After election losses, Texas Democrats pick new party leader

AUSTIN (Nexstar) - Texas Democrats are on a losing streak that's lasted more than 30 years. November 1994 was the last time a Democrat won a statewide election in Texas. Now, the state party has a new leader, tasked with turning that trend around.

On the last Saturday in March, the Texas Democratic Party's governing board elected Kendall Scudder to lead the party forward. Scudder, who previously served as the party's finance chair, came out on top in a seven-way race to lead the party.

Scudder replaces longtime TDP chair Gilberto Hinojosa, who resigned last November, shortly after poor results for Democrats statewide in the elections. Party candidates continued the statewide losing streak and also lost vote share among Latino voters, particularly in South Texas.

Scudder says he has ideas to turn things around, outlining a vision to build what he called a "grassroots apparatus" in every part of Texas.

"There are 40 mid sized cities in this state with more than 100,000 people, and anywhere outside of Texas, it would be a population center. But what's happening here in Texas is that Democrats have neglected those areas," Scudder said.

He believes that building the party's presence around the state would be a key measure of success.

"Winning elections is always the highest priority, and that's what we're going to be laser focused on, non stop, right? But I think that there are also some wins that we can have around the state, like making sure that we're filling our county chair positions," Scudder said, adding that more than 20% of counties in Texas don't have a Democratic Party.

"We have an obligation to make sure that we're filling those spots, filling precinct chair spots, making sure that people are active and engaged, and making sure that we don't have a milquetoast party that's sitting around and crying process when bad things are happening," Scudder said.

"People want a Democratic Party that will stand up and fight back, and that's what we're delivering. It is a new day in the Texas Democratic Party. We are here to stand up and fight back on behalf of the working men and women of this state," Scudder said.