EL PASO (Nexstar) — Thousands of Texas Democrats are expected to convene at the state party’s convention in El Paso for a weekend of organizing ahead of a contentious election season.
The convention’s program reveals the messages the party intends to impress upon voters as they ramp up to challenge U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz.
“Conventions are like just old-fashioned Thanksgiving dinners at the house. I mean, everybody’s looking forward to get together. At some point, you have disagreements, but you can disagree without being disagreeable,” San Antonio Democrat and House Democratic Caucus Chair Trey Martinez-Fischer said. “In the end, we come together as a family. We know what the real fight is.”
Among the planned speakers and panelists are elected representatives at the state and federal level, as well as advocates across a variety of issues on which Democrats plan to campaign:
Amanda Zurawski, the woman who led the lawsuit against the state’s abortion ban
David Hogg, a survivor of the Stoneman Douglas High School mass shooting and anti-gun violence advocate
Brigitte Bandit, a drag queen and advocate against the legislature’s limitations on drag.
Sheriff Javier Salazar, Bexar County’s law enforcement chief and frequent voice on border security/immigration issues.
The choice of location — just a short walk from the border nearly 600 miles away from Austin, is notable as Democrats grapple with President Biden’s low approval on border and immigration issues. Some see it as a chance to address the issue head-on.
I think it’s telling that we’re not going to shy away from the issue. We’re going to take matters into our own hands,” said Michelle Vallejo, a candidate for Congress running against Republican Monica de la Cruz in South Texas’ District 15. “As far as the people who are living on the border and on the frontera, we are here to fight for ourselves. We don’t expect anyone to save the day for us. But we need to get the message out that we need to get politics out of this issue and actually be adults and reasonable and responsible to get things done.”
Support for President Biden was clear in the many shirts, hats, and cardboard cutouts strewn throughout the exhibit hall. There were, however, some notable detractors protesting Biden’s nomination.
“He’s a war criminal,” said Rita Rahman, a lifelong Democrat married to a Palestinian man. “I don’t want my money killing innocent civilians in another country… I would not ever vote for Trump, but I’m not ever voting for Biden if he’s still supporting this war.”
On Friday night, Colin Allred – a Dallas congressman and nominee to run against Cruz for U.S. Senate – is scheduled to deliver the keynote address at 8:15 Mountain Time.
Ryan Chandler and Monica Madden will be in El Paso to cover the day’s events. Follow along on social media: @RyanChandlerTV.
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