***

I am grateful to the TCDP’s County Executive Committee for its confidence and support in electing me by acclamation to follow Andy Brown as party Chair. Andy did a terrific job in his years as Chair, and his hard work strengthened the foundation that his predecessors established.  I want to thank Andy for his outstanding stewardship of the party, and I pledge to continue and build upon his important work and that of the many terrific people who have served our party. I am honored to be the first woman elected to serve as County Chair in more than three decades, and I am committed to pave the way for those who will follow me.

We are fortunate to have many exceptional Democratic elected officials in Travis County, and I really appreciate their support and encouragement. I want to thank Congressman Lloyd Doggett and Senator Kirk Watson, both longtime friends, for making a special effort to attend the County Executive Committee meeting at which I was elected. I am very thankful for Senator Watson’s most generous donation to the party to help insure a successful transition.

Please consider joining Senator Watson in supporting our party with a donation today.

I was struck by something Paul Begala said at the Battleground Texas luncheon last week, “Texas is not a red state – it is a non-voting state.”  Of course he’s right — we all know that the Texas election results do not reflect our values or those of our neighbors. I feel a special sense of hope and excitement about turning Travis County a deep and uniform blue, and about our county leading Texas once again to be the Democratic stronghold it can be.

If we plan, organize, and do the necessary hard work, we can come together to engage and motivate tens of thousands of new potential voters to register and vote. We can recruit strong Democratic candidates for every position on the ballot. We can raise the funds necessary to build the infrastructure we need to run strong coordinated campaigns. We can persuade voters in all parts of our county that they need to turn out to elect Democrats. And we can work together to turn this state around.

I am committed to ensuring together we expand and strengthen the Travis County Democratic Party. With national political attention focused on the efforts to Turn Texas Blue, it’s critical that our local Democratic Party is stronger than ever.

If you are committed to making Travis County completely blue and working to Turn Texas Blue, please consider making a donation today or signing up as a sustaining member.

I have enlisted some help to ensure we can achieve our goals. I’d like to announce that we have hired JD Gins to serve as Executive Director of the TCDP.  Many of you know JD from his work with Texans for Obama and the Obama campaign.  Starting as a volunteer in East Austin, JD worked his way up to Texas Field Director for the President.  He has also served as Campaign Manager and Deputy Campaign Manager for several Democratic candidates in Austin and Texas. JD and I plan to work together to implement the Obama model of “Respect, Empower, and Include” to engage Precinct Chairs and Democratic activists to build an even stronger party.

I am also very thankful that Joe Deshotel, our very talented Communications Director, will be staying on to help serve Travis County Democrats. Joe is a terrific writer, strategist, and Democratic campaign director, having been immersed in Democratic politics all his life. We are extremely fortunate to have such a skilled and knowledgeable member of the team. I hope you will join me in welcoming JD and in thanking Joe for his continued service.

I would also like to thank Rachael Torres.  As an interim “part-time” staff member, Rachael maintained the party office and worked hard to support Chairman Andy Brown. She deserves our appreciation for her work, and for cleaning up and overhauling the TCDP office, coming up with the idea to raise funds to replace the dirty carpet with a new floor and paint the dingy walls. Come volunteer and take a look — the office looks great!  Everyone in the Travis County Democratic Party owes Rachael a debt of gratitude for her dedicated service.

I will be working to raise the funds needed to expand our staff to build the organization required to turn Travis County completely blue and to lead the way in turning Texas blue. I hope that you will assist us with your financial contributions and your volunteer efforts. We cannot do this without your support.

Please make a donation or sign up to be a sustaining member of the Travis County Party today!

In the coming weeks I look forward to hearing your thoughts about growing our Democratic Party, and I hope to engage the County Executive Committee, the local Democratic clubs, and any other interested groups in discussions and planning sessions on how to move forward.  I know the most important ingredient needed to Turn Texas Blue is you.  If you are interested in becoming involved, please email me, jan@oconnellsoifer.com, or call me at 512.583.0451.  I am thrilled to be working with my fellow Democrats as we move ahead toward 2014!

