The 2025 Mothers Against Greg Abbott Report Card Is Out

Follow the votes. Follow the money. The story writes itself.

Here are all of the Report Cards.

Once again, Mothers Against Greg Abbott (MAGA) did a fantastic job pulling these report cards together this year. They’ve included these scores, their methodology, the votes they tracked, overall scores, and top donors. They focused on the following topics: Women’s Health, LGBTQ+, Gun Safety, Border, Voting Rights, and Public Education.

I’m glad these are getting out before the filing season officially starts. There were some surprises in there, some obvious grades. So, let’s get into it.

The Democrats.

Three Senate Democrats received A’s and six Senate Democrats received B’s. For the categories that they’re being scored on, I think that’s perfectly acceptable. It is prompting me to finish my data work on the important topics that this scorecard missed, which were corporate handouts, but a lot of that was evident in the Top Donors. The biggest surprise was that Judith Zaffirini got a B.

In the House, 32 Democrats received A’s and 27 received B’s. Again, my surprise here was that some of the border Dems made it into the B list, but what’s missing is which ones were bending over for oil executives. Some of that’s apparent in their top donor lists. Like Representative Philip Cortez (D), whose overall grade is a B+, but has some big far-right donors, like the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC and the NuStar PAC.

From watching the Legislature, I know those big right-wing donations came with votes for corporate handouts. Now, I guess I have two weeks to show everyone, which is fine. I planned on doing it anyway, sooner than this, but it’s been a hectic semester.

I think any Democrat who got an A or a B on this scorecard, for these topics and these votes, did a good job (on these particular votes).

Mothers Against Greg Abbott included a letter to their supporters along with the support card, which we’ll get to in a moment, but I think it matters a lot.

The following Democrats got C’s:

• Seantor Chuy Hinojosa (D-SD20)

• Senator Royce West (D-SD23)

• Representative Sergio Munoz (D-HD36)

• Representative Terry Canales (D-HD40)

• Representative Mihaela Plesa (D-HD70)

The following Democrat got a D:

• Representative Richard Raymond (D-HD40)

Elections are a popularity contest. Casting votes is supposed to be about values.

Since these report cards were published, I’ve already talked to two political people who were upset that “their Democrats’” grade wasn’t automatically an A, because it’s who their friend is, or who they work for, or who they like the most.

There are a lot of report cards in Texas, but they either are Conservative scorecards, giving all the Democrats F’s, or they’re just on one topic, like the environment or labor, so they aren’t as inclusive. The MAGA report card is the only report card in Texas that covers a wide range of topics AND is progressive.

So, when I look at the votes that MAGA tracked, like on voting rights or the border, I agree with how they scored candidates and which votes they scored. Most Lone Star Left readers would likely agree, as well.

If you’re interested and want to check them out, below are links to other scorecards for this year’s Texas Legislature.

Environment:

• Environment Texas

Labor:

• Texas AFL-CIO

Right-wing:

• Texans for Fiscal Responsibility

• Texas Alliance for Life

The Republicans.

One Senate Republican (who is retiring) and six House Republicans (three are retiring) received D’s. Every other Republican got an F. They all voted against women’s health, civil rights, public education, and gun safety. It’s basically just who they are.

That’s the agenda. They were deliberate choices to strip rights, defund schools, and criminalize people’s lives. If you’re wondering whether there are still “reasonable Republicans” left in the Texas Legislature, this is your answer.

The letter.

Mothers Against Greg Abbott attached a “Letter to Supporters” at the top of their report card, and it’s well worth the read. It revisits some of the larger strategic moves during the 89th Legislature, and I can’t say there’s anything that I disagree with.

The 89th Legislative failed to coordinate early on and lacked political will. And not just from Republicans. The far-right agenda was expected. What stung was how easily parts of the Democratic caucus fractured when unity mattered most.

Democrats had leverage. They could have tied their votes for Speaker to real concessions on public education funding, LGBTQ protections, healthcare, and voting rights. Instead, too many treated leadership positions like consolation prizes and walked into the session without a shared strategy. On Day One, the House handed the gavel to Dustin Burrows without demanding anything for the communities they represent, and then spent the rest of the session reacting to his agenda instead of shaping their own.

The letter also calls out something many people have been whispering but not saying out loud. Some Democrats went quiet. Some avoided the mic when it mattered. Some tried to be “reasonable” or “diplomatic” while the far-right was steamrolling vouchers, censorship, anti-LBGTQ legislation, and attacks on local democracy. That silence had consequences.

And then there’s the reminder that public school students, working families, and marginalized Texans paid the price for political hesitation. Meanwhile, private schools and billionaires walked away with everything they wanted.

The letter is not hopeless, though. It ends with a call to regroup. To organize. To actually act like a party with shared values, not 80+ individual officeholders acting alone. To remember that voters, not committees, not PACs, and not Speakers, are the ones they answer to.

And they’re right. If Democrats go into the 2026 cycle divided, unfocused, and afraid to draw contrast, the Republicans will continue to control the narrative, even as their actual policies are deeply unpopular across the state.

Unity is a strategy. And we’re going to need it.

What this means as we head into filing season.

Filing opens in just a few weeks. Every House seat and half the Senate is on the ballot. Some of the Democrats who earned A’s are already being targeted by Republican challengers backed by billionaire money. Some of the Democrats who earned C’s and D’s will have primary challengers, and honestly, some of them should.

The lesson of this report card isn’t “Democrats good, Republicans bad.” We already know where Republicans stand. The lesson is that we cannot afford a divided Democratic caucus going into the most consequential election Texas has seen in decades.

If Democrats want to hold ground, flip seats, and protect public schools, reproductive healthcare, LGBTQ Texans, and voting rights, then the days of “go-along-to-get-along” politics are over. No more confusing access with power. No more quiet deals. No more hoping for the best.

Republicans are not hiding who they are. They’re running openly on book bans, forced birth, defunding public schools, and criminalizing LGBTQ kids.

Democrats cannot run on vibes.

They must run on values. And on the proof that they are willing to defend them.

This filing season is the line in the sand.

If we want a Legislature that protects our kids, our schools, our bodies, and our democracy, then we have to build it, precinct by precinct, county by county, district by district.

That means:

• Show up for primaries.

• Fund the candidates who are actually fighting.

• Push the ones who aren’t.

• And stop giving passes just because someone has a (D) next to their name.

Texas is not a red state. Texas is a non-voting state. When we show up, we win. When we organize, we win. When we fight like we live here, we win.

There are more of us than there are of them.

We just have to act like it.

The 90th Legislature can be different, if we decide it will be.

Let’s go to work.

• November 4: Constitutional/TX18/SD09 Election

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