I'm unclear if you are part of the selection team or just reporting the events. Are these your personal list of "must haves" or is this official from the party. It was a bit overwhelming to me how much of this job description we have not been getting! I've been active in Victoria County for about 12 years, 4 as Chair. I felt very supported in the early years but trying to rebuild since Hurricane Harvey and COVID has been mostly on our own. Looking forward to the debate!!
I'm just reporting on the events. The must haves are what I believe it'll take, but it's not a complete list. I think that for various reasons, across the state, a lot of county parties have felt unheard or unloved, I hope the future Chair recognizes the important symbiosis needed throughout the orgs across the state.
Yes, we had lots of new members and some hard working candidates and no contact from Austin and hard to get questions answered. I think much more face to face or even zoom would help, I was sad when Kim Olson didn't prevail. I look forward to reading your news in coming year.
Michelle, excellent article and I agree with what you said, however, not once did I see you mention County Chairs and you can’t have precinct chairs without County Chairs. I’m Randall County Democratic Chair, which covers 1/2 of Amarillo and we are in District 13. We have 50 counties from Texas that don’t have County Chairs and of those 50, 20 of those vacancies are in District 13. That’s a huge problem. I begged Colin Allred to please not forget the Panhandle last March when he was here for an interview, not a rally, and interview only, but I interrupted that to give him my message. We were in the middle of fighting the sanctuary city for the unborn here and we knew we were getting out more people supporting us daily just not the Democratic Party (except locally) or state wide candidates. Thank you for calling this as it truly is. Just don’t forget the County Chairs who work like dogs, use their own money and don’t ever get the credit they deserve.
Thank you. I guess they should be under the 254 country strategy. But coordination with county chairs and state party should definitely be improved on.
Unfortunately, Allred forgot a lot of Texas. But hopefully, it’ll be a lesson for future state candidates.
Wow. Just like that, Sanders comes out with the right set of questions. I endorse this list of concerns, particularly running issue townhalls. But he is absolutely right the Democratic leadership will not change without a polarized force (my comment above). Gotta choose sides. He has been meeting with labor reporters and leaders all week. https://x.com/brentwelder/status/1860350726309818461?s=46
Meanwhile back in Tarrant County......my email to the Executive Committee of the Tarrant County Democratic Party....and I paraphrase myself
'Good People.
Michelle Davis of Lone Star Left has complied a comprehensive list of the qualities and character traits for the next State Chair. Unfortunately our current Tarrant County Chair, Crystal Gayeden exhibits none of these qualities and character traits and should resign immediately.
Tarrant County once purple trending blue is now decidedly red. This hurts Texas and the Nation given the strategic value of Tarrant County votes.
Please demand our Chair resign and SELECT her replacement with the Michelle's criteria in mind.
I remind u EC that u appointed the last 2 Chairs who lost us much ground to MAGA."
By way of contrast; Bo French . Chair of Tarrant County MAGA in his weekly manifesto calls out whomever doesn't have Stephen Millert/Bible in School/ Project 2025 bloodfever coursing thru their vains and declares war on them.
Note too he mentions Musk special dispensation for Tarrant;
"We are well on our way to totally defeating the Democrats and reshaping Tarrant County as Texas' conservative stronghold. For proof, look at X (formerly Twitter)'s terms of service. After the November elections, they changed their Terms of Service so that all lawsuits would take place in Tarrant County. Elon Musk knows that Tarrant County is the county for businesses that need a stable and fair environment. None of this would be possible without Republican control."
of course our supine and lazy Dem Party County apparatus is totally silent on these incendiary comments and any others. Tarrant is ground zero for annihilation of liberty and democracy and our gang is doop-de-doop-de-doop-de-doop-doop-doop
so triple down : resign now Crystal Gayden, Chair
ps; Did i mention Biden Admin gave City of FTW and Mayor MAGA Mattie $5.6M so our kids don't eat as much lead paint.........cause if i didn't mention it , it woudl never be acknowledged by any Tarrant Dem, anywhere, to anyone..............of course that list of Dem accomplishments could stretch out a mile........in fact R's take credit loudly and largely for D programs whilst we offer nary a peep.
I don;t know why French wants to annihilate us, i think we do a pretty good job of enhancing their rep.
Can we get some Ben Wikler DNA and make a Texas version? :) Sounds like we need a Super Hero Volunteer (Tx Dem Party chair isn't a paid position, is it?) Always appreciate your thoughtful posts. Signed up for the debate shindig. WisDems page on Wikler - https://wisdems.org/our-party/meet-our-chair/
The chair has historically been a volunteer position, at the last convention, they voted to make it a paid position, beginning at in the next term, Summer 2026.