Sincerely,

Jan Soifer
Travis County Democratic Party Chair

P.S. Sorry for the long email. I am just very excited to get to work! TCDP will also participate in this year’s Central Texas Juneteenth 2K Freedom Run/Walk & Parade June 15th at 9:30 a.m. For more information visit here.

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The Texas Tribune recently published a chart with you listed as the 2nd “most liberal” Democrat in the Texas Senate. Conservatives tend to use the word as a pejorative, but it must be a badge of honor as the Democratic Senator from Austin?

KW: It is what it is. I don’t tend to take much stock in labels — I’ve found the best governing happens when folks are able to throw them away. I’m proud to be Chair of the Democratic Caucus in the Senate and I will say that for more than a year, Senate Democrats have stressed that Texas can do better for people who are here now as well as for future generations. If you mean that, and you govern like you mean that, you’re naturally going to be looking for ways to make progress. If that makes me progressive, then yeah, it is a badge of honor — in Austin or anywhere else.

Democrats are above the crucial 1/3 mark in the Senate, but, to be successful you have work across the aisle, how have you managed to do that as an outspoken progressive?

KW: Being in the Senate probably does make it easier. There are only 31 of us, so, if you are wiling to work at it, you get to know your peers and counterparts pretty well. The better you know folks, the easier it is to work with them. People generally know where we’re coming from and what we’re trying to achieve, and we know the same about them. That usually makes it easier to work toward solutions that everyone can agree on. Besides, because it takes two-thirds of the Senate to pass anything, senators have to seek out coalitions that are broader than political party lines. It really does force us to work together if anything’s going to get done.

This session you have been talking a lot about truth in budgeting and increasing government transparency in general. Have you received bipartisan support, and what appears to be the fate of those bills?

KW: Well, there’s been more support for the words than there’s been support for the actions. I was actually really excited coming into the session because so many high-profile officeholders were talking about ending diversions and creating a more honest state budget. I filed a proposed constitutional amendment that would have put the state on a path to ending the dishonest, covert practice of diverting special funds away from their intended purposes, and I really thought it would pass. Unfortunately, my proposal was never given a hearing. Budget writers are talking about putting a cap on those diversions for this budget, but that cap will still be at least $4 billion, and it expires in two years. They’re approaching this problem like someone who says he won’t be drinking anymore, but decides he won’t be drinking much less either.

The major headlines this session have mostly been about water and public education funding, is there anything under the radar you have been championing, or a specific accomplishment you are hoping to achieve before sine die?

KW: Quite a few, actually. I’ve worked very hard to reform public-private partnerships in Texas and particularly to give neighborhoods more of a voice when it comes to redeveloping state and government-owned property in Austin and across Texas. I still have hopes we’ll make progress on that, although some pretty powerful folks have come out of the woodwork to slow it down. I was also proud to help negotiate some very important bills that will strengthen pension systems for state employees and retirees in a fair way that asks the state to contribute along with teachers and employees. I was also able to work on standardized testing reform to reduce the number of tests our kids must suffer through and charter schools, issues that began as being very contentious but ended up passing unanimously.

Texas Democrats are energized by all of the national attention on Texas as a potential Presidential battleground state, has that had any effect on the rhetoric or legislation in the Senate?

KW: Not really in terms of contentiousness or partisanship. But you are seeing some real excitement across Texas about Democrats and our future, and there’s no question that’s reflected in the legislature. More than that, I think this session has shown that Democrats really can make a positive difference when we harness the leverage we do have, stick together, kill the unmistakably bad bills and improve others wherever and whenever we can. In the budget drama of the past week, you’ve seen reports of some Republicans speculating about a special session and showing Texas “what a real Republican budget looks like,” assuming Democrats would have less leverage during a special session to shape the budget. That’s a frightening prospect, to be sure, but it does demonstrate that in this session, we’ve made things much better for middle-class Texans than they would have been otherwise while simultaneously highlighting the differences between Republicans and Democrats.

