Now, I won't claim that Montgomery County will be purple in the next election cycle. In fact, it is one of the most conservative counties in Texas and has been trending that way for many decades. We are home to a perfect storm of Republicanism with the burgeoning affluent community of The Woodlands, a solid retiree base in the Western part of the county and a very rural base in the Eastern part of the county. And our county is experiencing rapid population growth in the most conservative areas. But, the efforts of local Democrats have made a dent.
From 2004 to 2008, registered voters increased by almost 15% and voter turnout increased by 2.40%, yet Republican straight-ticket voting was downnearly 2.50% and Republican voting went down by 2.22%. In a county with 160,400 registered voters, these are significant numbers. In a county that should be trending more conservative, the Republicans are losing votes.
We had an active campaign in 2008 where we strategically targeted precincts that were trending in our direction. Of our 85 precincts, we increased Democratic performance in 56 of them and did so by 5% or greater in 20 of them.
2010 will be a better year as we have opened a headquarters, launched a new website, built an email list of nearly 6,000 voters (17% of Democrats), greatly strengthened our voter file, held successful fundraisers attracting serious statewide candidates, started an active YD chapter, and trained precinct chairs -- just to mention a few things.
Getting out the vote will be the major priority for 2010. So, I contend that Mr. Delisi's assumption, that a lack of state-level focus on suburban counties will somehow inhibit GOTV there, is unfounded. He fails to recognize that local activities can have an impact. Additionally, red counties in the Houston metropolitan area have an advantage due to the popularity of Bill White in this region.
We are tired of Texas ranking with third-world countries on key social metrics. It's time to elect real leaders to fill the seats of Republicans who have failed all of us so miserably. Many of our voters feel the same way.
With help or without it, we'll be fighting the good fight in this conservative stronghold, scraping up every statewide vote we can. If you want to help us, make a donation via ActBlue or visit us at www.mcdptx.org.
Thank you,
Austin Stout, Treasurer
Young Democrats of Montgomery County