I agree, on a national level. But it no means did I mean kissing their butt. The party takes money to run, whether we like it or not, and the biggest reason Texas donors have been sending their money out of state has been because of their frustration with the current chair. But I am with you on not letting them control things.
The party does need money, but I think we would want someone who knows how to raise small donation money. Also, the state party chair is really not nearly as structurally important to Democratic success as campaigns, legislative leaders, caucus and industry pacs, and other elected officials. Party chair has little power over all of those forces.
My understanding of the intra-party politics is best represented by Adam Hilton’s book (and personal experience). Sam Seder had a great interview with him 00:09:00-01:12:30. https://www.youtube.com/live/7xK0BNOxBNM?feature=shared
But the donors are largely beside the point in terms of fixing things because we (progressive forces) will have to use methods other than cash to increase their influence.
What I am urging here, though, is not a search for unity but a sustained and calculated hostility to the Democratic right wing (basically donors, industry interests, and misguided partisan activists) that actually tries to defeat or subordinate them over a longer timeframe.
Thanks for links. Will listen when time allows. Curious how Dems / non-MAGA win elections with sustained and calculated hostility to any Democrats. Pew Research shows US voters as: 45% Blue, 45% Red, 14% "Stressed Sideliners". To win, don't we need a coalition that includes all Blue voters and as many of the Stressed Sideliners we can get? https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/politics-policy/political-parties-polarization/political-typology/
Generally the forums for such necessary hostility are primaries and legislative politics. There is some role for it in general elections, such as pressure on things like Gaza, but it has to be most intense in those other areas.
I would want a chair who understands the need and is on my side of the divide.
I'm unclear if you are part of the selection team or just reporting the events. Are these your personal list of "must haves" or is this official from the party. It was a bit overwhelming to me how much of this job description we have not been getting! I've been active in Victoria County for about 12 years, 4 as Chair. I felt very supported in the early years but trying to rebuild since Hurricane Harvey and COVID has been mostly on our own. Looking forward to the debate!!
I'm just reporting on the events. The must haves are what I believe it'll take, but it's not a complete list. I think that for various reasons, across the state, a lot of county parties have felt unheard or unloved, I hope the future Chair recognizes the important symbiosis needed throughout the orgs across the state.
Yes, we had lots of new members and some hard working candidates and no contact from Austin and hard to get questions answered. I think much more face to face or even zoom would help, I was sad when Kim Olson didn't prevail. I look forward to reading your news in coming year.
Thanks! For sure, I'll be watching and reporting on the Chair's race. 💙
Oh and I forgot to say Colin never came to the Panhandle. I guess north of Lubbock was just not worth his time.
😭😭
Michelle, excellent article and I agree with what you said, however, not once did I see you mention County Chairs and you can’t have precinct chairs without County Chairs. I’m Randall County Democratic Chair, which covers 1/2 of Amarillo and we are in District 13. We have 50 counties from Texas that don’t have County Chairs and of those 50, 20 of those vacancies are in District 13. That’s a huge problem. I begged Colin Allred to please not forget the Panhandle last March when he was here for an interview, not a rally, and interview only, but I interrupted that to give him my message. We were in the middle of fighting the sanctuary city for the unborn here and we knew we were getting out more people supporting us daily just not the Democratic Party (except locally) or state wide candidates. Thank you for calling this as it truly is. Just don’t forget the County Chairs who work like dogs, use their own money and don’t ever get the credit they deserve.
Karmyn Seaberg
Thank you. I guess they should be under the 254 country strategy. But coordination with county chairs and state party should definitely be improved on.
Unfortunately, Allred forgot a lot of Texas. But hopefully, it’ll be a lesson for future state candidates.
Wow. Just like that, Sanders comes out with the right set of questions. I endorse this list of concerns, particularly running issue townhalls. But he is absolutely right the Democratic leadership will not change without a polarized force (my comment above). Gotta choose sides. He has been meeting with labor reporters and leaders all week. https://x.com/brentwelder/status/1860350726309818461?s=46
Meanwhile back in Tarrant County......my email to the Executive Committee of the Tarrant County Democratic Party....and I paraphrase myself
'Good People.
