The Democrats Helping The GOP Burn Texas Down

What happens when the platform means nothing and incumbency means everything?

The voucher debate is happening today in the House. You can watch that live HERE.

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I hate watching the Texas Senate, sometimes. The Republicans over there have long crossed over that extremist Rubicon, and way too many so-called Democrats are quietly enabling them. Watching the Texas Senate for long stretches is like watching a house burn while the so-called firefighters pass the match back and forth.

Now, don’t get me wrong. We also have some excellent Democrats in the Senate, who stay true to the Party’s platform and the people’s will. Mainly: Sarah Eckhardt, Roland Gutierrez, Carol Alvarado, and Molly Cook. These four Democrats can always be counted on.

Here’s the conundrum: Some of these “not-so-good” Democrats, who frequently vote for Republican priorities, have been in office for about a billion years. They have built a reputation in their communities, and primarying a long-time incumbent is hard.

Let’s take Chuy Hinojosa, for example. His votes have long been a problem for Texas Democrats, as he votes with Republicans around 95% of the time. He’ll only vote against their most extreme bills. Mothers Against Greg Abbott gave Hinojosa a C+ in the last session on his voting record, but I think it should have been a D.

Hinojosa was up for election in 2024 and ran unopposed. No primary challenger. He’s been in the Legislature since 1981, but probably has voted against Texas Democratic priorities for at least a decade, if not longer. While he’s had Republican challengers, he hasn’t had any opposition from the left.

I don’t know whether that’s because he’s a familiar face/name, whether it has to do with the low voter engagement in his district, or whether there are no dynamic progressives down South.

Where am I going with this?

Yesterday’s votes in the Senate chamber.

As always, yesterday’s Senate session passed several controversial bills. Let’s talk about those bills and how they were voted on.

SB33 will block municipalities from providing transportation for women to go out of state to get abortion care. Two Democrats voted in favor of it.

SB1541 grants the Texas Secretary of State sweeping new powers to control local election operations in certain counties, specifically Harris County. Five Democrats vote in favor of it.

SB310 bans ranked-choice voting, which the Texas Democratic Party Platform explicitly advocates for. Yet five Democrats voted for it.

SB819 adds burdensome red tape to clean energy development. It is part of a coordinated GOP push to slow down the energy transition and protect entrenched fossil fuel interests. Two Democrats voted for it.

SB1233 forces doctors to give anti-abortion “palliative care” packets to patients whose pregnancies involve fatal fetal conditions. It bars abortion providers from being listed as resources, requires documentation that patients received the materials, and penalizes doctors who don’t comply. It’s a quiet extension of Texas’s post-Roe abortion control infrastructure, using grief as a policy weapon. Five Democrats voted for it.

SB762 bans all flags from public schools that Republicans find offensive (inclusive). Three Democrats voted for it. Senator Blanco submitted a statement to the Senate journal about his vote.

Of the dozens of votes that happened yesterday in the Senate, Democrats only voted in unison twice.

• All 11 Democrats voted against SB505, which will create a new system of election surveillance, penalties, and state takeovers. The bill gives the Texas Secretary of State sweeping authority to investigate and punish counties for alleged “irregularities” in elections, even without clear proof of wrongdoing.

• SB37 is a right-wing overhaul of Texas public higher education. It seeks to centralize curriculum control, disempower faculty, restrict academic freedom, and enforce ideological compliance across Texas universities. All 11 Democrats voted against it.

What is the point of the Texas Democratic Party platform?

At some point, we have to ask: What is the point of the Texas Democratic Party Platform if our own elected Democrats won’t follow it?

This isn’t just a symbolic document. The platform is supposed to be a collective vision, voted on by thousands of delegates across the state, reflecting the values, priorities, and demands of millions of Democratic voters. It’s a blueprint for the future of Texas on education, healthcare, climate, democracy, abortion rights, criminal justice, and more.

Yet time and again, we see Democrats in the Senate voting against that vision. Against ranked-choice voting. Against reproductive freedom. Against clean energy. In favor of Republican attacks on teachers, professors, trans kids, immigrants, and local governments.

