Texas Democratic Party Gets Down

I am a little late in running this, but it is definitely worth reporting: The Texas Democratic Party has been raising money at a rate which exceeds past efforts, culminating in their Legislative salute last night. Two years ago, they had 28 sponsors for the salute and raised just under $45,000. For this year's event, they more than doubled the number of sponsors to 64 and raised $130,000. That sponsors list includes some heavy hitters, like AT&T.

I think there's something at work with both traditional donors and new faces in the fundraising crowd in Texas Democratic politics. By exceeding expectations in the last cycle and getting so many pickups, Texas Democrats started down a path to viability which has been exciting for activists and pros alike. The Democratic delegations in the state House and Senate have been making some serious strides since the session started and fighting the right kinds of fights in public, pinpointing salient issues and attracting effective media.

When you combine that with the TDP's pursuit of legal action on electoral issues, redistricting, and now voting machines, as well as their effective message as of late concerning Republicans in leadership positions in Texas politics like John Cornyn, you get a clear picture that the store is being run by some very steady, competent hands.

All of those things inspire confidence, and confidence begets money in politics. So I'm not surprised that this year is better than last year and that last year was better than the year before from a finance perspective. Anyone interested in a healthy state party organization — and indeed, in the health of Democratic politics in Texas — should be encouraged by news like this.