Democrats Paul Sadler and Sean Hubbard Join US Senate Candidate Debate

Texas Tribune

Tonight, the Democrats vying for Kay Bailey Hutchison's U.S. Senate seat may finally steal a sliver of the spotlight.

Paul Sadler and Sean Hubbard, two of the four Democrats running for the seat, will join the race's four major Republican contenders at a forum in Houston starting at 7 p.m.

Though the Republicans in the race have been fighting for months and raising millions of dollars, Democrats — without a marquee candidate — have struggled mightily to attract money and attention. The party hasn't won statewide office since 1994, and the candidates so far have struggled to meet even low expectations: Sadler, who so far has led the Democrats in fundraising, reported collecting just $72,800 in the year's first quarter — an amount he called "absolutely shocking."

As the Tribune's Aman Batheja notes, both Sadler, a former state representative from Henderson, and Hubbard, a 31-year-old who recently left a sales and billing job, have made fighting the influence of Super PACs a major component of their campaigns.

Read the full story @ Texas Tribune.

What Is The Promesa Project?

VOXXI - By Carlos Sanchez

As the November elections draw closer, discourse about the Hispanic vote is surging. Whether this voting bloc, estimated to be worth as many as 12 million ballots cast nationwide, works may depend on voter outreach efforts — often a state-by-state and even region-by-region effort.

To understand the component of one of these outreach efforts. VOXXI talks to Rebecca Acuña, deputy political director for base outreach for the Texas Democratic Party about a program called the Promesa Project.

VOXXI: What is the Promesa Project?

Rebecca Acuña, Promesa Project base outreach Deputy Political Director, Texas Democratic Party

Acuña: The Promesa Project is the Texas Democratic Party’s new approach to Hispanic outreach that’s based on two important findings: One, that today’s young Latinos are increasingly the trusted sources of political information in their families. And, two, that the Internet has surpassed television as the main source of political information for people under 30.

VOXXI: How will it work?

Acuña: The Promesa Project will use a combination of online and grassroots techniques to recruit young Latinos as the party’s messengers to their families and social networks. On PromesaProject.com, individuals will be able to give us their “promesa” that they will talk to their family and friends about voting Democratic. Through the website, they’ll have access to videos, talking points, and research to facilitate these conversations. The project also utilizes the party’s vast network of young, prominent Hispanic elected officials and party leaders by featuring them in our web videos and utilizing them as surrogates in their local areas.

VOXXI: If Latinos are the key to turning Texas blue, how long will that take? Is purple even on the horizon?

Acuña: There are 3.8 million eligible Latino voters in Texas, and one out of every four eligible voters in Texas is Latino. We know that on every issue that’s important to Latinos, Democrats are better.

The Promesa Project will increase turnout in the short-term by persuading low propensity Hispanic voters to turnout for Democrats and it will build the party in the long-term by engaging Latinos early.

VOXXI: What are the greatest concerns among Latinos in Texas?

Acuña: Latinos, like all Texans, are concerned about education and opportunity for future generations. Texas families are angry about the $5.4 billion in cuts Republicans made to public schools, which were made the first year Hispanic students accounted for more than 50 percent of students in Texas public schools.

Latinos deeply value a quality education, and know that a higher education opens the doors to opportunity. Sadly, these opportunities are being closed by Republicans who slashed financial aid for students. As a result of the Republican budget, 43,000 fewer Texas students will get state aid for college, including 29,000 fewer students getting a TEXAS Grant. Latinos, who represent half of all TEXAS Grant recipients, will be disproportionately affected.

Texas Democrats are the only ones talking about education and opportunity in Texas, and Texas Democrats strongly fought Republicans to keep them from making these cuts.

VOXXI: How do you respond to Republican criticism that President Barack Obama broke his promise to Latinos to reform immigration laws?

