Kendall Scudder will lead the Texas Democratic Party into the critical midterm elections this year after Texas Democrats elected him to a full term as chair at the party’s convention in Corpus Christi.

Texas Democratic Party Convention

The party’s delegates overwhelmingly chose Scudder to continue on as chair over former TDP staffers Monique Alcala and Marco Orrantia, ending a bitter race centered on how the party should be organized and whether it was building enough infrastructure to capitalize on this cycle’s political tailwinds and lay the groundwork for long-term Democratic gains.

Buoyed by President Donald Trump’s sagging approval ratings, the GOP’s standard-bearer in the embattled Attorney General Ken Paxton and backlash to rising everyday costs, Texas Democrats consider this November their best opportunity in years to win a statewide office for the first time since 1994 and to flip numerous seats down the ballot.

Party Platform

Delegates also adopted the party platform, which this year took on a notable populist tone focused on rising costs and corruption — in line with Democratic campaign pitches all along Texas’ ballot.

The platform opens with a section on affordability, homing in on grocery, housing, and transportation costs, in addition to lowering property taxes and utility bills and raising taxes on the wealthiest.

Scudder was first elected TDP chair by the party’s governing board, the State Democratic Executive Committee, in March 2025, taking over for longtime chair Gilberto Hinojosa who stepped down after Democrats’ disappointing 2024 election performance.

Original reporting: Texas Tribune (HLL/CB) — read the source article.