Several high profile Republicans will likely be announcing their 2014 plans immediately after session. Do you have plans for the interim, and what should Democrats be doing to compete?

KW: I know the interim only starts next week, but I’ve been so busy and focused on the session that I honestly haven’t thought much about it. I do think that it comes down to more than just competing in elections — before we get to that point, Democrats need to demonstrate that we do have a positive vision for where we want to take Texas in the 21st Century. That by itself will help demonstrate the contrast between what Democrats are offering Texas versus what Republicans are talking about. You know, this isn’t as good as it gets; Texas really can do better than it’s been doing over the past many years. We need to take every opportunity to show how it can do better, what that looks like and what it means for Texans.

Anything else you would like to tell the good Democrats of Travis County?

Just that I love being their — your — senator. This is a wonderful place, and I’m so proud to be a part of this community. The thing that makes it special are the people who live here and take such good care of it. By the same token, we really are having a positive effect on the state and state policy. In a whole lot of ways, Texas would be less of a state without Austin and the good, passionate people who live here. I see that every day.

A growing body of mortality research on immigrants has shown that the longer they live in this country, the worse their rates of heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. And while their American-born children may have more money, they tend to live shorter lives than the parents.

The 2014-15 deal that budget conferees reached Friday hinges on the approval ofSenate Joint Resolution 1, which would ask voters to create a fund for water infrastructure projects, and House Bill 1025, a supplemental appropriations bill for the 2012-13 budget. SJR 1 is on the House’s Monday calendar, while HB 1025 is on the calendar in the Senate…

One of those is healthcare. And Texas had a golden opportunity this session to increase healthcare for Texans while simultaneously supercharging our economy.

It’s shaping up to be a colossal missed opportunity – for Texas and for all of its people. So far this year, the Legislature has passed on the tens of billions of dollars that the federal government is offering the state to expand Medicaid to cover more Texans. The goal is obvious: by ensuring that more people have health insurance, more people will seek help before small maladies become huge healthcare problems that send those folks to emergency rooms – and their bills to taxpayers. One of those is healthcare. And Texas had a golden opportunity this session to increase healthcare for Texans while simultaneously supercharging our economy. It’s shaping up to be a colossal missed opportunity – for Texas and for all of its people. So far this year, the Legislature has passed on the tens of billions of dollars that the federal government is offering the state to expand Medicaid to cover more Texans. The goal is obvious: by ensuring that more people have health insurance, more people will seek help before small maladies become huge healthcare problems that send those folks to emergency rooms – and their bills to taxpayers…

I caught up with Rep. Rodriguez at the Austin Environmental Democrats meeting about his 83rd session.

A couple of this session’s major issues came to ahead last week, can you explain?

The main two issues right now are the water bill which was killed on a point of order and the second issue is public education funding. We’re trying to fund education at the level it was before the cuts in 2011 and that’s a very high, if not the highest priority for Democrats in the House and the Senate as well.

The Democratic Caucus met and talked about the water bill which we all liked. We thought it was a good idea and it is definitely worth opening up the Rainy Day Fund and trying to fund that with $2 billion. We have $12 Billion in the Rainy Day Fund so $2 Billion is a small amount relatively speaking, and that would really go a long way to addressing some of our water needs in the future.

Every Democrat in the House supports that, but our thinking was if we are going to open up the RDF for water which is very important, $2 Billion for public education to get us back to where we were 2 years ago is not unreasonable. So the debate for us was not about HB 11, which was the water bill, but how can we get more money for public education. Our plan was $2 Billion for water, $2 Billion for public education and $2 Billion for transportation and infrastructure.

