The chairman of the Texas Democratic Party announced his resignation Friday. Gilberto Hinojosa has led the party since 2012.
"On Tuesday, the Democratic Party suffered devastating defeats up and down the ballot In Texas and across the country. Voters sent a clear message to our party and our country that they want our leaders to talk to them about issues that they care about most, including the economy. Democrats delivered infrastructure funds to rebuild roads, bridges, ports, and airports. Democrats passed the most important climate investments in history. And though Democrats delivered one of the best economies our country has had, Americans just aren’t feeling it," Hinojosa wrote in a statement.
Hinojosa says he will remain as chairman until the State Democratic Executive Committee meeting in March.
"In the days and weeks to come, it is imperative that our Democratic leaders across the country reevaluate what is best for our party and embrace the next generation of leaders to take us through the next four years of Trump and win back seats up and down the ballot," he wrote.
The Texas Secretary of State says Republican Donald Trump won the state with 56% of the vote Tuesday; he won Texas with 52% of the vote in 2020.
Senator Ted Cruz won with 53% this week. In his last election in 2018, he won with 51%.
"Democrats' performance in Texas was, frankly, disastrous," says SMU Political Science Professor Matthew Wilson. "I think there was enormous pressure on Hinojosa to step down."
Down the ballot, Democrats lost seats in the Texas legislature. Wilson says Democrats have spent 15 years trying to develop a way to become more competitive in statewide races, but this election shows "they clearly went backwards from that."
"A majority of Texas Hispanics in this cycle voted for Trump, voted Republican," he says. "That's a five alarm fire for the Democratic Party. You've got to figure out how they can bolster their appeal to Hispanic voters."
Wilson says the party has used different strategies to gain success. In some cases, he says candidates have run as a more centrist option; in others, he says Democrats have run as progressive.
"Neither one has clearly shown signs of success, but they're going to need to adopt one or the other of those strategies and really lean hard into it," he says.
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