Texas Democrats expand offices in effort to 'build a working class army'

AUSTIN (Nexstar) — The Texas Democratic Party is testing out a new strategy for the 2026 midterms: moving. 

The party voted earlier this month to expand to five cities, adding offices in Amarillo, Eagle Pass, Dallas and Houston and maintaining an office in Austin, the party’s current headquarters. Party Chair Kendall Scudder said administrative duties will now be distributed between Dallas, Houston and Austin. 

“We need to build a working class army in 254 counties all across this state,” Scudder said. “We don’t win elections by locking ourselves into rooms in Austin.” 

Scudder faces pushback for the change, according to a Texas Tribune article saying some staff members are leaving their jobs because of pressures to move to Dallas. Scudder called the article “misleading,” emphasizing the division of administrative tasks between three metropolitan areas.

“Change is hard, but I would hope that if you’re a Democratic activist around this state, you would find the consistent decades of loss a little bit harder to swallow,” Scudder said. “In order to win Texas, Democrats have to start doing things differently.”

Scudder took office as chair in April, and has since claimed a new era for Texas Democrats is on the horizon— a similar sentiment found during the 2018 midterm season, when Democratic Senate candidate Beto O’Rourke narrowly lost to Sen. Ted Cruz. 

According to Scudder, the expansion will help revive party excitement and reach traditionally Republican areas. 

“Showing up in every corner of this state and talking to people and shaking their hands and standing for something, actually moved the needle in a big way,” Scudder said, referring to O’Rourke’s 2018 campaign. “If we do that cycle over cycle, that’s how you start to move the state permanently.” 

James Dickey, who was Chairman of the Republican Party in 2018, said that this time Republicans will be the ones to see gains next year. 

“The policies of the parties either do or do not reflect every day Texans,” Dickey said. “Republicans are absolutely standing up for every day Texans, and it’s going to be reflected in the election results next year.” 

Political party organizations, like the Texas Democratic Party, help recruit and train candidates, fundraise for campaigns and run elections locally. 

“The most important thing has always been that the party does what only the party can do,” Dickey said. “And to do that, of course, you have to build trust, and you have to raise funds, and you have to build willingness and interest among the populace, the voters.” 

Looking forward to 2026

In a release, Scudder’s team said:

“Chairman Kendall Scudder said Democrats will win:
1. U.S. Senate
2. Governor
3. Lt. Governor
4. Attorney General
5. Pick up Seats in the Texas State House of Representatives.”

Brian Smith, a professor of political science at St. Edward’s University, said Scudder’s goal of turning Texas blue is unrealistic, but necessary. “You’re going to set your sights high, because if you don’t, that’s how you’re guaranteed to fail.”

Smith said Democrats in Texas have a “natural disadvantage,” partially because of a large fundraising deficit. 

But, Smith said, midterms usually hurt the party in control, and President Donald Trump’s approval rating is dropping, even in Texas, which could give Democrats an appeal to independent voters. 

“The Democrats will be able to maybe pick up some of those statewide races if they have the right people running for the races,” Smith said. “We’re still over a year out, and a lot can happen. Candidates can emerge, burnout, rise and a lot can happen.”

Jim Henson, a professor of politics at University of Texas at Austin, also believes any advantage the Democrats might have will come down to finding the right candidate.

“Democrats are in kind of a jam here,” Henson said. “You don’t have somebody who’s both widely liked and has experience and is well-known enough to not have to spend resources becoming well-known.”

The two highest-profile Democrats to announce their runs for statewide offices have both jumped in the U.S. Senate race: former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred and State Rep. James Talarico. U.S. Senate might be the Democrats best chance due to a hotly-contested primary on the Republican side between incumbent U.S. Senator John Cornyn and Texas’s Attorney General Ken Paxton.

“Cornyn is not particularly popular among his base,” Henson said. In addition to teaching, Henson runs the Texas Politics Project bi-monthly poll. “The flip side of that is Ken Paxton is general thought to be not as good a general election candidate as Cornyn would be in terms of facing a Democratic candidate.”

Allred previously ran for U.S. Senate in 2024, losing handily to Cruz. In contrast, Talarico has never won for statewide office, and is known by less than half of the Texas electorate.

“Colin Allred’s numbers amongst Democrats are still pretty high. James Talarico, right now, his favorability rating… among Democrats is not too far from where Colin Allred was at this stage of the 2024 Senate election that he lost,” Henson said. “On the upside, just the fact that you have something of the appearance of what could be a competitive primary right now gins up a little bit of interest in the race.”