The Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee (HDCC) was born in Ardmore, Oklahoma in 2003. House Republicans were trying to ram through a redistricting plan that would disenfranchise millions of Texans. House Democrats left Texas for Ardmore to break quorum and prevent the congressional map from passing. The need for a new organization was clear — an organization whose sole mission was to win and maintain a Democratic majority in the Texas House.

Since it’s founding, the HDCC has worked with allied organizations around the state, serving as the central campaign clearinghouse for Democratic challengers and incumbents. We’ve done this by focusing on:

• recruiting and training competitive candidates,
• conducting survey research to identify voter trends and attitudes,
• and ensuring our candidates have the financial resources to frame the debate and win.

We’ve learned the lesson of 2010: Democrats around the country learned a hard lesson in 2010. When voters are not engaged, small extreme factions can have a disproportionate impact. That’s why the HDCC is taking the lead to ensure that never happens again.   

Elections have consequences. Despite the fact that today’s economy demands an educated workforce, Governor Rick Perry and a Tea Party-controlled legislature decreased public school funding this year for the first time in more than four decades. They pushed a political agenda on state universities, passed down health care costs to the local level and ignored neglected roads, bridges and infrastructure.

HDCC is fighting back:  Democrats have a clear vision for our future. Tea Party candidates now have a record to defend. And the Texas HDCC is ready to make them answer for their record. We have a plan, both for offense and defense. Texas HDCC is primed and ready to make the course correction we need in 2012 to put our state back on the path to building an educated workforce and a growing economy.