Mission: Texas

We're kicking off a series of episodes with leaders within the Texas Democratic Party infrastructure, hearing what's going on within the party from the inside.  Recorded coming off the Texas Democratic Convention in Corpus Christi and heading straight into the Fourth of July weekend, this first installment is about reclaiming patriotism as Democratic territory.  Kate and Alex sit down wi...

This week, Kate and Alex sit down with Zack Dunn, Democratic nominee for Texas House District 121 in San Antonio, the second of two House seats in the area that are closest to flipping. His seat is targeted by the DLCC and HDCC, two groups helping flip seats in the Texas legislature. Zack was recording while in Corpus Christi, where the convention was happening.  Plus: Kate gets back into a c...

Kate's primary rival turned good friend joins the podcast. State Rep. Cassandra Garcia Hernandez (HD-115) beat Kate in the March 2024 Democratic primary, and this episode is the full story of that race, how they built a real friendship out of it, and what it means heading into the general election season. With Texas Democrats gathering in Corpus Christi this week for the state convention, this con...

Alex has told this story before — how a campaign organizer showed up in Sherman, Texas of all places, and changed the trajectory of his life. This week, that organizer is finally on the mic. Scott Mackey recruited Alex as a high school senior during the 2008 Texas Democratic primary, back when the campaign had no budget, no VAN data, and was cutting turf on hand-drawn Google Maps. It's a homecomin...

Alex has told this story before — how a campaign organizer showed up in Sherman, Texas of all places, and changed the trajectory of his life. This week, that organizer is finally on the mic. Scott Mackey recruited Alex as a high school senior during the 2008 Texas Democratic primary, back when the campaign had no budget, no VAN data, and was cutting turf on hand-drawn Google Maps. It's a homecomin...

The primaries are over. The runoffs are done. What Texas Republicans just sent to the general election ballot may be the most corrupt and radical slate this state has ever seen. This week, Kate and Alex rank all eight GOP statewide nominees — scored on corruption and radicalism — and break down what Democrats need to know before November. Plus: Alex is back from a week off with a new look and good...

The primaries are over. The runoffs are done. What Texas Republicans just sent to the general election ballot may be the most corrupt and radical slate this state has ever seen. This week, Kate and Alex rank all eight GOP statewide nominees — scored on corruption and radicalism — and break down what Democrats need to know before November. Plus: Alex is back from a week off with a new look and good...

Texas State Senator Sarah Eckhardt joins Kate to break down the race for Texas Comptroller — one of the most powerful offices in state government that almost nobody's talking about. Eckhardt, the Democratic nominee, faces Don Huffines, the multimillionaire who purchased the Epstein Ranch and is promising to gut public education and "DOGE" state government. Kate and Senator Eckhardt make the case f...

Texas State Senator Sarah Eckhardt joins Kate to break down the race for Texas Comptroller — one of the most powerful offices in state government that almost nobody's talking about. Eckhardt, the Democratic nominee, faces Don Huffines, the multimillionaire who purchased the Epstein Ranch and is promising to gut public education and "DOGE" state government. Kate and Senator Eckhardt make the case f...

You may have seen Angel on the news talking Texas politics. But what you may not know is that Angel Carroll spent her career fighting for criminal justice reform, ran for the Texas House, and was arrested at the Texas Capitol during the redistricting protest. Now she's suing Governor Greg Abbott for banning her from the building without due process. Kate and Alex sit down with Angel to hear the fu...

You may have seen Angel on the news talking Texas politics. But what you may not know is that Angel Carroll spent her career fighting for criminal justice reform, ran for the Texas House, and was arrested at the Texas Capitol during the redistricting protest. Now she's suing Governor Greg Abbott for banning her from the building without due process. Kate and Alex sit down with Angel to hear the fu...

Olivia Julianna, a Gen Z activist, strategist, and content creator based in Texas. Her work has reached millions online, and she's become one of the most recognizable young Democratic voices in the country. This week, Kate and Alex sit down with Olivia to talk about building a political movement in Texas, and why community is the foundation everything else gets built on. Olivia traces her origin s...

Olivia Julianna, a Gen Z activist, strategist, and content creator based in Texas. Her work has reached millions online, and she's become one of the most recognizable young Democratic voices in the country. This week, Kate and Alex sit down with Olivia to talk about building a political movement in Texas, and why community is the foundation everything else gets built on. Olivia traces her origin s...

