Reader Poll: Forget The Consultants. What Do You Want Democrats To Run On?
The platform is already progressive. The campaigns should be, too.
This week, I’ve had a few potential Texas House candidates reach out to me to talk about how they either intend to run for office or are considering running for office. One of them is a great candidate, I told them, “Do it!” The other plans on running on a centrist platform, and I haven’t responded to them yet. But this got my wheels turning.
We all saw last year what a disaster Colin Allred and Kamala Harris turned out to be in Texas. Millions of Democratic voters stayed home. Both Allred and Harris ran on a centrist, even conservative, platform on some issues. I believe this turned off many Texas Democratic voters because, in general, Texas Democratic voters lean much further to the left than the DNC or parties from other states.
This is evident from the Texas Democratic Party platform, which is the most progressive state party platform in the United States.
The people built this platform. Every two years, Democratic voters elect precinct and county chairs, who then serve as delegates at the state convention. Those delegates debate, draft, and vote on the platform line by line, making it a direct reflection of what grassroots Democrats across Texas believe and want.
But when the top of the ticket runs in direct contradiction to that platform by watering down core values, avoiding bold stances, or leaning into conservative talking points, it turns people off. Voters notice. And many of them, especially those who’ve put in the work at the local level, stay home.
I’d like to know what you think.
How should a Democrat in Texas be running if they want to win? And not just win, but stand for something worth showing up for?
Last cycle, I profiled as many candidates as I could. My approach was pretty straightforward. Who is the candidate, who are they running against, and what does the district look like? This year, I want to go a step further. I’m planning to send candidates a set of policy questions to help you and all voters get a clearer picture of where they stand. These questions will be rooted in the Texas Democratic Party platform, but I also want your input, because at the end of the day, we’re all in this together. And who knows, your feedback might help shape some of the election coverage I put out this year. Let’s get into it.
Healthcare.
One congressional race I’ve been watching isn’t in Texas, but in Illinois, a blue state. And the candidate running, Kat Abughazaleh, is running as an unapologetic progressive in a safe blue seat.
She’s recently made headlines, mostly on right-wing media, for saying, “Everyone deserves healthcare.” She was advocating for universal healthcare, but the right-wing backlash was about how “she thinks illegals should have healthcare, too.”
She isn’t wrong. And when so-called Conservatives talk about undocumented immigrants getting healthcare treatment, they are speaking out of racism, and not a fiscal conservative point of view. As study after study proves, universal healthcare would save America trillions of dollars.
Public Citizen: Fact Check: Medicare for All Would Save the US Trillions
Here is what the Texas Democratic Party platform says:
“We support affordable, high-quality, universal healthcare, including moving towards publicly-funded healthcare.”
Knowing this, should Democratic candidates in Texas advocate for this on their platforms?
Labor and worker rights.
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “All Texas workers should receive a living wage indexed to inflation, including tipped workers.”
A livable wage in Texas is currently $21.85.
Only yesterday, Republican US Senator Josh Hawley proposed a bill to raise the federal minimum wage to $15 per hour. Strange and unusual, indeed.
In this last legislative session, six Democratic bills were filed to raise the minimum wage in Texas. Three of them were to $15 per hour, one was $13 per hour, one was $18 per hour, and one was $19 per hour. $15 seems to be the consensus. So…
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “Mandate the right for employees to form or join a union to negotiate collectively with their employer without fear of union-busting attacks or laws such as prohibitions on payroll deduction of union dues,” and “Repeal so-called ‘right-to-work’ laws designed to weaken labor unions.”
Energy and Climate.
The TDP’s energy and climate platform is immensely progressive. Probably the most aggressive state-level platform in the country when it comes to environmental justice, climate action, and clean energy transition. And honestly, it has to be. Climate injustice in Texas is baked into our zoning laws, our pollution maps, and the very agencies meant to regulate it. From Port Arthur to Houston’s east side to the colonias near the border, low-income Texans and communities of color are living on the front lines of toxic exposure, flaring, water contamination, and blackouts.
At the same time, Texas is one of the largest contributors to the climate crisis on the planet. We’re home to sprawling oilfields, unregulated methane leaks, a fossil-fueled power grid, and some of the most profitable polluters in the world. Our state produces more carbon emissions than most countries. So if we’re going to turn the ship, it has to start here.
The Texas Democratic Party knows this. The platform calls for ending oil and gas subsidies, enforcing strict pollution rules, investing in clean energy jobs, and ultimately connecting Texas to the national grid so that we can stop freezing to death in the winter.
