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Eva Camacho Guzman's avatar

Michelle, I hate to say this…. Really I do but Gina Ortiz Jones is not San Antonio’s first female mayor of color. 😢

However, the first one did lean right. 🤷🏻‍♀️

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ivy_Taylor

I am super excited that Gina Ortiz Jones won. But I’m going to continue to work hard that every precinct has a chair. I’m going to work hard so that they will be trained as well as I can train them (with a lot of help from my friends) We must all try to save democracy. 🙏🏼

Thank you for all you do. ☺️

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Liza Hameline's avatar

This is the work we have to do. I kept holding onto that up until the last door was knocked. No matter what the end result (and it was great in Irving) every door I knocked, every address I updated, every note I made “potential precinct chair” will help us in every election moving forward. We just upended the safe consultant strategy for a runoff. We turned out brand new municipal voters who now know what is actually happening and are engaged! There are 77 precincts and I will not stop until every single one is filled!

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Liza Hameline's avatar

We won!!

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Virgin Monk Boy's avatar

When the tide turns, the first to drown are the loudest. The bullies and book-banners thought the people were too weary to fight—but they mistook silence for surrender. The old playbook is burning. Now the task is clear: keep the waves coming until even the polished obstructionists are swept from the shore.

Virgin Monk Boy

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Liza Hameline's avatar

The quiet door to door communication, mobilized voters to talk to their neighbors and friends from school and church and soccer teams. It was a quiet grassroots campaign based on a simple message-Vouchers.

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Catherine Ortiz's avatar

I was disappointed that Bill Roth won in District 11 in Dallas, but really encouraged by your report on the rest of the state! The fact that enough folks finally got their A into G and turned up for local elections and run-offs this spring gives me hope that we are changing the momentum in significant ways. SIDEBAR: Between all the draconian laws that are being passed in Texas and the current immigration/ICE dramarama that is escalating by the day, I hope that the June 14th "No Kings" protests here in Texas are well-attended. Let's keep it *peaceful* but *forceful.* And maybe throw in a parade of some Taco trucks for good measure just to take the mickey out of der Führer. 😂😂😂

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Liza Hameline's avatar

What we learned from the Irving race, is that you have to talk to voters what they are actually concerned about. While one side screamed “Casino” for weeks, an issue that no one was talking about and City Council had nothing to do with, we countered in the last week with “Vouchers” an actual problem for our voters that was the central platform of the PAC backed candidates. That will need to be the message of every single Democrat in every race.

Vouchers encapsulated the grift of the current leadership in Texas. From City Council to the governor’s race in 2026. Vouchers, Vouchers, Vouchers.

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Shekhar S.'s avatar

Thanks for a very informative and encouraging article covering the runoff elections.

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Thornton Prayer's avatar

"We can’t let low turnout be the excuse. We can’t keep writing off whole zip codes. We need to recruit better candidates, invest in year-round organizing, and meet voters where they are, even when it’s uncomfortable, even when it’s uphill"

THIS is THE message that Democrats must own and learn. I've long said here and other places that the GOP doesn't win elections, but that Democrats lose them. When we show up, our odds of winning elections go up dramatically. When we don't turn out, that's when we lose. It's as simple as that. The necessity of long-term and consistent ground work way before an election is what drives turnout. For some unfathomable reason, too many party operatives in Texas and nationwide still don't get this.

Kudos to everyone in Texas who performed the hard slog of door knocking, calling potential voters and doing the fundamentals to create these results. And thanks again to Michelle for documenting what's going on. I hope that Democrats in other states are learning this lesson especially given the evil we are facing these days.

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C Murphy's avatar

Yeehaw!!!

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Karen's avatar

This is really good news but let’s get started for next year!!

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