Democrats in Texas rally behind party chair Kendall Scudder amid controversy, highlighting optimism and infrastructure gains as the November election approaches.
DALLAS — Democrats in Texas are excited and engaged for the general election in November and actually have hope that the party will be able to make some gains. Even Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has warned that the GOP could have a tough time holding the Texas House if Republicans don’t stick together and show up at the polls.
That’s why many Democrats were surprised when a handful, three dozen or so, signed onto a public letter demanding party chair Kendall Scudder not run for reelection.
It seemed to backfire and led to hundreds of others to sign another letter coming to his defense.
“I will say after that came out, the letter that seems to be largely disgruntled former staff members, the grassroots of this party really rallied. And I’m so grateful that nearly 1,000 folks signed on to a letter, precinct chairs, county chairs, SEC members, elected officials, party leaders across the state, basically saying that it’s undeniable that the party is in a better spot now than it was a year ago,” Scudder told us on Inside Texas Politics.
When Scudder was first elected chair, one of his first steps was to “decentralize” the party by downsizing the headquarters in Austin. That meant some staffers were asked to move to other areas in the state, thought to be one of the main reasons some folks were upset.
The party now has offices all over Texas, including Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston, Austin, Amarillo and Eagle Pass.
“This party, the Democratic Party, has to be a 254-county party. It cannot be a party that just camps out in urban areas and tries to call it a day. Doesn’t matter how many consultants you lock into a room in Austin, they cannot buy their way out of this problem,” Scudder explained.
And Scudder stands by his – and the party’s – recent accomplishments. Since he was elected, the party has paid off its debt, flipped a state Senate seat, placed a Democrat on the ballot for every federal and statewide office, the first time that’s happened since 1972, and they also have around 80 staff members involved in a $30 million coordinated campaign.
Scudder has already filed to run for reelection, so he’s hopeful to stick around for a while.
“I think if you go up and down our ballot, we have great candidates this year, lots of excitement, and finally, we have some infrastructure. And I think that Republicans should be scared,” said the chair.