The Texas Democratic Party鈥檚 governing board on Saturday elected Kendall Scudder to lead the party forward as its new chair after a devastating performance in November and years of electoral defeats.
鈥淭he challenge that we鈥檙e facing right now is terrifying for this country and for this state, and a lot of people are counting on us to come together and do the right thing and make sure that we are building a Texas Democratic Party that is worthy of the grassroots in this state,鈥� Scudder said upon taking the gavel. 鈥淟et鈥檚 build a party that the working men and women of this state can be proud of.鈥�
Scudder took 65 out of 121 votes, an outright majority in the seven-way race.
Scudder will take over as chair of the state party at a moment when Democrats are grasping for a way forward after blowout losses up and down the ballot last year, including President Donald Trump鈥檚 victory and a surge to the right by traditionally Democratic groups, such as Hispanic voters in South Texas.
After proclaiming Texas a competitive state where Democratic candidates had a fighting chance of winning statewide for the first time in three decades, party leaders instead watched as Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz trounced their Democratic challengers by roughly 14 and 9 percentage points, respectively. Democrats also ceded ground in the state Legislature and lost contested state appellate court race, in addition to 10 judicial races in Harris County 鈥� eating away at years of Democratic dominance in Texas鈥� largest county.
That left many Democrats concerned that, after appearing to come within striking distance of winning statewide in 2018, the party was back at a sobering low.
Longtime Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa announced his resignation shortly after the election, acknowledging the party鈥檚 poor performance and a need for a new direction.
That push for a fresh vision defined the race for party chair. Scudder will be the incumbent come 2026, when a broader group of delegates will elect the next full-term chair at the party convention in Corpus Christi. The 121-member State Democratic Executive Committee chose Hinojosa鈥檚 successor at the Saturday meeting, its first quarterly meeting of the year, because he resigned in the middle of his four-year term.
During his campaign, Scudder, an East Texas native, emphasized the importance of listening to the 鈥済rassroots.鈥� Even before he launched his candidacy, he had accused party leadership under Hinojosa of ignoring those voters and activists. He wants to 鈥渞ecalibrate鈥� the party toward a focus on working people.
鈥淭he reality is simply that Democrats on the ground don鈥檛 have a lot of confidence in party leadership anymore,鈥� Scudder told The Texas Tribune in an interview on Thursday.
He wants the party to pay attention to areas he says it has previously written off, like rural communities, and put a priority on Spanish-language communications.
Scudder has worked in affordable housing and real estate. He came onto the state party stage through the SDEC, although he began his political activism with the Texas Young Democrats and the Texas College Democrats.
Scudder鈥檚 leading opponents, former Harris County Democratic Party Chair Lillie Schechter and former Annie鈥檚 List Executive Director Patsy Woods Martin, had offered similar but competing visions to re-establish Democratic credibility on kitchen table issues and reconnect with voters in their communities. During the campaign, Schechter and Woods Martin emphasized their experience getting Democratic candidates elected.
The SDEC hosted a candidate forum in Austin on Friday evening before toasting Hinojosa, the outgoing chair.
There, and at the panel鈥檚 meeting on Saturday, party insiders discussed how to rebuild credibility with working class voters, engage young people, fundraise and build a party infrastructure that better facilitates elected officials鈥� involvement in races around the state.
鈥淭he problem is that every Democrat thinks that if they had 10 more minutes, they could explain it to you,鈥� Scudder said on party messaging during the forum. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to get to a point where we鈥檙e speaking to people at their gut, because people vote with their guts and not their brains.鈥�
While most party chair contests are shaped by region and race and decided at the party鈥檚 convention during midterm election years, this race was a more insular affair whose outcome was determined by a small group of the party鈥檚 activists, many of whom are progressives dissatisfied with the party鈥檚 strategies and operations.
Although the SDEC was prepared to go multiple rounds with their ranked choice ballot, Scudder鈥檚 65 allowed him to win in the first round. Woods Martin took 27 votes, and Schechter took 26. Denton County Democratic Party Chair Delia Parker-Mims took two votes, and Meri Gomez rounded out the count with one vote. Eight candidates appeared on the ballot, but one dropped out before the election.
As the votes were tabulated, members passed out to-go shots of blue liquor 鈥� and non-alcoholic options 鈥� in an effort to liven spirits after a difficult 2024 election and an unprecedented chair race.
The candidates were largely aligned ideologically. And they especially all agreed on the need for change in the party鈥檚 direction.
鈥淲e are at an inflection point right now,鈥� Schechter said, 鈥渁nd if we don鈥檛 learn lessons from the last election, and continue doing things status quo, we鈥檙e never going to win in Texas.鈥�
We can鈥檛 wait to welcome you to the , Texas鈥� breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13鈥�15 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more.
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