I sat in negotiations with Speaker Straus and other Republicans to try and get us there but Republicans in the House don’t want to touch the Rainy Day Fund for anything but water, and even then they have a number of Republicans who don’t want to touch it for anything. Needless to say you can’t get to the 100 votes you need without Democrats. We said you can have us if there is more money for public education, that’s what the sticking point was. The Speaker and a number of Republicans want to put more money into public education but it’s just getting to that 100 votes that we need.

You are championing a couple of important environmental bills this session, what are they?

I have House Bill 3704 which is the “e-waste”, computer electronic waste and recycling bill. In 2007 and 2011 we passed bills for television and computers, but the only way it could pass and the only way it worked out was you had to mail it in and get some kind of rebate back. What this bill does essentially is make it more convenient so we can increase the amount of recycling we have for those two products. It doesn’t specify how we are going to do that but the manufacturer will have to come up with some ways that are more convenient than a mail in rebate. Unfortunately the Chairwoman won’t let it out of committee and there is not a single Republican vote for it on that committee.

The other bill I have, the bottle recycling bill, had a great hearing and some Republican support.  If you have a can of coke or a bottle of coke in certain states they will have a 5 cent refund, well I want to do that here in Texas. I think it will do two things, first it will create a new cottage industry. You will find people that want to be entrepreneurs who will want to start their own business recycling, and it will also encourage a lot more people to recycle. It has even been shown in other states that it can be a money maker. It tremendously decreases landfill waste, it tremendously reduces littering. You can look at these states and see they don’t have as much of a problem as we do here. Even if you look at Austin which has very active recyclers, the percentage of people recycling is still a small, and something like this has been proven to increase that number.

There is some Republican support but the committee chair said she would not vote it out, so this is really something I want to work on over the interim and work with my colleagues and retailers to say, “how can we do this”. The retailers are the ones who really oppose this.

I am a personal fan of Tesla electric cars and you are carrying the bill that would allow them to sale electric cars over the internet, how is it looking?

They are rather costly but it is a really cool car with zero emissions — it’s an incredible piece of machinery. They are wanting to go down on the price, they have a $30,000 car and they are trying to get there but they need to sale more cars. So what they want to do is sale directly to my and you. My bill would allow 100% battery operated cars to be sold online and once they hit 5000 cars sold a year they will have to go through the dealership model. I like it because not only is the product great, but environmentally its fantastic. I really want to get to where this really great technology becomes affordable for the average Texan. That bill is in Calendars Committee, there is a lot of support for it but the Auto Dealers Association is spending a lot of money against it.

I’m sad to leave, but I do so encouraged by the solid infrastructure that we built together since 2008. I’m also encouraged by the many groups around the state who look to us as a model for turning Texas blue.

 

 

It’s actually a very exciting time to be a Democrat in Texas. As President Obama once told me when we met in Austin, “Let’s get it going on down here!”

 

I had the pleasure of meeting with Jeremy Bird and Battleground Texas at their inaugural fundraising lunch yesterday. Their plan to build off what we are doing right here in Travis County is a great one. They plan to help bring equality and opportunity to all Texans through encouraging more participation, and I’m all for it. It’s an exciting time to be a Democrat in Texas.

It has been an honor to serve the bluest county in our state.  When you first trusted me to Chair the TCDP, I knew it would be a great challenge and learning experience, and it was.  It has been an honor to fight by your side.

Now, let’s get it going on down here!

Sincerely,

Andy Brown

Travis County Democratic Party Chair

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This interview will start my series with the Travis County House delegation and their experience of, and/or, reflection on the 83rd legislative session which will end May 27th.

You have formally announced that this will be your last session, how have things changed since you first took office in 2005?

We had kind of a mini-reunion of my freshmen class today for a few minutes at the mic. There aren’t many of us left, but there weren’t many of us to begin with compared to this year’s freshmen class where there are over 40 new members.  There were 17 of us when I came in and we’re half that, so a lot has changed.