Acuña: Republican obstructionism is what prevented Congress from passing comprehensive immigration reform. Only three Republicans in Congress even supported the DREAM Act, which was originally written by a Republican. This was even after Democrats accepted Republican amendments in order to try and get the bill passed. If Republicans can’t even support the DREAM Act, which would let young students to earn a path to legalization if they go to college or join the military, there’s little chance Republicans would support broader comprehensive immigration.

The only way to make the DREAM Act a reality, or enact comprehensive immigration reform, is by electing more Democrats to Congress.

VOXXI: How do you explain the Obama administration’s aggressive deportation record?

Acuña: Republicans in Congress have obstructed any chance of comprehensive immigration reform, which is what our country needs.

President Obama has enacted new policies on deportation which prioritizes deporting individuals with criminal records and calls for administrative review of all pending deportation cases. He also made administrative revisions to the three- and 10-year bans that will allow many immigrants to apply for legalization while remaining in this country. These are some of the most positive, sweeping changes we’ve seen in immigration policy in decades, and are the most the president can do without Congressional approval.

VOXXI: The first Hispanic governor of Texas: Latino or Latina?

Acuña: There are many talented, energetic Hispanic elected officials in Texas, Latinos and Latinas. One thing is for certain, the first Hispanic governor of Texas will be a Democrat.

Article from VOXXI - By Carlos Sanchez

For more about the Promesa Project - Click here and click here

The video below shows the 2012 Promesa Project Fellowship Inaugural class participants. They discuss the reasons they applied to become Fellows, offer their thoughts on the reasons why young people should get involved in politics and discuss the potential effects of this project.

The Promesa Project

Politic365 by Anthony Gutierrez

Any Democratic campaign manager in Texas who isn’t including Latinos in their target voter contact universe would (or should) be quickly fired for negligence.

But knowing that Democrats need to target Latinos has never been the party's problem and in fact, when resources are focused, Texas Democrats are very successful in down ballot races by turning out Latinos.

And there’s the rub: in Texas we have 254 counties, 20 media markets and an awful lot of real estate to cover. Putting the kind of Latino turnout programs you see in swing states like Nevada or Colorado in place in Texas would carry a price tag in the tens of millions of dollars.

It’s a tough problem. But, we have come up with a theory of our own.

Promesa Project Video

Last year the Texas Democratic Party launched an innovative Latino engagement program called the Promesa Project.

Through this program, we’re asking young Latinos to give us their promise, or “Promesa”, that they’ll talk to their family and friends about voting Democratic.

That simple premise was the product of two recent findings.

First, that today’s young Latinos are increasingly the trusted sources of political information in their families. Second, that the Internet has surpassed television as the main source of news for people under thirty.

We believe that utilizing online outreach layered on top of traditional grassroots techniques will allow us to efficiently increase our vote share among older Latinos, boost Latino turnout among younger Latinos and simultaneously begin an engagement process that will build out Party towards the future.

Time will obviously tell us whose theory is correct. Our project began last year and we’ll be proud to stand by our results in November.

Read the full story @ Politic365 by Anthony Gutierreza.

Anthony Gutierrez serves as an adviser to the Texas Democratic Party and other Democratic candidates through his video production and digital media firm, Cadre Media.

A Court Loss For Planned Parenthood

Just hours after U.S. District Judge Lee Yeakel in Austin issued an injunction against Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s plan to revoke public funding for Planned Parenthood, a judge on the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in New Orleans threw out Judge Yeakel's ruling permitting Texas to cut funding.

Judge Jerry Smith, appointed by President George W. Bush, granted the state’s request for an emergency stay. Democrats were quick to point out that it’s not the first time Smith has weighed in on partisan politics, having recently corrected some of the president’s rhetoric on the authority of the judiciary.

Smith’s ruling gave Planned Parenthood until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to respond to the state’s appeal. It’s not clear if he’ll change his mind but, if he does not, Planned Parenthood’s funding in Texas will officially go to zero, eliminating health care for over 130,000 lower income women — a dire situation that could last for months as the case makes its way through federal courts.