No Trump War: Dallas Pushes Back

This is what it looks like when a state finally runs out of patience.

Today was a big day for Democrats in Dallas. We started the day with the Texas Progressive Legislative Caucus, which held the “People’s Hearing,” a discussion about groceries, rent, tuition... basically, the high prices Texans have suffered under thirty years of Republican rule.

It started early. Every House member there was from the Progressive Legislative Caucus, so you know they were all principled, and it was a good discussion. And I got to see our progressive queen, Representative Ana-Maria Rodriguez-Ramos:

Several Democratic candidates, along with small business owners and members of the public, showed up to testify. Including:

• HD33 candidate Orlando Lopez (D)

• HD64 candidate Julie Evans (D)

• HD65 candidate Detrick Deburr (D)

• HD108 candidate Allison Mitchell (D)

• SD02 candidate Keenen Colbert (D)

I did live-stream the entire thing on TikTok, but here is the replay if you’re interested:

Then, there was a march on the RNC.

Here are some of the signs I saw.

This was about 20 minutes before the march. Notice the Vikki Goodwin bus?

Because Vikki Goodwin is a real one.

Most Democratic representatives and candidates today were doing press conferences and meeting with influencers. Not that there is anything wrong with that, but Vikki Goodwin showed up on the ground with the people. With hundreds of left-leaning Dallasites marching in the streets against Trump’s war/agenda/economy/bullshit. She was the only candidate to do that. And the groups there were generally further left than the groups at the later evening rally.

That’s something that not a lot of people always pick up on, but to win Texas, you have to win the left, and by doing so, in turn, you pick up non-voters. If you can get them to pay attention. Vikki Goodwin gets that. Clayton Tucker gets that. Some of the candidates we have running really understand Texas populism at its core.

Vikki Goodwin and I, today, before the march:

Then during the march:

The Texas House Democratic Caucus held a press conference.

They talked about how we’re about to flip Texas, and how Trump’s redistricting scheme will backfire. There was a lot of discussion about the failure of the last 30 years of Republican governance in Texas, high prices, crumbling infrastructure, and starving public schools.

John Bryant reminded us how 70% of Texas students are being educated in a school district with a deficit budget, while billions of our tax dollars are being funneled to the GOP’s voucher program.

Cassandra Garcia-Hernandez said Republicans have stripped cities of local control and that communities all over Texas can’t decide their own needs because of the Republican government in Austin.

Representative-elect Junior Ezeonu discussed the affordability crisis, the minimum wage, the rising gas prices, and how Texans can’t buy houses.

Salman Bhojani talked about the SBOE’s attack on education and Republicans’ attack on history, civil rights, and freedom of thought.

Linda Garcia remarked on how much of Texas’ economy immigrants contribute to.

Mihaela Plesa told reporters the quickest way to find out about the affordability crisis is to open the Nextdoor app.

Then, Gene Wu reminisced about the quorum break in Chicago and why Democrats’ hands were forced. He said Republicans lied, cheated, and stole through gerrymandering.

When Ana-Maria Rodriguez-Ramos came to the mic, she told the story about how, when Republicans were trying to erase Hispanic and African-American history, she changed her name back to her roots.

This moment was so fantastic; even if you don’t watch the 40-minute press conference, these 45 seconds are worth the gander:

Notice how, when Rodriguez-Ramos is talking, the other four women legislators are looking at her? 😍 I love seeing women supporting other women.

We the People rally.

I didn’t get to make it to the rally tonight, and I’m disappointed with some of the footage. The best I could find is a Fox link that starts around 34 mins in and doesn’t include all the speakers. But it does get:

• Kendall Scudder

• Beto

• Alisa Simmons

• Marc Veasey

All of this because some old guy who poops in his pants wanted to come to my hometown today. Or yesterday. And traffic was total shit.

Trump is here because he’s underwater, and he’s underwater because it’s worse here. In Texas, it’s always worse. Getting squeezed from every direction, rising tariffs, a shrinking immigrant labor force gutting construction and agriculture, and an electricity market that’s gone rogue. AI data centers and crypto mining are eating the grid and our water, and let’s not even mention healthcare or infrastructure.

The state of the union is prices up, coverage down, the grid one hot July away from a repeat of 2021, and an EPA that’s decided the planet cooking us alive is somebody else’s problem.

And Republicans want to party.

None of this fixes itself. It’s thirty years of choices, and 2026 is a chance to make different ones. So go vote next month, tell your friends who don’t pay attention that groceries cost what they cost because of decisions made in Austin and DC, and keep an eye on HD33, HD64, HD65, HD108, and SD02, because these are the races that flip this state.

• 54 days until the November election!

• Did you know you can find links to all the previous Meet the Candidate articles on these lists?:

• Who Will Be On The 2026 State Ballot?

• Who Will Be On The 2026 Federal Ballot?

• Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.

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