Constitutional law attorney, voting rights expert, and former president of the Texas Civil Rights Project Mimi Marziani joins Kate and Alex to break down the Supreme Court's Callais decision — and what it means for Texas, for redistricting, and for democracy itself. Plus: Mimi's clients are refusing to be silenced, Alex's daughter turns four, and Kate announces she's hanging a shingle. What we dis...

Constitutional law attorney, voting rights expert, and former president of the Texas Civil Rights Project Mimi Marziani joins Kate and Alex to break down the Supreme Court's Callais decision — and what it means for Texas, for redistricting, and for democracy itself.  Plus: Mimi's clients are refusing to be silenced, Alex's daughter turns four, and Kate announces she's hanging a shingle. What...

Texas's 23rd congressional district just got a whole lot more interesting. Republican Congressman Tony Gonzalez resigned amid a sex scandal, leaving 800,000 Texans without representation — and Greg Abbott refuses to call a special election. Katy Padilla-Stout, a San Antonio attorney, former teacher, child welfare advocate, and mom of four, won a four-way Democratic primary outright on just $50K. N...

If you want to flip Texas, you have to win the Rio Grande Valley. This week on Mission: Texas, we're sitting down with Julio Salinas — 26 years old, son of a migrant farm worker, former Texas House legislative director, and the candidate who just shocked the entire RGV political establishment by finishing first in a three-way primary for Texas House District 41. He's heading into a runoff against...

This week, we're sitting down with Shelby Evans, the lead organizer behind Austin's No Kings rally, to find out how the movement actually works, who's showing up, and what comes next. Shelby breaks down the nuts and bolts of coalition organizing — the eight-week runway, the open call for artists and musicians, the trilingual programming in English, Spanish, and ASL, and the 80+ organizations that...

Junior Ezeonu just pulled off one of the most compelling primary upsets in recent Texas Democratic politics — defeating a 16-year incumbent in a safe blue seat, severely outspent, on grassroots power alone. Now he's headed to the Texas State House representing Texas House District 101, and he's got a roadmap for flipping the legislature by 2030. Kate and Alex sit down with the Grand Prairie city c...

Texas is unique in that it has two separate Supreme Courts: one for civil cases (the Texas Supreme Court) and one for criminal cases (the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals). Currently, both courts are composed entirely of Republican justices. And we elect these judges here.  In this episode, Kate and Alex interview three Democratic women seeking to bring balance to these courts: Holly Taylor (c...

What does it take to run for Texas Lieutenant Governor as a union negotiator and not a career politician? In this episode of Mission: Texas, Kate and Alex sit down with Marcos Velez, Democratic candidate for Texas Lieutenant Governor and Assistant Director of United Steelworkers District 13, ahead of the 2026 runoff election. Marcos brings a background unlike anyone else in the race: raised by a h...

This week on Mission: Texas, we sit down with Luke Warford, founder of the Agave Fund and former Democratic nominee for Texas Railroad Commissioner, whose 2022 run turned heads nationally.  Luke breaks down why 2026 may be the perfect storm for Texas Democrats, what down-ballot candidates can learn from the Senate primary, and how the Agave Fund is building the infrastructure that actually wi...

In this episode of Mission: Texas, Kate and Alex sit down with Clayton Tucker, fifth-generation Texan rancher and the Democratic nominee for Texas Agriculture Commissioner — the candidate running to lower your grocery bill, protect Texas water, and bust the monopolies rigging the system. We discuss how just four corporations control the entire U.S. meat supply, why AI data centers are draining Tex...

In this episode of Mission: Texas , we break down the biggest takeaways from the Texas primaries with Michelle Davis, substack writer of Lone Star Left, and David De La Fuente, Dallas political strategist and podcast host of Loserville. We discuss the unexpectedly high Democratic turnout, why younger candidates are gaining traction across Texas, and what races revealed about where Texas Democrats...

In this episode of Mission: Texas, we sit down with Aimee Prudhomme, the new Executive Director of Powered by People, Beto O’Rourke’s volunteer-led organizing group built to flip Texas through human-to-human voter engagement. We talk about why registration is only step one, how relational organizing boosts turnout, and what it looks like to build long-term power across the whole state — not just t...