Chop Wood, Carry Texas 10/30 🌵
Hi, all on Team Texas!
First, I hope you’re all hanging in there. I know it’s been a brutal month.
Second, I know it’s been a minute since I reached out, but I did just come across a Texas-related event I thought many of you would be interested in. It’s with Blue Texas, an organization founded by the folks at Every State Blue. Blue Texas is run on the same principles as David Pepper’s Blue Ohio and Jess Piper’s Blue Missouri. I can’t say enough good things about what these groups are doing—they’re trying to fund candidates to run for seats in red states that normally go unopposed. You can read why that’s important and more about their mission by reading Every State Blue’s “About” page here. Then just imagine that happening in Texas and you’ve got Blue Texas!
Here’s part of the email they just sent out:
We hope you’ll join Blue Texas on Thursday, November 2nd for a conversation about school vouchers with rural firebrand Jessica Piper and school voucher expert Josh Cowen.
Click here to register!
Our Blue Texas community is working to fund Democratic nominees for the Texas state legislature. If you’re not already a member, we hope you’ll join today. (You can do that by clicking here.)
And we hope to see you on November 2 for our conversation with Jess Piper and Josh Cowan!
This is so cool. They’ll let you join for as little as a dollar a month. Please consider signing up! This is a long fight but we can win it if we all chip in. Also? Jess Piper is my shero. You. Will. Love. Her.
Hope some of you can make it.
More soon.
Jess
Thank you, Jess! I signed up for the event and became a monthly donor. While the bulk of my political donations go, via Flip the Vote, to purpler states and critical districts where the margins are tighter, I actually do support TEXAS Organizing Project with a very small monthly donation, ever since Alejandra Gómez and Tomás Robles (co-directors of LUCHA) mentioned TOP in this fabulous article about early and consistent donations to build political power in Red States over the long run. https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/21/opinion/sunday/latinos-arizona-battleground.html
Everyone should read that article -- it will lift your spirits. It explains so well exactly what grassroots organizations do, how they drive election turnout and build long-lasting political power. I believe the message does, indeed, provide a roadmap for TX and the rest of our country.
I love that LUCHA started with that awful Show Me Your Papers Law in 2010 -- that lowest moment when so many of us wrote Arizona off as a hopeless, awful, deeply red state. I think that we are at exactly such a point nationally. With abortion and book bans and LGBTIQA legislation on top of all the other issues like guns and environment where they've always been out of touch, Republicans have crossed a line. That seems to be spurring infrequent voters to turn out and get engaged as we can see by Dems' performance in special elections and 2022 midterms. Maybe TX politicians have gotten to that point too, where they have crossed a line and the MILLIONS of unregistered or infrequent voters are now reachable by grassroots organizers. I believe so.
Here's another article by Stacey Abrams and Lauren Groh-Wargo about the 10 years of organizing it took to flip Georgia. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/11/opinion/stacey-abrams-georgia-election.html
If we consider the 2018 midterms as a pivotal point when Beto started activating infrequent voters in TX, maybe we can hope that we're just 4 years away from flipping TX in 2028. But only if we invest and do the work now.
I was born and raised in west TX but I live in deep blue Berkeley, CA now. I still keep adding to my special TX victory play list so I will be ready to host my dance party in the street the day we flip an important seat in TX. I'm not giving up. The road to that day is paved with lots of smaller victories in state house and school board races! Stay strong ya'll and don't lose faith!