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TFN President: Legislators Must Focus on Real Priorities Like the Pandemic, Protecting Democracy, Not Culture Wars

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Texas Freedom Network President Val Benavidez has the following statement on today’s opening of the 87th Legislature in Austin:

“Dealing with a deadly pandemic that continues to ravage our state and the need to reinforce democratic values and institutions must be top priorities in this legislative session. Legislators will fail if they refuse to address the disparate impact the pandemic has had on Texans of color and other marginalized communities, if they perpetuate lies about ‘stolen elections’ to make it even harder for Texans to vote, and if they turn redistricting into yet another exercise in extreme partisan gerrymandering to suppress the huge changes taking places in the state’s electorate. These priorities are far too important to allow culture warriors to hijack yet another session with attacks on reproductive rights and the lives of LGBTQ Texans. This state is changing rapidly. It’s time for our lawmakers to acknowledge and embrace this change and bring Texans together to meet the challenges we face.”

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The Texas Freedom Network is a grassroots organization of religious and community leaders and young Texans building… Read More

State lawmakers will gather tomorrow at the Capitol in Austin for the official start of the 87th session of the Texas Legislature. Read More

Texas Senator, Attorney General Conspiracy-Mongering Fuel Violent Anti-Democracy Riots, Attacks on the Constitution

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Texas Freedom Network President Val Benavidez today called on U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton to resign their offices immediately for helping fuel the unhinged conspiracies that have led to today’s pro-Trump chaos and violence in the nation’s capital.

“The only thing that makes the violent attacks on our democracy and our Constitution worse today is that two of our state’s highest elected officials helped fuel them with their conspiracy mongering,” Benavidez said. “They have lit the road to sedition by undermining faith in our democracy to promote their personal and political agendas. Doing so is especially appalling when it incites violence from those who seek to subvert a legal election. All Texans, and especially the millions of Texans of all ages and from all communities who turned out to vote in historic numbers during a deadly pandemic, deserve far better leaders than these self-serving politicians.”

Federal courts rejected Attorney General Paxton’s lawsuit seeking to overturn presidential election results in key states won by Democratic nominee Joe Biden in November. Paxton has been under state indictment for securities fraud and… Read More

Let’s be clear up front: This has been a tough year. Twelve months ago, we could not have imagined the pain, death and sorrow a pandemic would bring our nation and the rest of the world. Nor did we expect the shocking level of incompetence and denial from Republican leaders nationally and in Texas that have made the crisis even worse.

But despite all of this, it’s important to remember the progress we have made together this year. Here are a few of the steps forward that happened in 2020.

For the first time in decades, Texas was a presidential election battleground. Record turnout among young Texans was a major factor in this. TFN’s Texas Rising program played a big role, contacting more than 1.8 million potential voters under the age of 30 in our largest get-out-the-vote effort ever. Change is coming to our state, and young Texans are leading the way.

The wave of new voters this year led to important progressive victories in Texas. We saw progressives pick up important wins from the district attorney level to the state Senate. And a Texas Rising-endorsed progressive candidate flipped a State Board of Education seat… Read More

In case you missed it, the State Board of Education late last month approved a new set of health curriculum standards, which cover sex education, for Texas public schools. It was the first time in a generation the SBOE has revised the state's outdated standards. Read More