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





John,

Remember Trump’s inauguration? It wasn't even a year ago. All of the
corporate titans and tech billionaires in supplication, pledging their
fealty… soon to be followed by the major law firms, the Ivy League
universities, the media corporations, even Congress and the Supreme Court…
really, anyone with any kind of conventional power was bending the knee to
this would-be dictator… it was enough to make you puke… and to tempt us to
despair.

But instead, we chose to fight.

We decided that action would be the antidote to despair, the key to
victory, and the one thing in our control that can make a difference.

This is a long email (about 7 minutes) but I want to tell you the action
our Powered by People team took in 2025 to meet the challenge. It made a
huge difference, and I'm proud of what we accomplished.

It started with listening. Showing up in every part of Texas to bring
people together for no-holds-barred town hall meetings. We wanted to hear
what was on people’s minds. Yes, their concerns but also their solutions
to overcoming the very real challenges we face. People—Democrats,
Republicans, Independents, non-voters alike—having conversations eyeball
to eyeball. No question off limits, everyone allowed a chance on the mic.

We held town halls in Republican strongholds, places Trump had just won
with 70% of the vote. Amarillo, Wichita Falls, Tyler. We had them in
suburbs too: Mansfield, Rosenberg (with my friend Tim Walz), Denton,
Garland, Humble. And we did the same in bigger cities, from San Antonio
and Laredo to Beaumont.

[ [link removed] ]Town hall in Garland

Town hall in Garland

[ [link removed] ]Town hall in San Antonio

Town hall in San Antonio

Everyone in the room learned from everyone in the room. In this age of
misinformation and state-sponsored propaganda, it brought us together on
the same page of truth, ready to take action. One moment that stood out
was when a woman in Humble [ [link removed] ]talked about what it means to have her
health care taken away.

Those community meetings at the start of the year led to unprecedented
action in the streets. People coming out in force for the Hands Off march
in April and the No Kings protests after that.

Texas showed up, with events in the places you might expect but also in
small towns and rural communities. Powered by People organizers were there
every step of the way, registering voters, signing up volunteers, and
getting folks added to our network to help them turn out in the next
election.

We protested Trump’s cuts to foreign aid, his destruction of public
education, his “Big Beautiful Bill” that takes the ability to see a doctor
away from millions of people while funneling billions to his ultra-rich
donors, his attacks on our democracy and our Constitution, the masked,
plain-clothes officers he has sweeping our neighbors off the street
without a badge or a warrant or any semblance of due process.

And we took it directly to him. When Trump invited himself to give the
commencement at the University of Alabama in May, we went to Tuscaloosa
and joined thousands of students and community members to offer a
powerful, positive alternative to his selfish and destructive
authoritarianism.

[ [link removed] ]Together in Alabama

Together in Alabama

But as spring turned to summer, it became clear to all of us at Powered by
People that protesting wouldn’t be enough. We couldn’t just be against
things. We needed to be for something.

So we hit the road to share a big, bold, positive, unapologetic vision for
our future. One that tells people exactly how Democrats will deliver when
we win power, incorporating what we had heard during our town halls
earlier in the year.

We held rallies in Fort Worth (with our friend Bernie) and Amarillo to lay
it all out. A future where you can afford to see a doctor, buy a home,
send your kids to world-class public schools, and only have to work one
job. A future where we have a real democracy; one where we no longer turn
our backs on our friends and allies around the world.

[ [link removed] ]With Bernie in Fort Worth

With Bernie in Fort Worth

We took this Texas vision to the rest of the country, holding town halls
in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Wisconsin, Indiana,
Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. We even held a memorable one
in Berlin (Germany—not Texas) with Democrats Abroad to make sure that U.S.
citizens living outside the country can use their power to vote to help
win critical elections. Thousands of people came out to these events,
allowing us to make them into big organizing opportunities… registering
folks to vote and plugging them in to volunteer shifts in their local
communities.

[ [link removed] ]Town hall in Oklahoma City

Town hall in Oklahoma City

[ [link removed] ]Town hall in Charlotte

Town hall in Charlotte

While traveling to other states this summer, we also had the opportunity
to build our coalition and our movement. We worked directly with partner
organizations that share our priority of bringing people together and
taking action. That meant joining the summer meetings of the Young
Democrats of America, the NAACP, UnidosUS, and Netroots Nation.

All of this work—the travel, the organizing, the coalition building—was
put to the test when Donald Trump ordered Greg Abbott and Texas
Republicans to give him five more seats in the House of Representatives… a
direct attack on Texas and an effort to seize political power before the
first votes of 2026 were even cast.

But we weren’t caught flat-footed. In fact, we chose to aggressively fight
the President and take our case to the country.

I couldn’t be more proud of how Powered by People stepped up to lead this
redistricting fight. As Republicans began to redraw the maps in order to
steal five Democratic seats, we took action.

