We received a recent request for more information about what we do. Sometimes we get so caught up in doing things we forget to share what we are doing with our supporters. We will work on remedying that in the future. We blame this oversight on our momma's teaching us to not be braggarts and let the work and the results do the talking.
We are a relatively new PAC formed in 2021. Our main mission is to raise money to support rural Democratic parties and organizations in our home territory, and in rural counties around the state, to the best of our ability. How we do that is by being an all volunteer organization with minimal overhead. Our total overhead per month is basically paying for a website, software and a P.O. Box. That way we can save our money all year long until it is needed. For the 2022 election cycle, (our first) we received and spent around $20,000 in donations. These went directly to county parties to assist in turnout efforts and supporting local candidates.
The grants awarded helped pay for billboards, printing and mailing costs, paying canvas workers, advertising and other things to encourage people to vote, and to vote for Democrats. We ask that the county or group submit a written plan and if approved we provided $1,000 grants to that county party to help with their project. Our application and criteria for our 2024 primary election grants will be released on September 1 this year. Applications will be accepted from December 11, 2023 through January 11, 2024. Awards will be made no later than January 31, 2024.
One of the most successful county grants was to Presidio County. It is one of only a handful of counties in The 134 that can still be called a Democratic County. They had an incumbent Democratic County Judge who switched to the Republican Party at Greg Abbott's prompting. We were determined to help them hold the line. Presidio County had a well organized plan to turn out the vote for the general election in 2022. We provided grants to support their effort. They worked turnout hard and defeated the now Republican county judge by a large margin. Even with a decline in the number of registered voters over 2020 of 390, and in an off year election, total votes cast in the county in 2022 was only 306 below total vote in 202 of 2190. Their hard work made that possible.
We also advocate for rural people, rural counties, and rural county parties. We provide connections and resources with other county and party volunteers, recruit and assist defunct county parties in getting organized again. We travel across Texas, speak to anyone who wants to hear about our work, and what we are doing. Right now we are in the middle of a rural road tour with Mothers4Democracy (Mothers Against Greg Abbott) and Blue Horizon Texas reaching out and connecting with people all across Texas. We hope to expand our work this year with radio ads on issues important to rural Democrats and demonstrating a strong Democratic presence in rural Texas, to show how important rural people and rural issues are to this state.
In short we see our work as the work the party should be doing in rural Texas, but isn't. If you would like to help support Democrats in The 134 or rural Texas, please consider becoming a sustaining supporter by donating $10, $25 or $50 per month, whatever you are able.
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