As Texas Republicans gear up for another run at passing their horrific voter suppression measure, a coalition of more than 30 progressive groups is fighting back. Those groups launched "Texas for All" on Tuesday, promising to mount a coordinated effort to defeat Republicans at the ballot box.
“With a massive investment and momentum on our side, the Texas for All coalition will hold state leadership accountable and ensure that we’re organizing and combining tactics to vote them out," Texas Freedom Network Executive Director Val Benavidez said in a statement. "This is the start of a historic partnership – one that will lead to a state where leadership represents the priorities of Texans."
To form the group, the Texas Freedom Network joined forces with Planned Parenthood Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Organizing Project, Workers Defense Fund and others, raising over $2.5 million to date.
The coalition plans to use some of those funds to pour resources into aiding Democratic lawmakers, who successfully blocked Republicans' voter suppression bill last month by staging a last-minute walkout at the state Capitol. But Republicans will soon make another push to pass the bill, known as Senate Bill 7 or SB7, when the special session called by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott begins on July 8. The coalition plans to fund organizing, messaging, and digital ad campaigns assailing state Republican leaders for pressing forward with that bill and others while failing to address the electric grid failures that ground the state to a halt earlier this year.
But the group will also use its Power Up Fund to distribute $1,000 grants to residents who have struggled due to the state's severe winter weather and power outages in February, according to The Washington Post.
“A fundamental tenet in organizing is that our strength is in numbers," Brianna Brown, deputy director of the Texas Organizing Project, told the Dallas Morning News. Brown said the coalition aims to do more than just push a political agenda, which is where the grants to help struggling families come into the picture.
“Two thirds of the funds that we initially raised were direct cash assistance to families across Texas who were impacted by what we refer to as the Abbott Outage,” Brown said. “It’s not just about winning the political fight, but we are trying to win the hearts and minds of Texans across the state.”
Winning hearts and minds is also about ultimately winning the war the progressive coalition is waging against the state's GOP leadership.
“Texas remains a factory for bad Republican ideas — from the worst voter suppression bill in the country, to the dangerous permit-less carry bill, to the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, to even attempting to ban transgendered youth from playing sports,” a Texas Democratic strategist told the Post. “They don’t care about business or the livelihoods of Texans. All they care about is clinging onto power in the face of the rising Texas electorate. It’s going to backfire on them as long progressives and moderates in Texas organize and coalesce.”
“With a massive investment and momentum on our side, the Texas for All coalition will hold state leadership accountable and ensure that we’re organizing and combining tactics to vote them out," Texas Freedom Network Executive Director Val Benavidez said in a statement. "This is the start of a historic partnership – one that will lead to a state where leadership represents the priorities of Texans."
To form the group, the Texas Freedom Network joined forces with Planned Parenthood Texas, Texas Civil Rights Project, Texas Organizing Project, Workers Defense Fund and others, raising over $2.5 million to date.
The coalition plans to use some of those funds to pour resources into aiding Democratic lawmakers, who successfully blocked Republicans' voter suppression bill last month by staging a last-minute walkout at the state Capitol. But Republicans will soon make another push to pass the bill, known as Senate Bill 7 or SB7, when the special session called by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott begins on July 8. The coalition plans to fund organizing, messaging, and digital ad campaigns assailing state Republican leaders for pressing forward with that bill and others while failing to address the electric grid failures that ground the state to a halt earlier this year.
But the group will also use its Power Up Fund to distribute $1,000 grants to residents who have struggled due to the state's severe winter weather and power outages in February, according to The Washington Post.
“A fundamental tenet in organizing is that our strength is in numbers," Brianna Brown, deputy director of the Texas Organizing Project, told the Dallas Morning News. Brown said the coalition aims to do more than just push a political agenda, which is where the grants to help struggling families come into the picture.
“Two thirds of the funds that we initially raised were direct cash assistance to families across Texas who were impacted by what we refer to as the Abbott Outage,” Brown said. “It’s not just about winning the political fight, but we are trying to win the hearts and minds of Texans across the state.”
Winning hearts and minds is also about ultimately winning the war the progressive coalition is waging against the state's GOP leadership.
“Texas remains a factory for bad Republican ideas — from the worst voter suppression bill in the country, to the dangerous permit-less carry bill, to the most restrictive abortion laws in the country, to even attempting to ban transgendered youth from playing sports,” a Texas Democratic strategist told the Post. “They don’t care about business or the livelihoods of Texans. All they care about is clinging onto power in the face of the rising Texas electorate. It’s going to backfire on them as long progressives and moderates in Texas organize and coalesce.”