We protested at the Texas Capitol and testified inside of it. We hosted a
6,000 person rally in Austin (with our friends Joaquin Castro, Jasmine
Crockett, James Talarico, Gina Hinojosa, and Greg Casar). We held
organizing events in Houston, Abilene, and El Paso. We brought together
thousands more in Fort Worth, reminding Trump and the rest of the country
that, while the rich and powerful might be genuflecting in anticipatory
obedience to the little dictator, in Texas, our knees don’t bend.

[ [link removed] ]Rally in Austin

Rally in Austin

During TV interviews, podcasts, and out-of-state events, we connected the
dots for our fellow Americans about why what happens in Texas matters to
them (Trump is trying to steal these seats in order to hang on to power in
the House because if he loses his majority, there will finally be a check
on his lawlessness, accountability for his crimes and corruption, and real
hope for a better future for this country). We got off the back foot and
on to the front foot, leading the call for Democratic-controlled states to
fight fire with fire by redrawing their maps to cancel out the Texas
gerrymander (thank you, California). We would no longer await the punch
thrown by these would-be fascists. Instead we would throw ours first and
throw it harder.

[ [link removed] ]Rally in Fort Worth

Rally in Fort Worth

But we didn’t just raise awareness, we raised resources too. When the
heroic Texas Democrats left the state to break quorum and stop Trump’s
power grab, we had their backs. And we continued to have their backs when
they returned. Thanks to our grassroots supporters, Powered by People
donated over $1 million to the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, the Texas
House Democratic Caucus, and the Mexican American Legislative Caucus over
the course of the special session.

Turns out Republicans don’t like when we fight back. For standing against
Trump’s Texas gerrymander, Ken Paxton accused me of bribery, tried to shut
down Powered by People entirely, and even asked a judge to imprison me.

Did that stop us?

No. We continued to fight aggressively, taking Paxton to court, and
winning in front of an all Abbott-appointed appeals court. I’m sure Paxton
knew he could never prove his lies, but I’m also just as sure that his
intent was to bury us in legal action and bankrupt us by turning the full
power of the State of Texas against us. What he didn’t count on was that
we were never, ever going to give in. Though the months-long fight cost us
more than $400,000 in legal fees, our supporters stayed with us through
the thick of it and helped us emerge stronger than ever.

[ [link removed] ]Headline: Beto O'RourKe wins another round against Ken Paxton — but at
a great cost.

[ [link removed] ]Headline: Ken Paxton's legal crusade against Beto O'Rourke is
faltering before an all-Republican appeals court.

So strong that we decided to do what’s never been done before—work with
allies across Texas to fill every single seat on the ballot with a
Democrat.

We hit the road to recruit Democratic candidates in every part of the
state. We hosted candidate recruitment events in breweries and bars, in
church meeting rooms and community centers, on campuses… anywhere we could
gather people to remind them what’s at stake and what we can do to meet
the moment. And we weren’t just in the districts that are safe for
Democrats. We were in Pearland, Waco, College Station, McKinney, and Fort
Worth just to name a few.

[ [link removed] ]Candidate recruitment event in San Antonio

Candidate recruitment event in San Antonio

[ [link removed] ]Candidate recruitment event in Waco

Candidate recruitment event in Waco

And here’s the result: Democrats filed to run for 39 out of 39
Congressional seats, 16 out of 16 State Senate seats, and 150 out of 150
State House seats. We’ve scoured the state records (which have been
digitized back to 1974) and we can’t find another year where Democrats
fielded a candidate for every seat.

But we know that it’s not enough just to have candidates on the ballot.
They have to have our support too. That’s why Powered by People is
organizing on the ground and on college campuses throughout the state. We
are registering voters, building new voter relationships and signing up
volunteers on campuses like Rice, University of Houston, UT, Austin
Community College, UTSA, UTEP, and El Paso Community College. And we know
this work works; the young voters who we met and registered and stayed in
touch with in 2024 turned out at a rate of 79.5% (versus 42% nationally
and 37% in Texas).

[ [link removed] ]Voter registration event at University of Houston

Voter registration event at University of Houston

Finally, there was everything that our Powered by People volunteers were
doing when I wasn’t physically with them. When the media wasn’t there.
When it wasn’t being documented for Instagram or TikTok. It was the voters
being registered every single day. The volunteer shifts happening in every
part of the state. The organizing for down ballot races like Senate
District 9. And the texts sent, phone calls made, community events
attended, action taken.

[ [link removed] ]Voter registration event

[ [link removed] ]Voter registration event

[ [link removed] ]Voter registration event

John, we had
a big year and we’re not slowing down now. We’re only going to turn it up
in 2026. That's how we can win a U.S. Senate seat, critical Congressional
races, state legislative seats... that's how we take back power, and use
it to deliver for the people.

[ [link removed] ]If you’re ready to build on this work in 2026, donate
$3 today. Your donation will help us register voters,
organize across Texas, and win races up and down the ballot.



[ [link removed] ]Donate $3



Thanks for being in the fight with us.

Beto




 


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