Greetings, fellow Dem allies!
A quick note to remind you about our second free Candidate 101 seminar this Saturday September 16 from 1-3 p.m. at the Bastrop Public Library. We will be going over the basics for anyone who is interested in becoming a candidate, or working with someone who is. We are partnering with three Democratic activist groups: Mothers Against Greg Abbott; Blue Horizon Texas; and The 134 PAC. Our goal: no uncontested races in 2024. Hope to see you there!
There is something of a stereotype of political candidates. You know, that one guy or gal who LOVED debate class in high school and only went to law school after college because it would look cool in their bio when they started running for office. They’ve had their eye on the political prize since organizing the toys in their playpen to advocate for shorter nap times.
But that’s the thing about stereotypes. They paint everyone with the same brush. And that’s just not always the case. Start poking around, and you’ll find all kinds of interesting backstories from folks who have gotten politically active at all stages of life.
The first female governor of Texas, Miriam ‘Ma’ Ferguson, became politically active after her husband James (‘Pa’) was impeached and removed as governor in 1917.
Angela Merkel had a career as a quantum chemist in East Germany. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, she was inspired to leave that behind and get into politics. Oof, quantum chemist. Smart much?
Arunan Arulampalam, 37, won the Dem primary for mayor of Hartford, Connecticut recently by defeating two other seasoned politicians whose careers began before he was born. He is the head of a local non-profit with no previous political experience and is heavily favored to win in November.
James Talarico is one of the youngest members of Texas legislature. When this former school teacher was elected in 2018, he flipped the District 50 seat from red to blue. Some of his earliest activism was organizing students for tuition relief while attending UT Austin. (Debate Kid Vibe? Mr. Talarico, we say this with nothing but love.)
Nancy Thompson, founder of the political activism behemoth Mothers Against Greg Abbott, was inspired to become politically active by Gov. Greg Abbott’s failure to mandate masks in public schools during the pandemic.
Beto O’Rourke’s first elected office was on the El Paso City Council. Note: there will be approximately ten city council/mayor positions on the ballot on Bastrop County in 2024.
Laura Jones’ first activist position was when she agreed to serve as her county party’s co-chair. She is currently a candidate for Texas House District 8. Note: the Bastrop County Democratic Party chair position will be on the ballot in 2024.
State Representative Nicole Collier (Texas House District 95) wrote herself in as a precinct chair when she noticed - while standing at the voting machine, mind you - that the ballot was blank for that position. Note: there are currently about ten open Dem precinct chair positions in Bastrop County.
Thierry Tchenko, who is running for Democratic Senate candidate against Ted Cruz, began his political career as a precinct captain during the 2008 Obama campaign. Note: See above. Hint, hint.
Sarah Eckhardt, Texas Senator representing District 14, has the traditional politician’s background: law degree, county attorney. But her first elected position was to the commissioners court precinct 2 in Travis County. Note: there will be two commissioners court positions on the ballot in Bastrop County in 2024 (1 and 3).
We are working very hard to make sure no local races are uncontested in 2024. If you join us Saturday for a free informative workshop on what is involved in becoming a candidate, maybe your candidate backstory will end up in an article like this one day.