Eighteen Democratic Texas State House candidates, 13 challengers and five incumbents, sent a letter today to the Texas State Legislature calling for the passage of major democracy reforms to be a top priority in the 87th Legislative Session. These candidates, who commended their sitting Democratic colleagues for proposing bold good-government initiatives, are sending a historic message to voters and to the establishment in Austin that they are committed to passing these reforms as a top priority to unrig the broken system so that Texas’ government is responsive to the people and not beholden to big donors and corporate special interests.
Key elements of the letter include: Ending the unjust and divisive practice of political and racial gerrymandering; establishing campaign contribution limits to decrease the influence of big donors; strengthening the right to vote by establishing online and automatic voter registration and increasing access to absentee ballots; demanding transparency in political spending; and removing deliberate barriers that prevent Texans from exercising their right to vote.
You can read the full text of the letter here.
The full list of candidates who signed the letter includes: Rep. James Talarico (HD-52), Angela Brewer (HD-64), Lorenzo Sanchez (HD-67), Brandy Chambers (HD-112), Natali Hurtado (HD-126), Janet Dudding (HD-14), Sarah DeMerchant (HD-26), Eliz Markowitz (HD-28), Travis Boldt (HD-29), Eric Holguin (HD-32), Rep. Vikki Goodwin (HD-47), Sharon Hirsch (HD-66), Lydia Bean (HD-93), Rep. Terry Meza (HD-105), Celina Montoya (HD-121), Ann Johnson (HD-134), Rep. Jon Rosenthal (HD-135) and Rep. John Bucy III (HD-136).
“Texans’ faith in democracy is at an all time low from the outsized influence of money in politics that has drowned out their voices, rigged the electoral system, and attacked their right to vote,” said Tiffany Muller, president of End Citizens United and Let America Vote. “These eighteen candidates are running on bold reforms to rebuild Texans’ confidence in the system that has failed them. They know that Big Money’s influence stands in the way of making progress on critical issues impacting Texans’ daily lives, like strengthening public schools, increasing access to affordable, quality healthcare, and rebuilding the economy. We applaud these candidates’ efforts to combat corruption with a pro-democracy majority.”
ECU and LAV merged in January to combat the two biggest challenges facing our democracy: Big Money and voter suppression. Its affiliated project, Fight for Reform (FFR), focuses on bringing transparency and accountability to state and local elections around the country.
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