|
Power the Vote is launching the Blue Texas
project to fight + fund everywhere!
John,
We'd like you to meet uber-far-right GOP State Representative Bryan Slaton.
Usually state legislators fly under the radar. But you might have heard of him – he's been in the news this week.
Turns out this married graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary dialed up an underage intern at 10pm and had her over to his Austin condo for drinks.
(Can we call that a booty call? Because that really sounds like a booty call.)
Putting that sticky situation to one side... let's review his legislative accomplishments, shall we?
He wants to ban minors from drag shows, ban transgendered athletes from school sports, give property tax cuts to straight married couples (but not LGBTQ couples, or people who are divorced)...
And in 2021 he sponsored a bill that would criminalize abortion and allow people who received and physicians who performed abortions to get the death penalty.
Yeah. He's that guy.
And of course he's a huge fan of the voter suppression bills that have been winding their way through the Texas statehouse.
Basically, his fingerprints are all over the most extreme, controversial, harmful bills our state’s seen.
But here’s the kicker. He won his Texas State House seat in November by default.
Yes, by default.
Because nobody ran against him.
Unfortunately, that’s not rare. In 2022, a whopping 48 Texas Republicans (seven state senators and 41 state representatives) waltzed (or two-stepped) into office without having to lift a finger.
They’re some of the most extreme of the bunch.
Their policies hurt people. But instead of being held accountable for their extremism…
They’re rewarded for it.
That stops right now, with Blue Texas.
The sad fact is that Democrats running in these gerrymandered, red districts have a hard time getting the resources they need to fight back. That makes it hard to find folks to run at all. So the race goes uncontested (again), the Republican gets no accountability (again), and Democrats in the district have no choice (again).
It’s a vicious cycle that we’ve been in for too long. But as a member of Blue Texas, you can help us break free.
Our grassroots community makes sure that every Democratic nominee for state legislature has resources to fight. We use a “bottom-up bathtub” method of funding, where we provide help first to those nominees who need it the most.
But we can’t stop there. Legislators like Bryan have made Texas the toughest state to vote in the country.
It’s their crowning achievement.
So we don’t just need to give people someone to vote for. We have to make sure they’re able to vote, and that their vote is counted. That’s why our Blue Texas community also supports permanent voter protection programs – making sure there's always someone fighting fiercely for Texas voters and voting rights.
You don’t have to let Bryan run unopposed again.
You don’t have to stand by while voters struggle to be heard.
You can do something to fight back, starting right now.
Our Blue Texas community also meets monthly (virtually) to hear from great guest speakers and find out what’s going on around the state – both in voter protection, but also with other great organizations that are doing wonderful things in Texas.
Our next meeting is coming up, and we'd love for you to join us.
Because at the end of the day, we can't let people like Bryan run uncontested – or let the Democrats running against them be unsupported. We can't let their voter suppression go unchecked and unchallenged.
And we don't have to do all of this work alone. It's time to build a community that's working – together – for a Blue Texas.
That's why we hope you'll join us. And we hope to see you soon.
Onward, upward, and in solidarity,
The Blue Texas Team
|