We had been steadily losing seats for about 40 years and the year I was elected, 2004 was the first year in decades that Democrats had a net gain of seats in the Texas House. We gained one in 2004, and in 2006 we picked up several seats and in 2008 we picked up several more such that when I got here it was a 88-62 Republican majority and by the 2009 session it was a 76-74, Republican majority and we were one seat from parity. Then in 2010 there was a tidal wave and we went from a nearly 1 to 1 ratio with Republicans to a 2 to 1 ratio.

They had a 101 vote majority last session and they have a 95 vote majority this session and it has changed the experience of being here. Even when we were in the minority before we felt like we were coming on strong and felt like we had the wind at our backs, but since the 2010 election it seems we’re fighting to stave off total catastrophe.

Last session the budget cuts enacted were so painful to so many people in the state and we were all but helpless to do anything about it because we were so badly outnumbered. We will come back and regain some seats in the next election and we will keep gaining throughout this decade. The demographics of this state are such that we will be in the majority. We need to do everything we can as a party to make that day come sooner but the last couple of sessions have been difficult.

What policy area has been your focus in your tenure?

I have always focused on 3 policy areas. One is Public Education, the 2nd is renewable energy and the 3rd is political reform.

What I would really like to accomplish this session on my way out is passage of HB 376 a bill that improves the quality of childcare for kids before they enter the public education system. Increasingly it is clear that the start we give kids in life before kindergarten has a lot to do with whether or not they will be successful after kindergarten.

The other thing I really want to accomplish this session with HB 742, is an innovative program to provide summer learning opportunities for low income kids. It would be paid for by the state through a competitive grant awarded to the district with the best ideas for summer academies. It would be taught by their best teachers with their incoming first year teachers as apprentices to give them classroom experience and training prior to their first year on the job. So, that in my view is a way to kill 3 birds with one stone. To give at risk kids the opportunity to catch up or get a head of their peers during the summer, give our best teachers a way to earn extra money during the summer and give our new teachers a chance to study under those best teachers while helping kids that need it the most.

You are also championing the online voter registration bill, how is it progressing through the political process?

This is actually something I started working on 15 years ago with Rock the Vote. When I was at Rock the Vote I helped create the first website where people could fill out a voter registration card online, but back then you still had to print it out, sign it and send it in. We’re working on legislation this session that would eliminate that part of the process and allow it to be totally automated in a secure way.

A lot of Democrats are excited but surprised that the online voter registration bill seems to be making its way through the legislature — can you explain why you think that is?

I know the Travis County Democratic Party is a technologically sophisticated party and will put it into good effect, but it doesn’t inherently favor one party over the other, it favors the party that can organize itself better online. [Travis County Tax Assessor/Collector] Bruce Elfant has championed it not because of partisan implications but because it increases the efficiency of the operations of his office which is responsible for maintaining the voter registration database.

What happens now is a lot of people fill out the voter registration form and Bruce’s office has to input all that data sometimes at compressed time frames, at great cost and with a really high margin of error. Keying in all that data isn’t a 100% accurate process, allowing people to do it themselves from a computer increases the accuracy of the databases and reduces the cost of maintaining them, and does so without compromising the integrity and security of those databases. So, Bruce sees this a way to save money and increase accuracy.

The reason it has progressed as you point out is that Republicans have made online organizing a priority for themselves as well. All is fair, let’s let the political process work and see who wins.

Has your announcement to leave the legislature made it harder to get your work accomplished this session?

I thought about that, when I made the announcement but my wife and I had made this decision before last election that this would be my last. The announcement was more difficult because you do have to worry that people will stop taking you seriously once they know they don’t have to deal with you much longer.

The reason I announced is because they are 4 or more really strong candidates that would like to replace me. They suspected I may not run again and had begun the process of campaigning, so I wanted to get out of their way.

What I found to my surprise is instead of a lame duck affect, people have been incredibly supportive of me. I have been really happy the way people on the floor have turned this into a long extended and warm good by. I haven’t sensed at all that they are less likely to support me because I am leaving, in fact, I feel some really want me to go out on a high note.

