Houston State Rep. Gene Wu was selected on Thursday as the new chair of the Texas House Democratic Caucus. Arguing for better “external communication,” he beat out incumbent Trey Martinez Fischer of San Antonio, who was elected to the role ahead of the 2023 legislative session.
Wu is going into his seventh term in the Texas Legislature, and has been a vocal critic of Republican leadership both at the capitol and on social media.
“He’s an outspoken member and he’s been outspoken on big issues like immigration,” said James Barragán, politics reporter for the Texas Tribune. “He’s an immigrant himself from China. And he is very liberal. An interesting choice for the Democrats given the election year that they just had, where Republicans won so many tough races and increased their margins.”
Barragán said it represents a shift for the minority party, who suffered losses in the last election and is going into the legislative session in a weaker position than previous sessions.
“Their main point was they wanted more external communication. And if you look at the results of the elections, I think it can’t be argued that there isn’t a need for improvement there,” Barragán said. “The question is, is he the right messenger? He’s a very, very liberal Democrat from Houston. And is that going to be the right choice? We’ll have to see that in the next couple of years.”
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