The TL;DR (too long, didn't read)

While there was some "rich discussion" and a bit of drama, it was a fairly productive meeting. But more work is left to do. I also made a joke that accidentally committed me to a contest that will let folks name some of my ranch critters. Details below.

Convention, Messaging, & Campaigns Committees

This committee met in the morning. I couldn't go to the Campaigns/Messaging Committee, but the Convention Committee seems very promising. We'll be forming subcommittees sometime next year. I'd like to be on the scheduling subcommittee to ensure our 2024 convention (El Paso, early June 2024) runs smoothly & timely. We added Jennifer Vick from the Texans With Disabilities Caucus to help ensure the highest level of accessibility for all convention goers.

While the TX primary will remain on Super Tuesday, the (likely) new order of Presidential primary states are: South Carolina (2/3/24), Nevada/New Hampshire (2/6/24), Georgia (2/13/24), Michigan (2/27/24), then Super Tuesday (3/5/24). Sorry, Iowa. 

Many states are moving away from caucusing for their primary (like Iowa does). Previously, 14 states used to use caucusing for their primaries, and now there are only 7.

Appointments

We added two new County Chairs -- Ana Velez of Mason County & Laura Smith of Blanco (in our district!). A big congrats to Ana, Laura, and all the good Dems in Mason/Blanco counties! 

We added two new members to the SDEC -- Karen Wilkerson for the Rural Caucus & Mary Duty of Waco for SDEC-22 Committeewoman. Another big congrats to them!

Chair/Staff Report

• Staff went from 30-ish to 14.
• We raised approx $6.4 million in 2022.
• National Dem groups (such as the DCCC) critically underfund TX.
• We (and the TX GOP) lost many corporate supporters for our conventions.
• It was reported that some of our safe-seat Dem incumbents are being hoarders with their unused war chests.
• Some of our new tech worked pretty well.
• We're facing other structural issues (such as staff retention).

Dem-Novelas 1

Two members of the SDEC wanted to create a new committee for message testing & strategic planning. This message testing would be regionalized for the top State House Districts that we could flip by 2030, and a former candidate would bankroll the effort. Sadly, the SDEC was caught off guard and [insert dramatic reactions]. After some time, the SDEC voted to reconsider the new committee sometime next year. 

Memorial Resolutions

We passed 3 memorial resolutions for James Patton of Walker County, George Nolan of Garland, and Beatrice Charlotte Lovett of Dallas. 

4 New TDP Rules

These rules were passed by the Rules Committee at the convention, but failed to make it to the floor due to the quorum debacle. Below is a summary of the 4 new rules. 

1. Keep paper ballots for 60 days after the convention for records.
2. The SDEC Rules Committee will automatically pass any rule passed by the Convention Rules Committee even if something weird happens, like a convention ending prematurely.
3. Add a runoff procedure for party officers (so no more long waits between party chair votes?).
4. Fix TDP rules to match Texas Ethics Commission's rules about what happens when 2 precinct chairs are gerrymandered into a single district.

Dem-Novelas 2

One of the rules did not pass. For counties with over 1 million residents (6 counties in TX), county chair candidates must get at least 10% of current precinct chairs to sign their petition before their name can get on the ballot. This rule prevents trolls from running (& winning) county chair seats. Think of it as internal vetting for potential county chairs, where the precinct chairs have some power in protecting & structuring their county party.

The rule proposal changed "counties with 1 million residents" to "counties with 240,000 residents who also have at least 10 precinct chairs." This means that instead of 6 counties having these extra standards, 22 TX counties would have them (including Bell Co). There was a lot of disagreement about this rule, some of it testy. Ultimately it was 2 votes short of passing.

And well, that's about it, all joke aside! There is one other thing, and it has to do with goats, cows, & critters!

I joked about "putting fun into fundraising" and that anyone who becomes a recurring donor to the Party using my unique TDP Foundation Club link would get to name one of my ranch critters (as numbers permit). Evidently, this joke made its way around the SDEC, so I guess I'm now committed!

My aim is that SD-24 becomes one of the strongest arms of the organizing network via the TDP Foundation Club. We can't let the other SD's beat us so easily, not that I'm competitive or anything.

The Foundation Club is for folks who raise new recurring members to the TX Dem Party. By helping me join this club, not only will you help my 2024 SDEC re-election campaign (as membership to this club will look good on the campaign résumé), but you'll also get to name either a nanny goat, a cow, or (coming soon) a baby goat! Naming rights, due to a limited number of ranch critters, are first come first serve for new recurring donors to the TDP who use my custom Foundation Club link. Click here or below to start a recurring donation!

Once you have started your recurring donation, let me know that you started ASAP! If I have critters to name, you'll have immediate naming rights. I'll send you a picture of the unnamed ranch critter, and we'll discuss the details from there. If we run out of critters to name, you'll be added to the waiting list. 

(don't laugh, but all cows are currently named cow, all nanny goats are currently named goat, and all chickens are named chicken lol)