I know you started blogging this session, how is it going? And, is it related to your frustration with the legislature?

Yes, there is some relation but I haven’t kept it up as much as I would have liked. When I first started I thought I would be live blogging everything, but it’s impossible! I thought I would get on 3 or 4 times a day, but what it has instead become is a way for me to more thoughtfully lay out ideas than I can on the floor.

What do you feel is the future of progressive politics in Texas?

Demographically this state should be a purple state right now. And, I am encouraged by things like Battleground Texas that are taking this state seriously right now. If we are going to be competitive in the long term, it starts by being competitive right now. So I don’t think we should think about it as something we are building toward for 2020 but think about it in the right now. That said, we have to be realistic, we need great candidates, we need to support them at the grassroots level, we need to support them financially and we need to be committed to support the next ones if the first round doesn’t win.

Speaking of great candidates what does your future in politics after this session look like?

I said when I announced this as my last term that I would think about running for Mayor of Austin. I still am, but I also have to say that during session I haven’t had much time or space to think about it. I haven’t wanted my session to be shaped by a decision to run for Mayor so when we get free and clear of this session I’ll start thinking about it with my wife, it’s mainly a family decision — we’ll decide by the end of the summer.

It’s hard for me to imagine a world in which I am not involved in politics in some way.

Yesterday, I gave official notice to the Precinct Chairs that I am stepping down as Chair of the Travis County Democratic Party effective May 19, 2013.

When I first considered running for Chair in 2007, it was a daunting thought that I would have to follow in the footsteps of Chris Elliot, the late Scott Ozmun, Kirk Watson, Jay Brim, David Van Os, the late Mack Kidd, Chuck Herring, Gary Bledsoe, Ken Wendler, and Bob Armstrong, among other past Chairs, who had done so much to help elect Democrats in Travis County and statewide.

What I didn’t realize then was the amount of support I would receive, the amazing people I would meet, and the number of volunteers who would go the extra mile to stand up for leaders who had the courage to fight fearlessly for opportunity and tolerance no matter what the odds.

Together, we raised more money (nearly $2 million!) and generated more straight-ticket votes (In 2012, more than 129,000!) by knocking on more doors and talking to more neighbors face-to-face than ever before. We received national recognition for the 21 Precinct Project which increased turnout in critical precincts in East Austin in 2010. As more and more people talk about “turning Texas Blue,” I think they have to look no further than the willingness of Travis County Democrats to take it to the streets for the blueprint we need.

I did not do this alone. We did this with the immense help and partnership of our excellent elected officials. Congressman Lloyd Doggett, Senator Kirk Watson, State Representatives Elliott Naishtat, Dawnna Dukes, Eddie Rodriguez, Mark Strama, Donna Howard, and Valinda Bolton, all gave generously and all joined our Coordinated Campaign efforts, as did almost every other Democratic elected official and candidate in Travis County. We could not have done any of this without our great elected officials.

And I want to give a special thanks to Senator Watson, who gave more money to the Coordinated Campaign over my time as Chair than anyone else—more than $120,000.

Our staff was the best around. We had newcomers to politics as well as folks to help guide me based on their own experience over these past three terms. Our Executive Directors kept the organization in top shape, from Elizabeth Yevich to Sylvia Camarillo to Laura Hernandez. Ian Davis, Katherine Haenschen, and Jim Wick ran the best Coordinated Campaigns this County has ever seen, and helped us into a new era of voter contact techniques. Our field and administrative staff over the years poured time and work into making TCDP great.

For the honor to fight by your side, I will be forever grateful. I leave this post knowing the next Chair, like me, will have your help in fighting the likes of Rick Perry and Ted Cruz.

The TCDP Precinct Chairs will vote on May 19 to decide the next Chair, which will be an interim term to finish my unexpired term.

