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Democratic Campaign Committee Will Open Austin Office to Focus on Texas Wins in 2020

By Sanford Nowlin

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Beto O'Rourke's close race against Ted Cruz is a likely factor in Democrats' new focus on Texas. - SANFORD NOWLIN

Sanford Nowlin
Beto O'Rourke's close race against Ted Cruz is a likely factor in Democrats' new focus on Texas.

National Democrats are clearly taking the 2018 midterms as a sign that Texas is becoming a purple state.

The chairwoman of U.S. House Democratic campaign arm this week announced that the committee will open an Austin satellite office. The move seems to follow a strategy the national party used in California in 2018, where it took seven seats from Republicans during the midterms.

“When it comes to places where House Democrats can go on offense, it doesn’t get any bigger than Texas,” DCCC Chairwoman and U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Ill., told the Texas Tribune. “In 2018, Texas Democrats proved that they can win in competitive districts. That’s why we are continuing our investments in the Lone Star State by opening a new DCCC Texas Headquarters."

Democrats won two House seats in the state that election cycle, hurling out longtime Republican incumbents in the Houston and Dallas suburbs. Also feeding the Democrats' fire, most likely, was Beto O’Rourke's closer-than-expected race against Republican Sen. Ted Cruz.

In a recent memo, Texas Democrats also revealed plans for a multi-million-dollar initiative to help take down longtime Republican Sen. John Cornyn in 2020.

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Tags: DCCC, Democrats, Texas, purple state, Beto O'Rourke, John Cornyn, Ted Cruz, Cheri Bustos, Austin

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