The Heartbeat Of Change: Empowering Texas Through Grassroots Efforts

Inside Mothers For Democracy's mission to mobilize the unheard voices of Texas.

If you’re a Democrat in Texas, there are many reasons to feel hopeful about the future. Sometimes, I speak with left-leaning voters, especially in rural Texas, and they express feelings of doubt or even hopelessness when it comes to flipping Texas. It’s an easy position to understand. After all, we were supposed to flip Texas in 2018, 2020, and 2022, and it just didn’t happen. But we did push the needle closer.

Texas is a massive state with 30 million people; if we want to flip it, it will take all of us.

We should rely on the Texas Democratic Party for much of the heavy lifting. However, we don’t have to rely on them alone. Many groups around the state are doing ground-level work and complementing the Texas Democratic Party. Going into the 2024 election, these groups will be critical in Getting Out The Vote (GOTV).

If we want to flip this state, we need organizers in every city, neighborhood, and college campus and the ears of every Texas voter. One group working to do that is Mothers For Democracy.

You may already be familiar with Mothers For Democracy if you have seen this ad:

Mothers For Democracy anti-gun violence Ad: Thoughts and Prayers

This morning, I spoke to Mothers For Democracy founder Nancy Thompson to learn more about what their organization will do in 2024 to GOTV. They have a lot going on.

Chapters for Mothers For Democracy are springing up all over Texas.

During the Democratic primary last month, urban Texas counties like Harris, Dallas, and Bexar only saw a 5% to 7% turnout. In the Rio Grande Valley (RGV), Willacy County saw a 15% turnout.

Considering the RGV has historically low turnout rates, it’s interesting that the counties in the RGV matched and even beat the urban counties in Texas for turnout in the primary. Maybe there are a lot of organizing efforts down there to turn things around, or perhaps they saw a bigger turnout because the Mothers For Democracy RGV Chapter is kicking ass and taking names.

Mothers for Democracy Rio Grande Valley Volunteers

While some leaders merely utter empty words, RGV-Mothers for Democracy Moms are getting it done. This group has been on the ground, knocking on doors and getting people to the polls. In the 2024 Democratic primary election, RVG voters came out at equal or higher rates than in urban areas.

How much does the RVG matter in the scope of flipping the state? This is primarily a solid blue area, accounting for almost 7% of Texas votes.

In 2020, most RVG Counties saw a 40% to 50% voter turnout. If the local Democrats and RVG-Mothers For Democracy group focus on GOTV this year and can get the RGV to even a 60% turnout, that would be several hundred thousand more votes for Democrats in Texas, which may be what it’ll take to flip the scales.

But the Rio Grande Valley isn’t the only chapter of Mothers For Democracy. Here are some other places where they have chapters popping up:

Central Texas Area
DFW Area
Houston Area
Laredo
Texas Coastal Area
West Texas
East Texas

If you’re in one of those areas and want to join, go here.

From Mothers For Democracy’s website: This grassroots movement empowers moms to make a difference by engaging in various activities from registering new voters, social media information about civics education, participating in the Anti-Fascist Book Club, educating people about our main six pillar issues: gun safety, public education, women’s rights, LGBTQ+, Climate Action, and voting rights.

How will Mothers For Democracy make an impact in the 2024 election?

Behind the scenes, organizers and politicians are driven by data. All voters have some data attached to them. Are they most likely to be a Democratic or Republican Voter? Do they vote early? Do they vote by mail? Are they a high-propensity voter?

A voter’s propensity is determined solely by their turnout history. Turnout history is, without a doubt, the best predictor of the likeliness of any voter casting a ballot in any particular election.

High-propensity voters consistently participate in elections, showing a reliable voting pattern in primary and general elections, including those not presidential.

Low-propensity voters, on the other hand, have a sporadic or infrequent voting history. They may skip primary elections, off-year elections, or only vote in presidential elections, indicating a less consistent engagement with the electoral process.

Remember how everyone always says, “Texas isn’t a Republican state. It’s a non-voting state?” The reason is that we have many low-propensity voters.

Lone Star Left pie chart from The Heartbeat Of Change

During the 2024 election year, many people will be doing many things to turn out the vote, and many of those marketing and campaigning dollars will go to high-propensity voter turnout.

