Swing Left + Flippable present State Spotlight: Texas
Welcome back to State Spotlight, a partnership between Flippable and Swing Left that highlights state legislative and Congressional races where our donations can have the biggest impact in 2018 and beyond.
We think of Texas as deep red — but lately, it’s trending blue. With a fast-growing Latino population, 36 congressional districts, and a whopping 38 Electoral College votes, Texas is a crucial Democratic target in 2018.
Today, Texas’s state government is controlled by Republicans — and these politicians have been among the most aggressive in violating the federal Voting Rights Act.
Texas Republicans gerrymandered maps to steal at least two seats in Congress. Last year, a federal court ruled that Texas state leaders had intentionally diluted the voting power of black and Latino voters (the Supreme Court will revisit the case this year).
Texas’s GOP leaders are also using restrictive laws to suppress minority voting. Since 2011, Texas Republicans have been trying to adopt strict photo ID requirements at the polls (these laws unfairly burden black and Latino voters). Federal courts have repeatedly struck down Texas’s ID law as discriminatory, finding that the costs people have to pay to get an ID functionally make the law a poll tax.
Why suppress black and Latino voters? Because these communities are more likely to vote for Democrats — and Latinos accounted for 90% of Texas’s growth between 2000 and 2010. This discriminatory strategy allows Republicans to maintain their dominance at all levels of government.
Right now, we have a chance to fight back. By making gains in the Texas state legislature, we can end the racist voting restrictions that benefit Republicans. And by winning congressional seats in Texas, we can elect leaders who will restore the Voting Rights Act and prevent these abuses from happening in the first place. Let’s seize our chance to elect Democrats at the state and national levels!
District Spotlight
Texas’s 32nd Congressional District spans the northeast Dallas suburbs and is held by Republican Pete Sessions. Despite the fact that this district voted for Mitt Romney and John McCain by more than 10%, Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump there by nearly 2 points. That could have been bad news for Sessions — but he didn’t even have a Democratic opponent! Not this year. Seven Democrats entered the race in 2018 and now two of them are in a runoff for the nomination. Swing Left is raising money now for the eventual winner so they can hit the ground running and beat Sessions in November.
Texas’s 108th State House District in northern Dallas is held by a Republican, even though voters here chose Hillary Clinton by a 6-point margin. In 2016, the GOP candidate for this district ran unopposed, but this November he’ll face off against Democratic candidate Joanna Cattanach. A former foster child, Joanna now serves her community as an educator and human rights advocate. As state representative, she’ll fight for accessible healthcare, protections for DREAMers, and a fair democracy.
What You Can Do
Our organizations are committed to helping grassroots donors make the biggest difference possible through strategic giving. Here’s what you can do in Texas.
Donate to state candidates in Texas and across the country via Flippable!
Donate to the Swing Left TX-32 District Fund to flip this seat blue in November!