Should our candidates run on this? Or should they dodge it, play it safe, and hope voters don’t ask too many questions?
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “End state and federal subsidies and tax incentives for oil and gas production.”
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “Institute a carbon tax and reinvest proceeds in clean energy.”
Public Education.
If there’s one thing the Texas GOP wants to destroy more than the climate, it’s public education. Year after year, they defund schools, demonize teachers, slash special ed, and shove voucher schemes down our throats while pretending they care about “parental rights.” Meanwhile, real Texas parents, students, and educators are begging for fully funded schools, fair pay, smaller classes, mental health support, and a basic respect for the truth in the classroom.
That’s where the Texas Democratic Party platform comes in. It offers a full, unapologetic defense of public education. From universal pre-K to free community college, from ending vouchers to restoring teacher pensions, from ethnic studies to protecting LGBTQIA+ students, it reads like a blueprint for what school could be if we actually gave a damn about every kid (not just the rich ones).
The TDP calls for significant state investment, strong local control, higher wages, and genuine equity in everything from testing to curriculum development. It’s pro-teacher, pro-student, anti-privatization, and deeply progressive. And yet? Many candidates still downplay it or avoid it entirely.
Should Texas Democrats run on this? Should they lead with it? Or hide from it?
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “Prohibit misnamed “school choice” scams, such as the use of vouchers, including special education vouchers, virtual schools used as virtual vouchers, or voucher equivalent tax credit schemes that seek to support private and sectarian schools,” and “Prohibit the forced consolidation of rural school districts and preempt any attempt to fund private schools with public funds, also known as school vouchers.”
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “Fully fund access to high-quality, full-day public pre-K for every child, count these students for full-day attendance and all special allotments, and establish appropriate standards for the highest quality instruction.”
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “Ensure all public school children are provided free school breakfasts, lunches, and after-school snacks, as well as summer breakfast and lunch programs for all public school children.”
Democracy and Voting Rights.
Texas has become a national blueprint for how to suppress voters while pretending it’s about “election integrity.” From shuttered polling places to targeted purges, racist voter ID laws, bans on mobile voting, and criminal penalties for helping your grandma vote, this state has spent years perfecting the art of disenfranchisement.
But the Texas Democratic Party platform calls for same-day voter registration, universal vote-by-mail, paper trails, polling places on every college campus, and a full repeal of the state’s discriminatory voter ID law. It also goes further with ranked-choice voting, an end to gerrymandering, and joining the National Popular Vote Compact to ensure every ballot matters.
The platform says, “We expand access. We don’t restrict it.”
Should candidates run on that? Or is it too ambitious for Texas politics as usual?
Let’s see what you think.
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “Increase access to the ballot through automatic or same-day registration, online registration, adherence to federal “Motor Voter” laws, the repeal of voter registrar deputization requirements, automatic registration for eligible Texans aged 17 years and 10 months or older, and sending vote by mail applications to Texans on their 65th birthdays.”
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “End racial and political gerrymandering by creating a nonpartisan redistricting commission.”
The Texas Democratic Party platform says, “Overturn the decisions in Buckley v. Valeo and Citizens United v. Federal Elections Commission that make money the most privileged form of speech,” and “Support the establishment of a limit on campaign donations in Texas elections.”
So, where do we go from here?
If we want candidates who truly represent us, we must start by determining what we believe. Not what consultants think is “electable.” Not what national Democrats assume about Texas. But what the people on the ground, the organizers, volunteers, teachers, nurses, students, and working-class Texans who actually show up, want to see in the people running to represent them.
That’s what this is about.
These polls are a gut check. A blueprint. Maybe even a warning.
I’ll be using your responses to help shape the questions I send to every Democratic candidate I cover this cycle. And if they’re smart, they’ll be paying attention to the answers, too.
Because the truth is, the platform is already written. The vision is already there. What we’re missing is the political courage to run on it, and the voter pressure to demand it.
So let me know what you think. Let’s build this thing together.
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I like Chairman Scudder’s message on working class people. Most of us are working class people and we are all colors, all sexes, all genders. We are the taxpayers keeping Texas and the US afloat and Democrats should never loose sight of that. All of the issues presented affect the working class people.
MAGAS haven't been afraid to go as low as they can, so why should it be so controversial for Democrats to run on the platform that represents what we think would benefit the most people in this state? As long as the MAGAS are in control, they will run this state into the ground and sleep well at night.