Michelle Davis of Lone Star Left has complied a comprehensive list of the qualities and character traits for the next State Chair. Unfortunately our current Tarrant County Chair, Crystal Gayeden exhibits none of these qualities and character traits and should resign immediately.
Tarrant County once purple trending blue is now decidedly red. This hurts Texas and the Nation given the strategic value of Tarrant County votes.
Please demand our Chair resign and SELECT her replacement with the Michelle's criteria in mind.
I remind u EC that u appointed the last 2 Chairs who lost us much ground to MAGA."
By way of contrast; Bo French . Chair of Tarrant County MAGA in his weekly manifesto calls out whomever doesn't have Stephen Millert/Bible in School/ Project 2025 bloodfever coursing thru their vains and declares war on them.
Note too he mentions Musk special dispensation for Tarrant;
"We are well on our way to totally defeating the Democrats and reshaping Tarrant County as Texas' conservative stronghold. For proof, look at X (formerly Twitter)'s terms of service. After the November elections, they changed their Terms of Service so that all lawsuits would take place in Tarrant County. Elon Musk knows that Tarrant County is the county for businesses that need a stable and fair environment. None of this would be possible without Republican control."
of course our supine and lazy Dem Party County apparatus is totally silent on these incendiary comments and any others. Tarrant is ground zero for annihilation of liberty and democracy and our gang is doop-de-doop-de-doop-de-doop-doop-doop
so triple down : resign now Crystal Gayden, Chair
ps; Did i mention Biden Admin gave City of FTW and Mayor MAGA Mattie $5.6M so our kids don't eat as much lead paint.........cause if i didn't mention it , it woudl never be acknowledged by any Tarrant Dem, anywhere, to anyone..............of course that list of Dem accomplishments could stretch out a mile........in fact R's take credit loudly and largely for D programs whilst we offer nary a peep.
I don;t know why French wants to annihilate us, i think we do a pretty good job of enhancing their rep.
lol, I'm not in that
Can we get some Ben Wikler DNA and make a Texas version? :) Sounds like we need a Super Hero Volunteer (Tx Dem Party chair isn't a paid position, is it?) Always appreciate your thoughtful posts. Signed up for the debate shindig. WisDems page on Wikler - https://wisdems.org/our-party/meet-our-chair/
The chair has historically been a volunteer position, at the last convention, they voted to make it a paid position, beginning at in the next term, Summer 2026.
I can’t understand calling for unity with the donor class here. They are diametrically opposed to the grassroots/voter preferences.
I agree, on a national level. But it no means did I mean kissing their butt. The party takes money to run, whether we like it or not, and the biggest reason Texas donors have been sending their money out of state has been because of their frustration with the current chair. But I am with you on not letting them control things.
The party does need money, but I think we would want someone who knows how to raise small donation money. Also, the state party chair is really not nearly as structurally important to Democratic success as campaigns, legislative leaders, caucus and industry pacs, and other elected officials. Party chair has little power over all of those forces.
Everyone has their role to play, for sure.
My understanding of the intra-party politics is best represented by Adam Hilton’s book (and personal experience). Sam Seder had a great interview with him 00:09:00-01:12:30. https://www.youtube.com/live/7xK0BNOxBNM?feature=shared
He doesn’t talk enough about donor/industry influence. I like Thomas Ferguson for that. https://youtu.be/EdkUXB_FJp0?feature=shared
But the donors are largely beside the point in terms of fixing things because we (progressive forces) will have to use methods other than cash to increase their influence.
What I am urging here, though, is not a search for unity but a sustained and calculated hostility to the Democratic right wing (basically donors, industry interests, and misguided partisan activists) that actually tries to defeat or subordinate them over a longer timeframe.
Thanks!
Thanks for links. Will listen when time allows. Curious how Dems / non-MAGA win elections with sustained and calculated hostility to any Democrats. Pew Research shows US voters as: 45% Blue, 45% Red, 14% "Stressed Sideliners". To win, don't we need a coalition that includes all Blue voters and as many of the Stressed Sideliners we can get? https://www.pewresearch.org/topic/politics-policy/political-parties-polarization/political-typology/
Sorry to add another link, but this is probably the most prominent view in DSA, although it has been met with serious opposition within the organization since Bernie’s defeat. It should come back though. https://jacobin.com/2016/11/bernie-sanders-democratic-labor-party-ackerman
Generally the forums for such necessary hostility are primaries and legislative politics. There is some role for it in general elections, such as pressure on things like Gaza, but it has to be most intense in those other areas.
I would want a chair who understands the need and is on my side of the divide.