Texas Democrats select Kendall Scudder as state party chair

[RandySF]

The Texas Democratic Party’s governing board on Saturday elected Kendall Scudder to lead the party forward as its new chair after a devastating performance in November and years of electoral defeats.

“The challenge that we’re facing right now is terrifying for this country and for this state, and a lot of people are counting on us to come together and do the right thing and make sure that we are building a Texas Democratic Party that is worthy of the grassroots in this state,” Scudder said upon taking the gavel. “Let’s build a party that the working men and women of this state can be proud of.”

Scudder took 65 out of 121 votes, an outright majority in the seven-way race.

Scudder will take over as chair of the state party at a moment when Democrats are grasping for a way forward after blowout losses up and down the ballot last year, including President Donald Trump’s victory and a surge to the right by traditionally Democratic groups, such as Hispanic voters in South Texas.



https://www.texastribune.org/2025/03/29/texas-democrats-party-chair/

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Introducing @KendallScudder - the new CHAIR of the Texas Democratic Party!

Link to tweet

[summer_in_TX]

2. I'm looking forward to learning more about Kendall Scudder.

The article was thin on details about him. Age? Occupation? Education? Skills? Background? Experience?

He looks like he may be young enough to have good social media skills, but there's a lot more to it than that. I like his priorities, especially communicating with rural communities and Spanish-language voters. But I hope to learn he has a "fire in his belly" and understands framing thoroughly.

[summer_in_TX]

3. This is from his campaign website.

Kendall is the son of a mental health professional, paramedic, and corrections officer who taught him values like service to others—their dedication to improving themselves and their community lit a fire inside him, pushing him to work hard every day to leave the world a little better than he found it.

As a teenager, Kendall helped support his family working at his local Dairy Queen, juggling both his job and political activism on behalf of his LGBTQ+ family. Kendall received his degree in Political Science at Sam Houston State University before moving to Dallas to work as an affordable housing professional and then for a real estate analytics company, before opening his own land acquisitions firm.

Kendall has dedicated himself to helping elect Democratic candidates across the state, and improved financial transparency and strategic planning within the Texas Democratic Party in his elected role as Vice Chair for Finance (Finance Chairman). He has also served on the City of Dallas’ Civil Service Board, on the legislative committee of the Apartment Association of Greater Dallas, and as co-chair of the Greater East Dallas Chamber of Commerce’s Young Professionals.

In the height of the pandemic, Kendall also notably filed a criminal complaint with the Dallas County District Attorney’s office against Attorney General Ken Paxton in an effort to protect Dallas County residents’ access to the ballot box amid safety concerns of in-person voting activity.

Kendall also holds a Masters Degree in Political Management from The George Washington University. He and his wife Carly reside in the east Dallas’ Junius Heights Historic District, where he plays pickleball, volunteers with the Funky East Dallas Democrats, and serves as a “Volunteer In Patrol” for the Dallas Police Department. He is the incumbent for the Dallas Central Appraisal District Board of Directors, Pos. 2, a county-wide elected role he has held since Spring 2024.

https://www.kendallscudder.com/about/

[summer_in_TX]

4. The Austin American-Statesman had more about Kendall Scudder today.

He's 35.


Can a 'scrappy underdog' breathe new life into the long-suffering Texas Democratic Party?

As a self-described "scrappy underdog," Kendall Scudder appears well-suited to the job he was awarded just over a week ago — chair of the perennially out-of-power Texas Democratic Party.

…the new Texas Democratic Party chairman is a product of a working-class family from rural Northeast Texas and a first-generation college graduate. He worked at Dairy Queen and waited tables to put himself through Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, about 150 miles east of Austin.

"For some people, they may turn their nose up at a school like Sam Houston State, but for a kid like me, it might as well have been Harvard," Scudder said in an interview with the American-Statesman three days after the State Democratic Executive Committee on March 29 elected him on the first ballot to succeed Gilberto Hinojosa, who announced shortly after the 2024 election that he'd be stepping down.

"To me, the Democratic Party is the party that fights to keep working-class people's taxes low, fights to make sure that your public schools are funded and fights to make sure that your roads are safe."

He's married, he and his wife are expecting their first child, he owns and is building up a small land acquisition business and is a "Volunteer in Patrol" for the Dallas PD. The party should pay attention to the needs of working class Texans, and not write off any region in the face. Sound's like he's a "run everywhere" sort of guy, scrappy, and in it for public service motives and dedication.. Sounds like he'll fight to turn things around as Rs have eroded Dem support here.