The TL;DR

We passed our strategic plan! And with only a bit of drama this time. 

Dem-Novelas 1

The day started off with a bang, by which I mean infighting. The Disabilities Caucus voted in a new Vice Chair. The previous Vice Chair missed too many meetings, so he was automatically removed from office according to the bylaws (the rules are the rules). 

The SDEC Nominations Committee, which normally is just a rubber stamp to approve new appointments or someone's election, decided to "table" or otherwise postpone the issue, which they had no authority to do. They were actively trying to invalidate an independent caucus's leadership election. 

After exchanging words, which is the only polite way of putting it, the SDEC (SD-24 committee people included) voted to stand with the Disabilities Caucus and their members. As Democrats, we stand with the people. 

Our Party Grows!

We added 10 new County Chairs in the following counties: Jeff Davis, Hays, Navarro, Harris, Nacadoches, Brazos, Kerr, & Blanco. 🇺🇸

We added 3 new members to the SDEC -- Andres Lopez with the Disabilities Caucus, Daisy Marin with Texas Democratic Women, & Michelle Lowe-Solis for SDEC-25 Committeewoman. Another big congrats to them! 🗳

We also added 160 new precinct chairs over Q1! 🎉

We still have a significant deficit with precinct and county chairs compared to the TX GOP. Current data suggests we have 980 fewer precinct chairs and about 50-60 fewer county chairs than they do. But hey, progress is progress. 

The Plan!

As mentioned earlier, we now have a strategic plan! A lot about the plan is confidential, so I cannot share many details. What I will say is that it's a start. I definitely see it as a living document. They only have us a few days to review the nearly 40-page plan, which several SDEC members did not appreciate. 

I was able to get a section added related to precinct chairs. There are some future edits we're looking at making, such as a greater framework of including grassroots orgs in the party. 

Though the document was not perfect and I was miffed that we only had a few days to review it, I still voted to approve the document with the intent that we can revise it as needed. 

For my in-depth review of the plan, see below:

Good thinking about copying and pasting this text or highlighting it, it was a great idea but sadly I cannot share too many details publicly. They required the SDEC to sign non-disclosure agreements. There are some details I can share with activists, county/precinct chairs, club leaders, etc. If that describes you, then just reach out to me and I can give you some extra details.

You can email me at [email protected] for more detials. However if you're a GOP troll then lol I ain't giving you shit. If you're a true, blue Dem I will do what I can.

Chair/Staff Report

  • Our Executive Director, Jamarr Brown, resigned. SD-24's very own Birk Wilkinson will serve as interim Exe Director. We thank Jamarr for his service and wish Birk the best of luck!
  • Our cash-on-hand in a Gif:

Convention Update

We voted to approve the delegate selection plan for the 2024 Texas Democratic Convention in El Paso. If you want to see the plan, click here. All in all, I feel pretty good about the delegate selection plan.

One thing to note is that we'll be switching from being organized by Senate Districts to Congressional Districts starting in 2024. The transition might be a bit messy, but we're working on making it as seamless as possible. We switched from SDs to CDs because the DNC apparently demanded that we do so. From what I'm told by those pushing this change, Texas was one of the few states that didn't do that. Admittedly, and I don't have an answer for this yet, I wonder what the DNC says about the small states with only 1-2 congressional districts...

Resolutions

We passed two memorial resolutions, one for Jay Gibson of SD-31 and one of SD-24's very own: Joy Bates of Coryell County. Rest in peace to these fine Democrats. 

No Updates from Campaigns, Rules, Messaging, Rural Messaging, or Legislature 

Due to certain individual(s) preaching to the chair, we did not hear any updates from the following committees: campaigns, rules, messaging, rural message, or legislature. While I'm sure each committee is doing its work, again due to certain folks deciding to preach to the choir instead of getting down to business, those updates had to be cut. We didn't even hear from the committee monitoring the Texas Lege! All during this god-awful Lege session!  

If we organized as much as we preached to the choir, maybe our state democracy wouldn't be on life support. 

Next SDEC Meeting

Our next SDEC meeting is May 2nd. I'm unsure what we'll discuss, though I've heard we may vote on some rule changes. You can see the proposed changes here. 

All in all, we made some more progress in the SDEC. I'm excited to have some new members in the body, new county chairs, and new precinct chairs. I'm happy to see that our party is growing and that we now have the framework of a plan. There is much more work left to do, just rest assured there's folks actively working behind the scenes to build and strengthen our party. 

Onward!