Texas Democrats focus on economy, voting access as RNC meets in Dallas

Democrats focused initial Dallas counterprogramming on affordability and voting access, repeatedly pointing to Tarrant County's polling-place cuts.

As the Republican National Committee gathers at the American Airlines Center for a first-ever midterm convention, Democrats at all levels are also gathering in Dallas to organize counterprogramming to help spread their midterm messaging.

The RNC convention in Dallas is a convention in name only, since no candidate is facing nomination. Instead, both Republicans and Democrats are gathering in Texas to motivate undecided voters as the final push toward the election begins.

Messaging around affordability and working-class economics

Much of Democrats’ messaging Wednesday centered on affordability and an effort to refocus the party’s economic message on working-class families.

“We have folks who are struggling, struggling to pay for gas, struggling to pay for groceries, struggling to keep a job that can keep a roof over them and their family’s heads,” Houston Controller Chris Hollins said.

Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder also offered a blunt assessment of why Democrats are making that shift.

“I have seen a party that is fighting to preserve institutions,” Scudder said. “But they lost sight of the fact that those institutions that [they’re] fighting to preserve have not worked for working-class people." He later clarified the party is planning on, "recapturing that narrative.”

The emphasis on pocketbook issues appears to be part of a broader Democratic strategy heading into November. Last month, Democrats on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee released state- and district-level analyses centered on the rising costs of housing, groceries, energy and health care.

Economic concerns have also surfaced in NBC 5’s reporting. An NBC 5 Investigates analysis found food prices in Dallas-Fort Worth had climbed 25% over six years, while North Texas food banks have warned that changes to SNAP could put additional pressure on families and their services. Texas hospitals are also facing a Medicaid funding dispute that hospital leaders have warned could eventually affect services and staffing.

Speakers repeatedly reached back to Texas political history to describe that pitch, invoking former U.S. Sen. Ralph Yarborough’s populist campaign slogan about putting the “jam on the bottom shelf” so working people could reach it.

Tarrant County and voting access

Democrats also repeatedly pointed to neighboring Tarrant County as a local example of their broader concerns about voting access.

Last month, the Republican-controlled Tarrant County Commissioners Court approved a plan reducing the number of Election Day vote centers from 316 in the 2022 midterms to 224 this November. County officials have said the plan was developed using factors including turnout, geography, and site availability. However, Democrats and voting-rights advocates have argued that the reductions could make voting more difficult in some communities.

Tarrant County Commissioner Alisa Simmons, the lone Democrat on the court and a candidate for county judge, used the dispute Wednesday to argue that voters should pay closer attention to races farther down the ballot.

“The governor, the senator, the lieutenant governor, those people do not affect the number of vote centers on Election Day,” Simmons said. “It is those people at the county level who make that decision.”

Simmons said she unsuccessfully tried to amend the county's plan to restore voting locations, including one at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The issue was also picked up by Pritzker, who cited Tarrant County's 92 fewer voting locations while arguing that restrictions on voting access are part of a broader national concern for Democrats.

Redistricting in Texas and beyond

Democrats also returned to a fight that began more than a year ago in Austin: Texas' unusual mid-decade congressional redistricting.

Pritzker said he first became friends with Texas House Democratic leaders after they left the state and broke quorum last summer in an unsuccessful attempt to block the new congressional maps.

Many of the lawmakers traveled to Illinois, where Pritzker hosted them as the fight drew national attention.

“As it turns out, their resistance to the corrupt mid-decade redistricting in Texas was the canary in the coal mine,” Pritzker said Wednesday, pointing to subsequent redistricting fights in other states.

The Texas walkout temporarily stalled the Legislature but did not prevent the Republican-backed maps from becoming law. The maps were drawn after President Trump urged Texas Republicans to redraw congressional districts ahead of the 2026 midterms to help the party maintain control of the U.S. House. The U.S. Supreme Court has since cleared the way for Texas to use the maps this November.

The fight also spread beyond Texas, as leaders in Republican- and Democratic-controlled states pursued or considered their own mid-decade redistricting efforts ahead of the midterms.

A shift in strategy in Texas

Beyond the issues Democrats highlighted Wednesday, Texas party leaders also argued they are changing how they compete in a state where a Democrat has not won statewide office in decades.

Scudder said the party is organizing in all 254 counties and has recruited candidates for every state and federal office. He said they are running a coordinated campaign that spans statewide candidates and local races.

“You can't lock a bunch of consultants in a room in Austin and buy your way out of this problem,” Scudder said. “It's about showing up, shaking people's hands, looking them in the eye, telling them what you stand for, asking them for their votes.”

“You do not win from the top down,” he added. “You win from the bottom up.”

The party says it has already made more than 13 million phone calls and knocked on more than one million doors this cycle.

Democrats also pointed to Texas' voter suspense list, which currently includes more than 1.2 million registered voters whose addresses may need to be confirmed. Scudder said the party has obtained the list and plans to contact affected voters by phone and at their homes ahead of the election.

The Republican midterm convention continues at the American Airlines Center through Thursday, Sept. 10, with Democrats planning additional counterprogramming in Dallas.

Prepare to vote

The deadline to register to vote in Texas for the Nov. 3 midterm election is Monday, Oct. 5. Texans can check their registration status through the Texas Secretary of State's office or their county elections office. Information for Texas voters, including voter status, polling places, and who is on the ballot, can be found at VoteTexas.gov.

Early voting begins Monday, Oct. 19, and runs through Friday, Oct. 30. Election Day is Tuesday, Nov. 3.