Blue Horizon Texas

We all experienced the challenges that 2025 brought to democracy and to our individual lives, but the year ended on a high note for the progressive movement and democracy building in Texas. Four years ago, Blue Horizon set a goalpost to contest every single state legislative race, and in 2025, the hard work paid off. For the first time in 50 years, Democrats in Texas are officially contesting every single state and federal race. That’s just step one, but it’s an essential one.

We’ve just released our newest annual report to help visualize the impact our organization made on the ground last year.

2025 was a busy year here at Blue Horizon Texas. From detailing thousands of local and state offices in our new statewide database of all elected offices in Texas—to reinvesting in a filing fee fund to put Democrats on the ballot, we put in the work to make sure that voters would have a meaningful choice at the polls this November and for years into the future.

We’re already hard at work helping candidates and engaging voters in advance of election day—mark November 3 on your calendar! But we did want to reflect on a few of the things we achieved last year.

Read Claire and Stephanie’s Annual Letter ›››
Download the full report ››› https://www.bluehorizontexas.org/post/our-2025-annual-report-is-here

There will be a lot more to say about Tuesday’s primary, but we want to share a few of our initial reactions as we work through the results.

We’re proud of the all the Democratic candidates who stepped up to run and what they achieved, particularly Blue Horizon community members, board members, and returning Blue Horizon candidates who appeared on the ballot on Tuesday.

We are tired of Republican candidates cruising to victory unopposed. Blue Horizon has committed to provide that choice — by encouraging Democrats to run across the state, supporting them with training and connection and other resources, and even paying the filing fees for a number of them.

Millions of Texans are going to have a choice in November because of the work we’ve done, and the willingness of qualified Democrats across the state to say: “Yes, I’ll run.”

We congratulate all of the candidates who will be moving on to November as the Democratic Party’s nominee, and we look forward to continuing to support you.

We also thank all of the candidates who ran in the Democratic primary. Whether you won or lost, you made democracy happen — you gave voters a choice.

And to those in runoff races, Blue Horizon remains available to you for high quality training, information, and peer support. You are not alone.

Tuesday made one thing clear: Democracy remains under attack.

Republicans meddled in our primary in Dallas and Williamson Counties by changing the rules at the last minute and confusing voters about where they could vote.

When judges rightfully extended voting hours to allow people to make their voice heard, Ken Paxton went to the Republican Supreme Court and got those votes tossed aside.

To what end? This wasn’t a general election in which such sabotage would help Republicans win. No, their purpose was to sow distrust among the Democratic coalition, weaken our Democratic nominees… and trial-run methods for suppressing votes in November.

Unfortunately, their strategy worked in many ways. Thousands of voters were forced into absurd lengths to vote, and many were ultimately disenfranchised. Those voters may lose trust in the democratic system as a whole and in how our party selects our candidates. The two counties targeted were the home counties of our Democratic Senate candidates, and that is too convenient to be accidental.

Dallas County has the second largest number of Black voters in the state, and it was a kick to the heart of the Black community to have their voices silenced. We understand that honoring the votes and voices of Black Texans is central to any path forward. We must take the time now to pause and to listen.

We have a lot of work to do between now and November to fight back against voter suppression and make sure every voter is equipped with the information, tools, and resources to make their voice heard at the ballot box, but that’s the important thing — it’s not over. And we will do the work.

Our coalition is under strain right now. For months, primary candidates and their supporters poured their time, energy, and passion into making their case to voters.

The Democratic coalition is made up of communities who are under attack right now—for the language they speak, for the color of their skin, for the reproductive care they require, for how they identify, and for whom they love.

We all innately understand the importance of a win in November. Our two Senate candidates provided inspiration and hope to different parts of our coalition in how to achieve a win this fall.

Some of us are celebrating this week, and some of us are hurting deeply.

It is not easy, and it will not ever be easy, to hold the pain and the fear that so many of our communities continue to experience, resulting from centuries of oppression through current-day attacks.

Feelings are raw, and people should take the time to process, rest, and build resiliency. It’s okay to not feel okay right now.

It's also okay to celebrate our wins.

We have a lot of work to do inside our coalition to rebuild trust and understanding before we turn to the general election. We have been doing deep thinking, and lots of listening, on this at Blue Horizon, and we’ll be sharing more soon.

But today, let us remember. Republicans are also divided. And they are also scared, of us.

They wouldn’t be going to such great efforts to divide us and to stifle our voices if they didn’t see that Democrats have energy, history, and voters on our side.

The data is clear: voter turnout was high, particularly in the Democratic primary, and momentum is on our side as we head to November. We are excited about new voters turning out and others who may be returning to the Democratic tent.

