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Bernie Sanders |
JB Pritzker |
Michelle Lujan Grisham |
Sanders, Pritzker and NM Gov Lead Speaker
Parade at Talarico's State Party Convention
Capitol Inside
May 12, 2026
Democrats at the national level are starting to treat Texas more like a swing state than they have during two dozen years of Republican rule in Austin - with the enlistment of U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders for a starring role at the state party convention in Corpus Christi next month as the latest evidence.
The Texas Democratic Party announced on Tuesday that the veteran solon from Vermont would deliver the keynote speech at the 2026 convention in the coastal city where 5,000 loyalists or more will converge for a biennial event that gets under way on June 25 for a three-day run.
Sanders - for the record - is an independent who'd been a Democrat off and on and votes with his Democratic colleagues. Sanders is the nation's most iconic progressive - and he's a bigger star than all of the other Democrats in Washington D.C. - with the possible exception of the House and Senate minority leaders who are in the same basic league of celebrity. .
The Texas Democratic Convention's star-studded cast features Illinois Governor JB Pritzker as the headline draw at a Blue Wave Luncheon on Friday, June 26. U.S. Senator Cory Booker - a New Jersey Democrat who's had White House ambitions - is on the speakers list for the state party's biennial gathering that will be held at the Hilliard Center on Corpus Christi Bay. New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham is slated to speak at the state confab's Lady Bird Breakfast.
But the Democrats' biennial gathering in the Texas coastal city will be a stage - first and foremost - to showcase Austin State Representative James Talarico as the party's nominee in the race at the top of the Texas ballot for the seat that U.S. Senator John Cornyn is seeking again this year.
Talarico has been waiting in the wings for the winner of a GOP runoff that has Attorney General Ken Paxton as the challenger and the longtime incumbent on the defensive. Talarico won the Democratic nomination in the Senate race when he came from behind as a double-digit underdog to beat U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett by more than 6 percentage points in the primary election in March.
Talarico appears to have a better shot to snap the Democrats' statewide losing streak that's spanned 32 years than any of the other candidates who've run at that level during that time. Talarico has raised more campaign cash for the race in Texas this year than any candidate for the U.S. Senate in history in any state. But he has another advantage that's unique to the current contest in a state where significant percentages of Cornyn and Paxton voters say they would skip the Texas Senate race or support Talarico in the general election if the candidates they're backing falls short in overtime.
The convention will be a showcase for the entire Democrats' statewide slate that Talarico and State Rep. Gina Hinojosa of Austin are leading as the nominees for U.S. Senate and governor respectively. Sanders represents is a major score as far as speakers at a state political convention go.
"Senator Sanders’ participation underscores what Democrats across the country are recognizing: Texas is in play," the state party said in a statement today. "The energy on the ground is undeniable, with record engagement and growing enthusiasm among voters ready for change. As one of the convention’s keynote speakers, Sanders will help energize attendees and amplify the urgency of organizing, mobilizing, and building a coalition strong enough to win across Texas."
The addition of the New Mexico governor to the TDC speakers roster is an intriguing development for a state Democratic convention that will take place two weeks after the Texas Republican Convention winds to an end on June 13. While the state GOP has yet to reveal the list of speakers for its own convention, the party has announced that Texas House Speaker Dustin Burrows will speak at the event as only the second Texas House speaker in history to ever do so.
Burrows' emergence in the Texas Republican Convention lineup has sparked a massive backlash among MAGA conservatives who've portrayed the Lubbock lawmaker as a Democrat in disguise based on his moves during a debut term with the gavel in the Legislature's lower chamber. The far-right's biggest beef with Burrows has been his willingness to appoint Democrats as committee chairs like all of the GOP's three previous House speakers had done without objection from the party.
The Texas Democrats' state convention will give Lujan Grisham a golden opportunity to address the Texas speaker's push to acquire several counties in eastern New Mexico on the grounds that rural conservatives have more in common with Republicans than Democrats in Santa Fe. Burrows has directed a special committee that he created to explore the possibility of expanding the western Texas border into the blue state that Lujan Grisham leads. The proposal has no chance to ever materialize - and Burrows has become a punch line in Santa Fe as a result of these antics.
Pritzker is one of the Democrats hottest current celebrities. "Texas Democrats have special respect and appreciation for Gov. Pritzker who hosted and stood beside Democratic legislators who left for Illinois during the August 2025 quorum break designed to stall a rigged mid-decade redistricting," the TDP said. "His continued partnership underscores a shared commitment to protecting democracy and building a stronger future for working families in Texas and across the country."
more to come ...
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