An Open Letter To Texas House Democrats: Be The Adults In The Room

The stakes are high, and Texans are counting on you to stay sharp this session.

Dec 16, 2024

Many Texas Republicans are drunks. Over the last several legislative sessions, we’ve watched GOP lawmakers stumbling through debates, slurring their words, and embarrassing themselves on the House floor. The Republicans’ drunkenness has become a disgraceful feature in the Texas Legislature, and the people of Texas deserve better than legislators who are doing the state’s business reeking of alcohol and stumbling at the front mic.

As the minority party, you cannot afford even a whiff of this behavior. While Republicans are out here making a mockery of governance, you need to be the adults in the room—sober, focused, and ready to outsmart a majority that often can’t even walk a straight line, let alone think strategically.

Optics matter—especially when the other side provides plenty of ammunition to highlight their recklessness. Like last year, when an obviously intoxicated John Kuempel stumbled over his words and blabbered nonsense for a minute straight.

If Democrats falter, even for a moment, it won’t just reflect on you as an individual; it will reflect on the entire Democratic Caucus. Worse, it will undermine your ability to effectively represent the millions of Texans counting on you to fight for their rights and well-being. While Republicans may treat the House floor as an extension of their happy hour, you must treat it as the grave, strategic battleground that it is.

Sobriety for Democrats in the Texas House isn’t just about optics—it’s about ensuring you’re clear-headed enough to anticipate their next move, seize opportunities for coalition-building, and stand strong when they try to steamroll you.

While Republicans like Jeff Leach come back from lunch tipsy and play fingers with their co-workers while joking about the words “penal code,” like a 12-year-old boy, Democrats need to be sharp-minded and ready to hit the right back on whatever oppressive legislation they’re pushing that day.

It’s okay to drink with your co-workers and let your hair down.

All Texans expect is for you to drink off of the clock. This upcoming session is unlike any we’ve seen before. Christian Nationalism is no longer simmering beneath the surface; it’s boiling over into policy, emboldened by a Republican supermajority hell-bent on stripping away the rights of Texans. From attacks on LGBTQ+ individuals to efforts to control what women do with their bodies, the legislative agenda is a full-scale assault on personal freedoms.

Even though some Republicans admit to being alcoholics, like Richard Hayes from Collin County:

Texans are supposed to look the other way when they are inebriated on the House floor, like this:

As the minority party, Democrats must be disciplined and focused. These are not ordinary times, and this is no ordinary session. The rights of millions of Texans are under threat, and the decisions made in this chamber will reverberate for generations.

While the Gilead Wives Club slams back shots during lunch and acts like a bunch of giggling school girls on the House floor, Democrats must be at their best, at their sharpest, and ready to fight strategically at every turn.

The people of Texas are looking to Democrats to be their last line of defense against a majority that is more focused on ideological warfare than meaningful governance.

There is lots of proof of Republican drunkenness on the House floor—is there any proof that Democrats partake?

A few months back, I discussed the drunkenness on the House floor with Representative Tom Oliverson (R), who swore up and down that it was a “both-sides” issue. Even though I had the video clips ready to share, Oliverson’s only example he could point to was an accusation that a Democrat was swaying at the back mic in 2017.

I’ve only been watching/clipping the Legislature for all 140 days for the past two sessions, so I did not see the incident he spoke of (nearly eight years ago). Since I’ve been clipping Lege videos, I’ve only seen Republican drunkenness. However, there is little doubt in my mind that some Democrats may have been hitting the sauce with their Republican co-workers.

They just haven’t been caught slurring their words, like Valoree Swanson was here:

Dear Texas Legislative Democrat,

Your discipline and focus could mean the difference between stopping harmful bills or watching them sail through unchallenged. While the opposition may act with reckless abandon, you must be resolute, united, and prepared to outmaneuver them at every opportunity. You cannot do that under the influence.

While Republicans stumble over their words and laugh their way through debates, Democrats have the chance to be the steady, disciplined voice of reason that Texans desperately need. At a time when the majority party is making a mockery of the legislative process—drunk both on power and, often, whiskey—Democrats must be better than their chaos.

You can show Texans that not all lawmakers treat the House floor like an after-hours bar. By staying focused and sober, you can present yourselves as serious leaders Texans can trust to fight for their rights and freedoms. Let the Republicans be the punchline of a late-night joke.

While the Republican Party stumbles through governance, the Democratic Caucus should be unified, strategic, and clear-eyed. During the 89th Texas Legislative Session, please stay sober and focused. This is how you build credibility and trust—not just for the session ahead but for the elections to come.

This is your chance to show what responsible, thoughtful leadership looks like in the face of recklessness and ideological warfare. Texas needs you at your best, your sharpest, and your strongest. We’re depending on you. We’re counting on you. Don’t let us down.

January 14: The 89th Legislative Session begins.
March 14: The last day Legislators can file bills.
June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.