Kendall Scudder Is the New Texas Democratic Party Chair—Now What?

A progressive millennial takes the reins. Can he turn things around in time for 2026?

After a brutal 2024 election cycle that saw Trump dominate the state and Democrats lose more ground across Texas, party leaders have chosen a new face to lead them forward: Kendall Scudder. The former finance chair won a seven-way race on the first ballot and now faces the monumental task of rebuilding the party.

Kendall Scudder isn’t a household name yet, but he’s no stranger to Texas Democratic politics. A native of East Texas and the son of a paramedic and a corrections officer, Scudder first stepped into the political spotlight in 2018, when he ran for State Senate in SD-2, a traditionally conservative district. He didn’t win, but his campaign earned him a reputation as someone willing to go where the party typically doesn’t bother.

Since then, Scudder has worked his way through the ranks, most recently serving as the Texas Democratic Party’s finance chair. He’s been vocal about the party’s failure to build lasting infrastructure in rural communities and has criticized leadership for prioritizing high-profile races at the expense of local organizing.

He’s younger (a millennial, like me) and far more comfortable talking about the party’s working-class base than his predecessors. His message? Stop relying on consultants to craft generic messaging and start speaking to people where they are, in their language, with their priorities in mind.

“Let’s build a party that the working men and women of this state can be proud of,”

Scudder said, taking the gavel in Austin.

Scudder pushed for aggressive investment in Spanish-language outreach, support for underfunded county parties, and a renewed focus on organizing year-round in his campaign for chair.

Now the question is whether Scudder can deliver.

What Happens Now?

With less than a year until the 2026 primaries, Kendall Scudder doesn’t have the luxury of a long runway. His win signals a shift in direction, but talk is cheap in Texas politics, and the to-do list in front of him is nothing short of daunting.

First, there’s messaging. Will the party under Scudder be able to connect with voters on gut-level issues like immigration, education, the economy, and public safety? Can they offer a vision that competes with Republican culture war panic and sounds like it’s coming from Texas, not Washington?

Scudder has made Spanish-language outreach a clear priority, a long-overdue shift given the state’s demographic trends. However, reconnecting with Latino voters will take more than just translation. It will require trust, consistency, and a year-round presence in communities the party once took for granted.

There’s also the matter of youth engagement and grassroots trust. After years of top-down decision-making and last-minute campaign plans, many young organizers and local leaders are burned out, checked out, or working outside the party entirely.

And what about the party’s scope? Will Democrats contest every race, from school board to State Senate, or continue writing off deep-red districts as unwinnable? Scudder has signaled support for a “contest everywhere” strategy, which takes serious coordination and long-term commitment.

The party needs a reset, not just a new face. The real question is whether Scudder can turn a long-shot operation into a competitive force. For now, all eyes are on what he does next.

Looking to 2026.

If 2024 was a disaster, 2026 will be a reckoning.

On the ballot next year: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, and one U.S. Senate seat. This is a chance for Democrats to claw back relevance at the top of the ticket. Dozens of Texas House and Senate seats are also in play, not to mention judicial races, school boards, and local offices that shape everyday life far more than most voters realize.

In other words, it’s a full menu. And the party can’t afford to show up hungry.

The key question is whether Democrats will recruit strong, viable candidates across the board, people who know their communities, speak to local issues, and don’t need a consultant to teach them how to knock on a door. That means not just parachuting in familiar names but also elevating new voices.

It also means money, and lots of it. Can Scudder raise the funds needed to run a real statewide operation, or will 2026 be another year of scrambling for scraps while Republicans run laps around them?

Is Scudder’s win the beginning of a true progressive reset in Texas? I really hope so.

We’ll know soon enough. While Democrats may have gotten a new leader, the clock is already ticking, and the 2026 ballot won’t wait.

How do we measure success before the next Texas Democratic Convention?

We’ll need to see a heavy turnout in the 2026 primary elections. How heavy? Let’s look back:

Democratic Primary turnout:

• 2024: 982,000

• 2022: 1 million

• 2020: 2 million

• 2018: 1 million

That 2020 spike came with national attention and an open Democratic presidential field. However, turnout has plateaued around the 1 million mark in off-year and midterm elections. In a state of nearly 18 million registered voters, that’s barely over 5%.

So what should Scudder be aiming for?

A realistic yet ambitious target would be to break 1.5 million voters in the 2026 Democratic primary. That would mark the party’s best non-presidential-year showing in over a decade and suggest that the organizing, messaging, and rebuilding efforts are reaching people.

No Republican in Texas needs to run unopposed ever again.

That’s:

• 88 State House seats

• 20 State Senate seats

• 25 Congressional seats

• Plus, the statewide seats I mentioned earlier.

So, in the 2026 Democratic primary, we should expect a challenger for every Republican seat and a turnout of 1.5 million. It’s all doable.

The Texas Democratic Party has spent too long waiting for the political winds to shift in its favor.

Under Kendall Scudder, it no longer has that excuse. With a fresh chair, a clear mandate from the grassroots, and two years to prove the party still has fight left, the time for talk is over.

Texas Democrats need a plan. They need candidates who reflect their communities, messages that resonate beyond Twitter, and infrastructure that lasts longer than a single election cycle. Most of all, they need voters to believe that showing up matters.

Scudder has promised to build a party that working Texans can be proud of. Now he has the opportunity to make good on that promise.

• 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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