And for what? To protect their seat? To avoid GOP backlash? To stay quiet and get along?

Because let me be clear: Republicans are not compromising. They’re not softening their positions. They are building a permanent infrastructure of oppression, bill by bill, year after year, and some Democrats are helping them do it.

If our platform doesn’t matter to the people we elect, what are we doing here?

Here are the Senators (both sides of the aisle) who will be up for election next year:

• SD01 - Bryan Hughes (R)

• SD02 - Bob Hall (R)

• SD03 - Robert Nichols (R)

• SD04 - Brandon Creighton (R)

• SD05 - Charles Schwertner (R)

• SD09 - Kelly Hancock (R)

• SD11 - Mayes Middleton (R)

• SD13 - Borris Miles (D)

• SD18 - Lois Kolkhorst (R)

• SD19 - Roland Gutierrez (D)

• SD21 - Judith Zaffirini (D)

• SD22 - Brian Birdwell (R)

• SD24 - Pete Flores (R)

• SD26 - Jose Menendez (D)

• SD28 - Charles Perry (R)

• SD31 - Kevin Sparks (R)

Only four Democrats are up for re-election, but looking at the votes from yesterday, or any other day in this session, do you think all Senate Democrats are fighting for Democratic priorities?

Judith Zaffirini has been in the Texas Senate since 1987. She was the first Mexican American woman to be elected to the Senate and the first female dean of the Texas Senate, and she should be celebrated for that. Yet, Judith Zaffirini votes with Republicans 80% of the time.

The rise of fascism didn’t start in Washington. It began in Texas.

We talk a lot about the rise of fascism in America, but the truth is, Texas has been its testing ground for years. Long before January 6. Long before Trump. Long before book bans and vigilante abortion laws made national headlines. Texas Republicans have been perfecting the blueprint, stripping local control, criminalizing dissent, and targeting the most vulnerable, and they’ve done it with alarming success.

But here’s the part no one wants to say: they didn’t do it alone.

This slow march toward authoritarianism didn’t just happen because Republicans are loud and shameless. It happened because too many Democrats let them. Too many Democrats voted with them. Too many Democrats stayed quiet while the fire spread. And we keep electing those same Democrats over and over again, even though they haven’t stood for Democratic values in years.

Why? Because they’re familiar? Because they’ve been in office for a billion years? Because we know their face, their name, or because they show up at the right community event and hand out a certificate?

At some point, we must stop confusing incumbency with leadership and mistaking tenure for courage.

You can’t vote for Republican policies and call yourself a Democrat just because your office has a blue label. That’s not how this works. That’s not how it should ever work.

We are in a political moment where fascism doesn’t need a majority to win, it just needs enough people to look the other way. And right now, a few Texas Senate Democrats are doing exactly that.

Just some food for thought.

Now, don’t get it twisted, I’m not calling for anyone to be primaried. Not yet. But I am saying we should be paying very close attention to how these Democrats are voting. When the next Mothers Against Greg Abbott report card comes out this summer, I’ll be looking closely, and I might have more to say then.

Because here’s the thing: If you’re in a blue district, and you’ve been watching your Senator vote for Republican bills that go against the Texas Democratic Party Platform, and you’re frustrated? You’re not alone. And maybe, just maybe, you’re the one who should run.

We need new blood. Progressive blood. People who understand the moment we’re in. People who aren’t afraid to take real stands for reproductive freedom, voting rights, climate justice, LGBTQ+ Texans, and working families. People who don’t fold every time Republicans raise their voice or wrap bad policy in a flag.

Because if we don’t push for better, if we keep letting these conservative Democrats coast on name recognition and incumbency, they’re going to keep drifting further and further right until the only thing that makes them “blue” is the letter next to their name.

Loyalty without accountability is how we lose everything.

• April 22: Early Voting Begins

• April 29: Early Voting Ends

• May 3: Local and County Elections

• June 2: The 89th Legislative Session ends.

• June 3: The beginning of the 2026 election season.

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

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