[1]Powered By People





Dear John,

I just got back from the road last night and want to tell you all about
it.

I left El Paso on Wednesday to lead a candidate recruitment rally in Fort
Worth, which happens to sit in one of the last competitive large counties
in Texas. The rest of the big ones in Texas — Travis (home to Austin),
Harris (Houston), Bexar (San Antonio), and Dallas — are all strong
Democratic majority counties.

But Tarrant County, which has over two million people and includes Fort
Worth, is a true toss-up. It had been reliably Republican for decades
before I won a slim majority there in 2018. Joe Biden won it in 2020. But
in the following election cycles it swung back to the GOP. Victories here
are tough, hard-fought, and never permanent.

Bottom line: without Tarrant County it will be impossible for Democrats to
win political power in Texas.

So on a chilly autumn evening, I gathered with a couple hundred people on
the outdoor patio of the Rusty Nickel brewhouse to talk about the
importance of running for a place on the ballot. County Commissioner,
Constable, State House, State Senate, U.S. Congress. My theory of the
case: if we field a strong candidate for every available office, we have a
much stronger chance of winning county-wide, as well as winning statewide.
I saw that in 2018 — part of the reason we carried Tarrant and got so
close against Cruz was the full ballot of quality Democrats that were
running with me.

After I made my pitch and we answered questions from prospective
candidates, 16 people raised their hands to run for office in Tarrant
County. A great start!

The next day we were in McKinney in Collin County, one of the fastest
growing counties in America (pop. 1.2 million). Same general trend — we
got within four points in 2020, but the gap has grown some since then. At
our recruiting event at a bar called “Elysium,” 22 people said they were
interested in running for office after we made our pitch. More progress.

Saturday I was in Brazos County, smaller and more rural (pop. 250,000) and
a lot redder electorally. And yet, if Democrats get on the ballot, then
we’ll have candidates around whom we can organize, values that voters can
watch us fight for, and more votes going both to these new candidates and
all the way up to our nominees for Senate and Governor too.

We closed the week in Waco on Sunday (McLennan County, pop. 270,000),
another place where we’ve historically struggled to get Democrats on the
ballot. More than 150 people packed the Southern Roots brewery to talk
about the stakes for 2026 and then commit themselves to action. Many
signed up to learn more about running for office and nearly half joined
Powered by People to volunteer to register and turn out the voters who
will power these new candidates’ campaigns.

[ [link removed] ]Beto with supporter

[ [link removed] ]Beto at Rallies

[ [link removed] ]Beto at Rallies

I told them: “We are tempted to despair as we watch what’s happening to
this country. Some might even lose hope. But we can’t let that happen. We
must take action. It’s the antidote to despair. It’s the key to victory.
It’s hope in motion.”

Tarrant. Collin. Brazos. McLennan. All currently “Red” counties. But if we
show up, fight on every front, for every position on the ballot, concede
nothing and work until we win, these counties may hold the key to big
Democratic victories in 2026.

Thanks for keeping me on the road so that we can do this important
organizing work. We’re bringing our fellow Texans into the most important
election in our lives by giving them ways to take action. Running for
office. Volunteering for Powered by People. Whatever it takes, we are
committed to doing the work.



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— Beto




 




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