We need to bring back all of these voters and energize even more in November.

As Cornyn and Paxton head into a divisive runoff battle, we must keep focused on supporting all of our Democratic candidates and doing everything we can to elect Democrats this fall.

At Blue Horizon, our job between now and November is to make sure that every Democratic candidate knows exactly where to go for resources, support, and community so that we all get the outcome we need in November.

And you better believe that we’ll be working to make that happen every day between now and then.

If you need support or if you have feedback for us, please let us know.

In love and reflection,

Stephanie Phillips & Claire Barnett

Co-Founders, Blue Horizon Texas

Early Voting started yesterday, and Texas Democrats have more choices than ever. Thanks to the combined recruitment efforts of dozens of coalition members, millions of Democratic primary voters will have choices in races where they sometimes haven’t even had a Democrat run at all.

Today we’re congratulating and thanking all of the 1,552 Democratic candidates across Texas who bravely stepped up to run for federal, state, and county office this year.

We’re committed to continuing our preparation and support of Democrats in rural and exurban districts, regardless of who emerges from the primaries. And we’re working hard to get new support and resources to campaigns, especially where there’s little on-the-ground Democratic infrastructure.

Vote for our proposed panel discussion, Keeping Movements Moving, at Netroots Nation 2026!

Session Description: Progressive movements often surge in moments of urgency—but how do they endure after the peak energy fades? From Spark to Structure: Keeping Movements Moving features leaders from the BRIDGEMovements Incubator and Accelerator sharing how they sustain momentum through resilient organizational culture, strategic planning, and long-cycle power building. Panelists will discuss the systems and practices that support solidarity, accountability, and staff care, especially in the challenging context of organizing in Texas. This session offers practical insights into how movements evolve from catalytic moments into durable structures built to last.

Proposed Moderator: Roseangela Hartford
Proposed Panelists:
• Ar'Sheill Monsanto, LINK Health
• Chanda Parbhoo, SAAVE Texas
• Claire Barnett, Blue Horizon Texas
• Khanay Turner, Barbara Jordan Leadership Institute

How to Vote + Promote
1. Go find and vote for our panel through this link: https://netrootsnation.secure-platform.com/nn26/gallery?roundId=82014
2. Search for the proposal by the name - Hartford
3. After voting, click the @ icon — it will generate a direct link you can share widely

Please Uplift + Share
If you’re able, please help amplify this session through your networks. Every vote increases the likelihood that our panel will be featured at Netroots Nation.

Netroots Nation - Submission Gallery Each year, Netroots Nation receives hundreds of panel and training submissions for consideration for our conference agenda. This year, in addition to a large group of community members who will conduct a detailed evaluation of the session, we are asking everyone to weigh in on which sessions they w...

We'll be joining our friends from Run for Something and Dirtroad Organizing as they kickoff a targeted recruitment effort to identify and support young, progressive rural leaders who want to step up and run for office. This call will introduce potential candidates to the unique opportunities and challenges of running for office in rural communities, highlight why rural leadership is essential to building long-term power, and encourage attendees to consider applying for Dirtroad’s Candidate Cohort.

RFS & Dirtroad Organizing Rural Recruitment Kickoff · Run for Something JOIN US: Rural Recruitment Kickoff featuring Anderson Clayton and Amanda Litman! We’re excited to host an upcoming virtual call focused on engaging and recruiting the next generation of rural leaders. In partnership with Dirtroad Organizing, we’ll introduce potential candidates to the unique opp...

Local candidates are civic educators

On Thursday, January 15, 2026, at 6 pm CT, Contest Every Race, Blue Horizon Texas, and several other partner organizations are hosting the next virtual Ready to Run rally to help people in our community take the first step toward running for office.

This one hour virtual event will feature Illinois Governor JB Pritzker as keynote speaker.

RSVP here: https://www.mobilize.us/contest-every-race/event/871846/

What if thousands of us ran for local office? By electing climate champions to Municipal Utility Districts, City Councils, County Commissioner Courts, and State Houses, we can block permits for new pipelines, win real investments in transit and green housing, and pass bills to accelerate the renewable energy transition.

That’s why Lead Locally is offering Run for Climate, a free, online, six-week training for climate leaders interested in running for local office or working on downballot elections. Learn more and sign up for the next training series starting on February 3 here: runforclimate.org

Our co-founders graduated the BRIDGE Movements Incubator Program last month. We were honored to share space with inspiring women leading progressive organizations across Texas.

Wonderful.

Texas really said “double or nothing,” and our RFS alums took that personally. Now we’ve got two of them in the U.S. Senate race, showing exactly why building the bench matters. Tough moments don’t scare this crew. They dig in. They lead. They rise.