[ [link removed] ]Powered by People[ [link removed] ]Powered by People





Dear John,

I arrived at the University of Houston Downtown campus just before 11am to
join our volunteers for a full day of registration and action.

UHD is a really special place. It is the often-overlooked sister
institution to the University of Houston main campus. But it is its own
place. Separate mascot (Gator, not Cougar), different student body (more
Houston-based, fewer students from other parts of the state) and a real
drive to prove itself on its own terms.

For the next four hours, we met, registered and—importantly!—committed to
staying in touch with every student we met. As you know, our organizing
model is different from any other out there. Our volunteers maintain
personal contact with the voters they meet for the duration of the
election year, ready to answer questions on voter ID, election dates,
candidates and also there to prompt, nudge and push these voters to cast
those ballots. In 2024, the young voters in our network turned out at a
rate of 79.5%!

[ [link removed] ]PxP Volunteer registering student voter.

[ [link removed] ]Beto taking a selfie with a student voter.

[ [link removed] ]Beto speaking with a student.

And this isn't a transaction. It's personal for us. We take the time to
introduce ourselves, ask the students their names, understand their
concerns, answer their questions and listen to their stories. I learned a
lot yesterday by doing just that. These young Texans told me about their
lives, how in many cases they are the first in their family to go to
college, how they live in mixed immigration status families that are
afraid to go out in public, and concerned about what it will mean for them
to be registered and to vote.

I met a young man who was picking up his diploma and was there with his
mom. He's a U.S. citizen and she's a legal permanent resident. But not
only has she produced this recent graduate, one of her daughters was her
high school's valedictorian and is now at Duke and the other finished top
three in her class and is attending Vanderbilt. She, and so many others
that I met at UHD, underscore the fact that immigrants make this country
great.

At 3pm we started a town hall program, open to all students, faculty and
staff, organized by the UHD Democrats. In front of a full house I had the
opportunity to make my case for doing more than just voting to overcome
the challenges we face. It's going to take the kind of organizing work
that we're doing at UHD and all across the state. I asked these students
to join us as volunteers, and many answered the call. I also had the
chance to hear their questions and share my perspective on a range of
issues—gerrymandering, immigration, ICE, and how we can persuade people
who voted for Trump, and now might be feeling some remorse, to join the
effort to save our country.

[ [link removed] ]Beto speaking at the UHD Democrats town hall.

After grabbing a quick bite (Nua Thai—really good!), I met our volunteers
for a happy hour at Axlerad's. After a big, long day of meeting,
registering, and talking with students it was fun to share stories, get to
know each other a little better and meet some of our newer volunteers.

[ [link removed] ]Beto connecting with volunteers.

Our tally at the end of the day was 251 conversations with students, each
of those students agreeing to let our volunteers stay in touch with them
to help them vote. We verified registrations for 185 and registered or
updated registration for 66. And remember, that's just one day, on one
campus. Our volunteers and organizers are in every part of the state doing
this work every day. I could tell that everyone felt exhausted, but the
good kind of exhaustion, where you know that what you did has made a
difference. In the face of so much that is so wrong in the country right
now, knowing that we are helping change things for the better—one voter at
a time—feels pretty good.

As I write this, we are about to leave for another full day of voter
registration work on the Prairie View A&M campus in Waller County, about
an hour from Houston. I'm looking forward to it and grateful that we get
to do this work.

Thank you for supporting us and keeping us going.

Beto

Powered by People volunteers reach, register and turn out voters by
meeting them where they are and building personal relationships to
significantly improve the likelihood that they vote.

[ [link removed] ]Please pitch $3 in to support this work to fuel our
statewide organizing program, power Democratic victories up and down the
ballot, and bring our country out of this nightmare.

[ [link removed] ]Donate $3




 


This email was sent to [email protected]. Email is the most important way for us to reach you about opportunities to act. If you need to remove yourself from our email list, click here to unsubscribe: [link removed]

PAID FOR BY POWERED BY PEOPLE