DALLAS — Texas Democrats are sticking by their chair after reelecting Kendall Scudder to the role during their recent state convention. Meanwhile, Republicans voted in a new chair, D’Rinda Randall.

There has been a lot of talk about unity on both sides of the aisle.

Republicans sent a clear message: they wanted new leadership at the state level and even at the local level.

The person who’s running the ship here for the Dallas County Republicans is also making history, following the changes that have happened within their own party over the last few months.

“So, there was a recent interview with Chairman Randall, newly elected chairman Randall of the RPT. And she was quite candid on sharing with everyone what we already know. There is a lot of division in the Republican Party, or at least in the Republican Party of Texas right now. And Dallas County Republican Party is no exception. Unfortunately, throughout this year, we’ve experienced a significant amount of disunity,” said Monty Montanez, chair of the Dallas County Republican Party.

Montanez came in after Lt. Col. Allen West resigned from the role in April, following issues triggered by precinct-based voting and what he said were personal attacks launched within his own party.

On the statewide level, Republicans said goodbye to their incumbent and voted in Randall as chair of the Texas Republican Party during the party’s convention in June.

“Sometimes we have to go in a different direction. And that’s kind of where we are at this at this moment on a state level. We’re going — we need to move in a different direction as well as on this county level in Dallas County. The people have spoken,” said AJ Yvette, a member of the Dallas County Republican Party.

The message was heard loud and clear for the Democrats as well. During their state convention in June, they stood behind their current chair, despite some Texas Democrats accusing the chair of “managing the party poorly” back in April.

“I mean, this is super exciting getting elected at a convention, right? Because it’s very different than how I got elected in an interim, which is like of the executive body. So, to get 73% of the vote in a four-way race on the convention floor was a fantastic thing. I think what it means is that the grassroots of this party are very happy with the direction that it’s going,” said Scudder.

Scudder was first elected after the former chair, Gilberto Hinojosa, resigned following what he called “devastating defeats up and down the ballot in Texas and across the country,” back in November 2024.

Now all roads lead to November for both parties, and Scudder is feeling especially confident.

“I believe the path that we’ve been taking has been working. We’ve been winning elections all across Texas, in a Senate district in Tarrant County where Democrats typically wouldn’t have even fielded a candidate. We threw down, put our whole coordinated campaign behind it, made 1.5 million phone calls, believed that previous elections don’t vote. Polls don’t vote. The people do. And we over-performed it by 31 points and flipped a seat in the Texas Senate. We flipped the mayor in Leander, the mayor in Pearland, the school board in Cy-Fair. I mean, we have been winning elections all across Texas with this reality and this focus: that people are who drive this government, not the billionaires, not the special interests. You are,” said Scudder.

Despite being the new kid on the block and being left with what he calls a “financial mess,” Montanez remains hopeful that with his military background and his experience in finance, the Dallas County Republican Party will overcome.

“We’ve got about one month of cash on hand, and that’s it. Doors closed, so it’s tough,” said Montanez.

It also doesn’t hurt that he’s making history in the county as well.

“Being the first Latino chairperson for Dallas County in its history speaks volumes. Because I not only know how to reach out to those communities authentically. I also understand how to sit down with them, how to engage them, and then in which way to engage them so that we can bring them into the Republican Party and win in November,” said Montanez.