In recent years, things have been done here in Texas one way. “We’re going to register a gazillion voters, and then we hope they show up when it’s time.” Then, what little money parties and candidates have is spent to ensure high-propensity voters know the candidates, the issues, and when it’s time to vote.

High-propensity voting Democrats are reliable. But who is reaching out to those gazillion registered voters who never voted or got engaged?

This year, Mothers For Democracy and their new chapters all over Texas are building an army to reach out to low-propensity women.

Targeting this group of voters while Republicans are simultaneously targeting them for suppression efforts makes them a perfect voter target to engage, educate, and include in the voting process.

These are voters often neglected by other GOTV efforts. Their power as a voting bloc has been ignored and undervalued for far too long. To strengthen our democracy, we must intentionally include communities most heavily targeted for exclusion.

Many studies have been done on why people don’t vote and how to engage low-propensity voters. These voters need specific and targeted outreach different from that of high-propensity voters.

There are all these complex theories about why people don’t vote, but on a fundamental level, people don’t vote because they often don’t know when the election is or where to go to cast their ballot.

Mothers For Democracy will start voter outreach in June, targeting these women, who have more to lose in Texas if they don’t get out to vote. These Mothers For Democracy chapters will also work on building communities and changing non-voting patterns.

Their efforts will help us in November, but these chapters and voting initiatives aren’t the only thing they’re doing.

Gen-Z Decides: A Mothers For Democracy offshoot.

As an offshoot of Mothers For Democracy, Gen Z Decides is a movement geared towards youth participation in politics.

Check them out:

Mothers For Democracy Young Voter Ad: GenZ Decides

Texas is one of the “youngest” states in the nation: 23% of Texas residents are under age 30.

Lone Star Left pictograph from The Heartbeat Of Change

The importance of Gen Z in the 2024 election cannot be overstated. This demographic represents a significant and potentially transformative voting bloc in Texas and nationwide.

Recognizing the importance of Gen Z, Mothers For Democracy, through its Gen Z Decides initiative, is taking proactive steps to engage this demographic. By focusing on issues that resonate with young voters and utilizing platforms where they are most active, Gen Z Decides aims to increase political awareness and participation among this critical group.

Mothers For Democracy and Gen Z Decides’ efforts are essential in ensuring that the voices of young Texans are heard in 2024.

If you’re part of Gen Z, want to get involved, or want to know more, go here.

Between the Mothers For Democracy chapters and Gen Z Decides, this group isn’t waiting for Texas to turn blue but is working hard to make it happen.

One of my favorite things they are doing is:

The Anti-Fascist Book Club of the Month by Mothers For Democracy.

The Anti-Fascist Book Club is where literature, nonfiction, and activism converge in the fight to save American democracy. The book club isn’t just a gathering of readers but a platform for civics education, a haven for critical discourse, and a beacon of hope for those who reject authoritarianism.

Each month, the Anti-Fascist Book Club gives its members the tools to learn how to speak up, speak loud, and fight back to protect the Constitution.

Here are the book club’s first three books of the year:

Mothers for Democracy Anti-Fascist Book Club - book selections

This group meets monthly over Zoom and already has the rest of the books planned for the year.

If you’re interested in joining the Anti-Fascist Book Club, you can sign up here.

2024 may be one of the most critical elections in Texas history.

The Texas Democratic Party plays a crucial role in coordinating campaigns, shaping policy agendas, and providing support for candidates at all levels of government. However, to truly realize the goal of flipping Texas, it’s a multifaceted approach is necessary—one that combines the Democratic Party’s strengths with the grassroots energy and innovation of organizations like Mothers For Democracy.

Grassroots organizations excel in areas where traditional political campaigns may struggle, such as reaching disenchanted or disengaged voters, mobilizing young people, and addressing issues deeply personal to specific communities.

By focusing on low-propensity voters, particularly women, and harnessing the energy of Gen Z, Mothers For Democracy is laying the groundwork for a bluer Texas. Their commitment to democracy, with innovative initiatives like the Anti-Fascist Book Club, gives power to Texas’s grassroots activism.

There is a collective need to turn the tides in Texas. Grassroots organizations are indispensable in the fight to flip our state blue. Democracy is on the line. It’s going to take all of us to save it. If you aren’t involved, now is the time to do something.

Mother For Democracy Sister Organizations

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