Texas Democrats Believe They Can Turn State Blue on Social Issues

Progressive candidates running for Congress want abortion rights, gun control, and expansion of voting rights

Democratic leaders in the Lone Star State vowed to turn Texas blue by running on progressive social change during the kickoff of the 2022 Texas State Democratic Convention in Dallas on July 14.

Thursday’s event featured Democrats running for Congress and doubled as a fundraiser. It marked the first time in four years Texas Democrats have met in person due to the pandemic. Delegates from across Texas will decide on the party’s platform and elect a chairman. They will also hear from Beto O’Rourke, their nominee to run against incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott this fall.

Democrats hope to win more state and national seats by championing abortion rights, restricting gun ownership, and expanding voter rights, which they claim are being suppressed by Republicans concerned with voter fraud. Democrats are also working to keep Latinos in South Texas voting blue, which would benefit O’Rourke in his race against Abbott.

Mayor of Uvalde Don McLaughlin (back-left) tells Beto O’Rourke (front-right) to leave as the latter disrupts a press conference held by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and federal, state, and local officials a day after a mass shooting at an elementary school, in Uvalde, Texas, on May 24, 2022. (Charlotte Cuthbertson/The Epoch Times)

Democratic Congressman Colin Allred, endorsed by progressives such as Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), is up for reelection in the northeastern suburbs of Dallas.

The District 32 incumbent said “extremists” were currently in charge of Texas politics. He believes Democrats can win the state’s 40 electoral college votes if the party sticks together.

“We are on the verge of a change,” he told the audience.

Allred, a former Tennessee Titans linebacker, pointed to his success in beating Republican incumbent Rep. Pete Sessions in the 2018

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