As for my future plans, it is no secret that I as I step down from one position, I have been actively exploring new opportunities to more directly engage in shaping public policy. I look forward to sharing those plans with you in more detail in the weeks ahead. Rest assured, I will build upon the lessons I first learned organizing for Ann Richards and the 21st Century Democrats, and that you helped reinforce in me as we served the Travis County Democratic Party together, that bold ideas and people powered campaigns are what it takes to move our community forward.

Sincerely,

Andy Brown

Travis County Democratic Party Chair

On Friday the Burnt Orange Report celebrated its 10th anniversary. I started writing for the blog myself last summer joining a distinguished alumni of over 40 writers. I caught up with Publisher KT Musselman and Editor-in-Chief Katherine Haenschen to talk about the blog’s success having logged over 13,000 posts and 12 million page views.

What is the mission of Burnt Orange Report?

KH: We are a progressive Democratic blog covering politics here in Texas. We cover state politics but also national issues that can have a major impact and that our Texas Democratic readers want to know about. Our audience is not just in Texas, but also progressive Texans who have left the Lone Star State but still care about what is going on back home.

What has helped BOR last so long while other state blogs disappear?

KH: It takes a team effort, lots of people contributing ideas and well as our community of readers who post guest diaries and comments to help keep the conversation going. There is a big audience of readers and a lot of Democrats in Texas, and a lot of people who have strong interest in what we are doing. There is a lot of malfeasance on the part of the Republicans in texas that gives us a lot to cover. Also, our state has many major metro areas where we cover high profile local contested races, so there has been no shortage of content over the years.

What has changed in blogosphere over the last ten years?

KH: The rise of social media has probably been the biggest change we have seen because it has enabled our audience to share our stories with their own networks in a really easy way. It has also helped us to discover more stories as well, because people may be live tweeting from a committee hearing or covering something on the ground that we can then find out about and cover much faster.

Are you optimistic about the changes taking place in Texas regarding progressive politics?

KH: Definitely, there is a big interest in Texas and it is great to see a lot of folks that have been working outside of Texas coming back here to get involved. There is a revitalized Texas Democratic Party and Battleground Texas is here, clearly there are a lot of folks making sure that Texas Democrats have the resources and infrastructure we need to compete. We have a lot of excellent candidates and people who should be considering runs for statewide office. We are finally growing the infrastructure we really need to make sure those folks can credibly mount a campaign and win.

What should people look forward to for the future of Burnt Orange Report?

KH: We will be covering the end of session and looking at the results of some of the legislation passed and how that will impact folks in Texas. You’ll also see us take a strong look at potential candidates for the next cycle, and do more to highlight the strong efforts already going on in Texas to help flip our state and put it in the Democratic win column. And, just continuing to grow our audience and readership to make sure we are helping to support progressive messaging and provide a platform for that here in Texas.

What can Burnt Orange Report readers do to help support the site?

KH: When you read something you like on Burnt Orange Report share it! Click the like button, click the tweet button and share it with other folks you know may also need to know this information or might want to know this information. Help us spread the word, we’re working hard to publish as frequently as possible and cover a wide variety of issues and people here in Texas.

How did BOR grow from a local blog to one with a statewide audience?

KM: BOR has been a blend of local Austin and sometimes even University politics  as well as statewide coverage since the beginning. Because the site was founded in reaction to the redistricting of 2003, we immediately had a statewide pressence as that issue affected Politics statewide. Of course, with Austin the target of line drawing we had a special interest in it. Since the site was founded by UT students who were based in Austin, home of much of the states political insiders, we grew a local and statewide presence side by side. As we added writers from different cities, more local coverage came to the site.

How has BOR survived while other blogs disappeared?

KM: BOR has survived due to our massive state and political footprint. And due to support of long term staff and a publisher that could simply afford to keep it running. I also think being in the minority party helped oddly enough because we understand the importance of the fight for the long term of Texas.