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Kristin Hook, Kristian Carranza, Clayton Tucker, Sarah Eckhardt, Jose Menendez and Ron Nirenberg (left to right) pose for a group photo Wednesday at Bexar County Democratic Party headquarters. Credit: Nico Roldan<\/p>\nKristin Hook, Kristian Carranza, Clayton Tucker, Sarah Eckhardt, Jose Menendez and Ron Nirenberg (left to right) pose for a group photo Wednesday at Bexar County Democratic Party headquarters. Credit: Nico Roldan<\/p>\n
Texas Democrats gathered Wednesday at the party\u2019s Bexar County headquarters for an informal gathering to energize volunteers as early voting enters its final days.<\/p>\n
State Sen. Sarah Eckhardt, D-Austin, who\u2019s running for Texas comptroller, organized the last-minute effort to provide a final burst of momentum. She told the Current she picked San Antonio for a visit late in the election cycle because she believes local volunteers have done a tremendous job getting people to the polls. <\/p>\n
She explained that voter enthusiasm tends to drop off the second week of the early voting period, and she wanted the gathering to stoke continued turnout.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen one party has been in charge exclusively for 30 years, no matter whether it\u2019s a Democratic one-party rule or Republican one-party rule, that has a tendency to breed inefficiencies, if not straight-up corruption,\u201d Eckhardt said. \u201cAnd I think most Texans now understand that we are in the corruption phase of one-party rule.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wednesday\u2019s event brought together familiar political faces, including Texas agriculture commissioner hopeful Clayton Tucker, state Sen. Jos\u00e9 Men\u00e9ndez, state Sen. Roland Gutierrez, former San Antonio mayor and former Bexar County judge candidate Ron Nirenberg, congressional candidate Kristin Hook and Texas House candidate Kristian Carranza.<\/p>\n
For the first time in modern history, there\u2019s a Democrat running in every state and federal race this cycle in the Lone Star State, according to the Texas Tribune<\/a>.<\/p>\n Bert Santiba\u00f1ez, campaign director for the Bexar Democrats, said the scale of local voter outreach in San Antonio this cycle has been enormous. <\/p>\n The Bexar County Democratic Party has knocked on 120,000 doors so far this election cycle, spoken with 28,000 people and made more than 80,000 calls, he said. The party has raised $400,000 this cycle and also is on track to reach 3 million online impressions.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re looking for more stability and a change in the cycle,\u201d Santiba\u00f1ez said. \u201cTexas Republicans have wanted to rule Texas for 30-plus years, and it just seems that voters are looking to change.\u201d<\/p>\n Early voting in San Antonio this cycle has already surpassed total early voting turnout for the 2022 midterms, with Democrats outpacing Republicans, according to Santiba\u00f1ez. He said concerns about the cost of living and immigration policies, not to mention anxiety over the nation\u2019s current political climate, are motivating people to head to the polls.<\/p>\n Field organizer Tricia Gronnevik said similar concerns come up during her conversations while canvassing San Antonio neighborhoods. Gronnevik spent the day walking neighborhoods on San Antonio\u2019s far north side with Hook, who\u2019s running to represent Texas\u2019 21st Congressional District.<\/p>\n Gronnevik said repeat visits this cycle by Democratic candidates<\/a> reflect Bexar County\u2019s significance in statewide races. U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa and Vikki Goodwin, who\u2019s running for lieutenant governor, all held events here last week.<\/p>\n \u201cThe fact that they believe in Texas and that they know we\u2019re not a lost cause gives me the kind of hope that I need to keep going,\u201d Gronnevik said of the repeat visits. \u201cIt can get hard doing this work, you know? Election after election cycle, getting so close in some cases.\u201d<\/p>\n Tucker, the agriculture commissioner candidate, also stressed the importance of reaching voters in the San Antonio area, given the city\u2019s economic and cultural value to the state. He added that concerns about food affordability, food safety and data centers are the most pressing issues he\u2019s heard about from voters of both parties.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not about what jersey you wear during the sports season, politically or otherwise. This is about coming together and doing what\u2019s best for Texans,\u201d Tucker said.<\/p>\n As the Friday deadline for early voting approaches, Eckhardt emphasized the importance of residents urging friends and family to participate in the political process \u2014 and doing so this cycle.<\/p>\n \u201cYour best chance at restoring stability and fairness, transparency, accountability and trust is to vote for a change,\u201d Eckhardt said. <\/p>\n Texas politics is a mess. We make it a readable mess.<\/p>\n Sign up for San Antonio Current\u2019s new \u201cTexas Politics This Week\u201d newsletter.<\/p>\n Sign Up for SA Current newsletters.<\/a><\/p>\n Follow us:\u00a0Apple News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google News<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0NewsBreak<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Reddit<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Instagram<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Facebook\u00a0<\/a>| Twitter<\/a>\u00a0| Or sign up for our\u00a0RSS Feed<\/a><\/p>\n Related Stories<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t \n\t\t\t\t\tThe Republican Senate hopeful\u2019s campaign scrapped at least three events this week amid low turnout at his rallies. \t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
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