Democratic Group Puts Pen To Paper In An Effort To Flip Tarrant County Blue

Democrats see more opportunity in Tarrant County than any other to flip seats in the Texas Legislature.

By Christopher ConnellyFebruary 25, 2020 6:23 pm, , ,

From KERA:

Democrats see more opportunity in Tarrant County than any other to flip seats in the state capitol in Austin. They need to pick up nine seats to win control of the state House for the first time in 20 years, and are targeting five seats in Tarrant, the state’s third-largest county.

While contemporary political campaigns rely on new technologies and complex data to reach and mobilize voters, some Democratic organizations in Tarrant County are going a little more old-school: Using pen and paper to build up the Democratic voter base.

Democratic activist group Tarrant Together is organizing a massive letter writing campaign. A battalion of the organization’s volunteers have been gathering in offices and cafes across the county since the summer to write letters telling potential Democratic voters why it’s important to vote in 2020. They’re hand-written, hand-folded and slipped into envelopes addressed by hand, along with a voter registration application.

“It’s a little more personal and from the heart than your standard form letter,” said Gwenn Burud, a Tarrant Together board member who ran for a state Senate seat in 2018. “There’s some people that say health care is important to me, or some people might say they want strong public schools. Some might say ‘look, voting is my superpower. It’s my way to be heard, and if I don’t vote, I can’t complain.’”

Read more.