Why Progressives Need To Become Precinct Chairs (Now More Than Ever)
The path to durable power starts on your block.
Texas will only turn blue if its neighbors decide to do more than vote. If you’ve often sat around and wondered if there’s something more you can do, I have the answer for you. You should become a precinct chair under your County Democratic Party.
There are a total of 9,364 precincts in Texas, spread across counties, and there isn’t one county that doesn’t need more precinct chairs. These are the most critical positions within the Democratic Party in the state of Texas.
What is a precinct chair, and what do they do?
A precinct chair is the link between a community (or a neighborhood) and the county party. They organize block walks, register voters, recruit volunteers, and shape local priorities.
Each county has dozens or even hundreds of precincts, depending on the size of your county. All the precincts are under the direction of your county party, and the county parties are under the state party.
A single precinct typically encompasses your neighborhood and includes adjacent areas.
Precinct chairs can appoint County chairs, influence endorsements, and keep turnout infrastructure alive between elections. In addition, you can attend conventions, get involved in committees within your county party, and, most of all, have a ton of fun doing it.
Why is it especially important right now?
Because the far right figured this out years ago, while Democrats were knocking doors every other November, Republicans were quietly taking over the local machinery. They filled school boards, city councils, and yes, precinct chair seats. These small roles decide who gets endorsed, which candidates get resources, and how strong a county’s ground game will be when it’s time to fight back.
Right now, Texas Democrats are rebuilding. The Party is decentralizing, relocating out of Austin, and establishing a presence in every corner of the state. That means there’s finally room for new people, new ideas, and a new generation of leadership. But that only works if progressives show up to fill those empty seats instead of letting them sit open.
Being a precinct chair isn’t glamorous. You’re not giving press conferences or shaking hands at fundraisers. You’re calling volunteers, keeping track of your precinct’s voters, helping new residents register, and ensuring your county knows where your constituents stand on the issues. It’s the only way we build power that lasts longer than one election cycle.
We can’t outspend Republicans, but we can out-organize them. That starts one precinct at a time. If Texas Democrats don’t take that seriously in 2025, we’ll be running the same races in 2026 with the same turnout problems we’ve had for twenty years.
Why Texas progressives are perfectly positioned.
Becoming a precinct chair isn’t about joining “the establishment.” It’s about shaping it. The Texas Democratic Party is, without question, the most progressive state party in the country. We’re the ones passing resolutions for workers’ rights, reproductive freedom, climate action, and LGBTQ+ equality.
However, maintaining that momentum requires more progressives within the structure, building power precinct by precinct. If we want the Texas Democratic Party to remain bold and unapologetic, then we must show up where the decisions are made. That means holding local seats, attending county meetings, voting at conventions, and ensuring that progressive values are incorporated into every platform and policy decision. We have to ensure that the Centrists or Conservative Democrats never regain control.
Because the only way to sustain a movement is to institutionalize it. We can’t depend on national donors or viral moments. We have to build something durable, rooted, and homegrown, one precinct, one county, one convention at a time.
How to get started.
First, find your precinct. You can look it up on your voter registration card or on your county’s election website. Then go to your County Democratic Party page and check if your precinct chair seat is vacant. If it is, apply. If it isn’t, reach out anyway. Good precinct chairs are always looking for help.
You don’t need political experience. You don’t need big money or fancy credentials. You just need time, heart, and a willingness to talk to your neighbors. You’ll learn the rest as you go. Most county parties offer short trainings, but to my understanding, the new Chair has really ramped up the precinct chair training.
Once you’re in, you can:
Register new voters in your own neighborhood.
Host small meetups or block walks.
Join county committees and help shape local priorities.
Vote at county and state conventions, where the real policy fights happen.
That’s how you ensure progressives maintain seats at the table and control the agenda from the bottom up. It’s how we stop reacting and start building.
No consultant is coming to save Texas. No hashtag will flip a county. But you can. You and a handful of neighbors can change how politics looks and feels in your community.
So start with your precinct. That’s where the future of this state begins.
Texas turns when Texans organize.
Becoming a precinct chair isn’t glamorous, but it’s revolutionary. It’s how we build real, lasting power from the ground up. It’s how we ensure the Texas Democratic Party continues to reflect our values, working-class, pro-labor, pro-choice, pro-democracy, and proud of it.
We can’t keep waiting for permission to lead. The far right isn’t waiting. They’re already filling local seats, school boards, and party offices. Every time we leave one open, we hand them more control over our state’s future.
So don’t wait for someone else to step up. Check your precinct. File the paperwork. Bring a friend. Then bring five more.
Because if progressives fill these seats, we’re building the future of Texas itself.
November 4: Constitutional/TX18/SD09 Election
Click here to find out what Legislative districts you’re in.
LoneStarLeft is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Follow me on Facebook, TikTok, Threads, YouTube, and Instagram.
You left this out of your poll: “I know my precinct and we have a chair.” My precinct chair is AWESOME. We are blue dots in a red area & she has made us a cohesive and active group. Small and mighty.
Thank you so much for this article. You might have heard me say before that I needed help with this and TDP has helped a lot! Our County has 268 today and will add 17+ to that list on 10/14/25. The next CEC meeting. If I manage to get 20 more this year, our committee just might have made the Goal to get 300 this year. I could not have done it without all the help I finally got from several sources. We are making sure all these precinct chairs are filing for the next term. So come June of 2026! We will be ready to GOTV at a rate of 65% or more. Which is another goal we have for the midterms. I sat this term out of being a precinct chair because I was worried it would be too much to be a committee co chair and be a precinct chair. Regretted it and have filed for the next term already. My precinct does have a chair but she wants to use her time for Breast Cancer awareness. Which is also needed in today’s world. I guess I should again thank everyone who helped me recruit and train precinct chairs since 2021-present. The volunteers at HQs, the committee, my co chair, TDP (Katy S) and of course Michelle Davis. ☺️