Beto O’Rourke, Texas Democrats Launch Ambitious Black Voter Outreach Effort

The Texas Democratic Party, Beto O’Rourke’s Powered By People, and the Texas Coalition of Black Democrats are beginning a massive effort to contact each and every one of Texas’ 1.5 million registered Black voters by mid-August. 

The effort is aimed at turning out Democrats for the November election. The groups will call or text every voter for whom they have a phone number. They also hope to register unregistered Black voters living in the households they contact. 

“Make no mistake about it, Black voters are the backbone of the Texas Democratic Party,” said Texas Democratic Party Black Constituency Organizer Serita Robinson. “With the social upheaval that we are seeing across the country and in Texas, along with Black Americans realizing the power of our movement and the power of our voices, there has never been a more important time to come together and support our community. 

The Texas Democrats believe winning over Black voters is key to winning Texas. 

“For far too long the votes of Black Texans have been suppressed by Republicans and taken for granted by Democrats,” said O’Rourke. “The work of this coalition will address both of these challenges by helping to elect a Democratic majority in our state house, one that will work to end racial gerrymandering and voter suppression, and by individually reaching out to every Black voter in the state of Texas.” 

Powered by People has been working at the grassroots level since the beginning of the year. O’Rourke launched the political action committee that is fueling the volunteer effort shortly after he dropped out of the presidential race.