offices” but they remain unsupported by staff. Half measures and partial investments aren’t the meaningful infrastructure investment our county parties need.