Issues
MARCO’S VISION & PLANS
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Marco believes Texas Democrats cannot afford to organize only in political bubbles or focus resources exclusively on places like Austin and Dallas. There should be Texas Democratic Party staff located in all metro areas across the state, co-partnered with our county parties, allied organizations, and candidates.
Winning Texas requires a true statewide coalition with boots on the ground in every region of the state: rural communities, border communities, suburbs, and emerging counties alike. It also means investing Party staff, funding, and effort directly in races that can be won THIS November, not years from now.
His vision is to build a party that listens and supports County Parties, clubs, candidates, organizations, and local leaders. This effort will require investing not only in the short term for immediate gains but also in long-term infrastructure capable of sustaining year-round engagement.
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Marco believes organizations like Powered by People and the Texas Majority PAC are doing critical work to fill gaps in organizing, turnout, voter registration, and voter engagement.
But the reality is that these organizations grew because the state party has not consistently provided the level of support and infrastructure that Texas Democrats need. That is not a criticism of those organizations - it is an acknowledgment that the state party must do better.
Marco’s goal is not to compete with allied organizations but to collaborate with them while rebuilding the state party into an organization capable of delivering meaningful support, rather than solely relying on others to fill the gaps.
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Marco believes Texas Democrats must be strategic about where our resources are deployed. While every community deserves engagement and long-term investment, we have a responsibility to aggressively target the most competitive regions where immediate gains are possible.
That means investing real money and experienced Texas Democratic Party staff into battleground districts and rapidly changing communities where stronger turnout and coordinated organizing can produce victories now, not years from now.
Marco’s approach focuses on:
Expanding turnout operations in high-potential State House, State Senate, and Congressional Districts
Hiring organizers directly in these competitive communities
Coordinating with county parties and local leaders already doing the work
Supporting candidates with the staffing and infrastructure needed to compete seriously
Building scalable field programs that can be sustained cycle after cycle
The goal is simple: maximize short-term victories while building long-term Democratic infrastructure across Texas. Strategic investment, coordinated organizing, and focused turnout efforts are how Texas begins turning competitive districts into Democratic wins.
Resources should be deployed strategically and transparently, with measurable goals tied to turnout, volunteer recruitment, and voter contact.
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Strong statewide victories start locally. Marco believes county parties, clubs, and local organizers need real investment, not just encouragement. That means:
Funding for local operations, candidates, and county parties
Training and organizing across the state
Accessible, updated voter contact tools and technology
Communications and messaging assistance that is unified
Candidate development programs
Year-round infrastructure and efforts
The goal is to leave every county stronger after each cycle, fostering sustainable growth rather than rebuilding from scratch every election year.
Issues
ELECTORAL STRATEGY & THE PATH TO VICTORY
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Marco believes it is not enough to simply place a Democrat on the ballot in every race across Texas, if those candidates are not being given a real path to victory.
Candidates need:
Strategic investment
Coordinated communications
Organizing support
Data and targeting resources
Fundraising assistance
Volunteer infrastructure
Too often, candidates are asked to carry impossible races without meaningful institutional support. Marco believes the party has a responsibility to build systems that enable candidates to compete seriously and strengthen the Democratic Party over time.
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Marco believes Texas House districts are one of the most critical pieces of the puzzle in the years ahead. The next legislative session will shape the future of voting rights, public education, healthcare, labor protections, and LGBTQ+ rights across Texas.
With maps expected to be redrawn again, the stakes could not be higher. Who controls these chambers will determine not only policy outcomes, but the political maps and electoral landscape Texans will live under for the next decade.
That means Democrats must prioritize our State House Districts by investing in and organizing aggressively now, and by framing these and other downballot races as equally, if not more, important than the top of the ticket. There is too much to lose without consistent messaging, focus, and support for smaller elections.
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Marco’s vision is a modern, transparent, collaborative party structure that:
Invests in organizers and local leaders
Builds durable infrastructure
Supports candidates at every level
Operates year-round, with staff across all major metro areas
Communicates and listens consistently
Puts people ahead of personal ambition
He believes Texas Democrats are capable of winning, if the party is willing to elect leadership with enough experience and ambition to organize and invest at the scale and urgency this moment demands.
Issues
WHAT THIS CAMPAIGN IS
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This is a run rooted in urgency and accountability. Texas Democrats are at a critical moment, and we cannot afford to continue operating with disorganization, internal division, a lack of transparency, and low morale.
Marco’s campaign is not about personalities or settling scores. It is about asking whether our current structure is truly meeting the moment Texas is facing.
Our values as Democrats are rooted in fairness, dignity, transparency, and fighting for working people. If we cannot reflect those values within our own organization, it becomes much harder to convince voters across Texas that we are prepared to fight for them.
This is the focus of this campaign:
How do we build a stronger party?
How do we support candidates and Counties more effectively?
How do we rebuild trust, transparency, and morale?
How do we create a path to victory in November and beyond?
Marco is running because he believes we need stronger infrastructure, stronger leadership, stronger support for the people doing the work on the ground, and stronger messaging that resonates with voters across Texas.
“This campaign isn’t about the past; it’s about whether we are fully prepared for the future.”
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Marco understands that the party has let people down for years and that many of those failures predate the current leadership.
It is important to acknowledge that reality honestly.
The current leadership may feel like a breath of fresh air to many people because there was frustration and exhaustion with what came before. But recognizing improvement does not mean we should stop pushing for excellence.
“Better than before” is not the same thing as “good enough to flip Texas.”
Wins that occur in spite of the state party are not wins that should be taken credit for by the state party. That kind of spin does not set up a future party for future successes. We should not tell people what they want to hear; they deserve the truth.
Texas Democrats cannot afford to settle for incremental progress when the stakes are this high. The question should not be whether things are slightly better than they once were; the question should be, “Who is the best person to build a party capable of winning?”
Marco brings:
Multiple election cycles of organizing and campaign experience
Deep relationships across Texas and across the nation with Democratic allies
A proven understanding of party operations, party processes, and the history of the party
Strong fundraising and coalition-building ability
A servant leadership mindset grounded in service, labor organizing, and grassroots work
This campaign is not about recreating the past. It is about building a stronger, more effective future.
“We’re not running to go backward. We’re running because Texas Democrats deserve a party built for the scale of the fight ahead.”
With maps expected to be redrawn again, the stakes could not be higher. Who controls these chambers will determine not only policy outcomes, but the political maps and electoral landscape Texans will live under for the next decade.
That means Democrats must prioritize our State House Districts by investing in and organizing aggressively now, and by framing these and other downballot races as equally, if not more, important than the top of the ticket. There is too much to lose without consistent messaging, focus, and support for smaller elections.
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Service Over Self
Marco does not fight the good fight for revenge or ego; he leads because the mission of electing Texas Democrats demands a leader who puts the team first.
Battle-Tested Experience
Marco brings 15 years of hard-fought campaign experience and knows exactly where the state party's infrastructure and operations break down, how to fix them, and how to prioritize. He will ensure a smooth transition without requiring any on-the-job training.
Accountability & Empowerment
In building an honorable, ethical party with integrity, Marco shall hold himself and party leadership accountable and empower local leaders, county parties, and grassroots organizers.
Transparency & True Collaboration
When sunlight shines on internal processes and is paired with effective work across allied and party organizations, rather than just dictating from Austin or Dallas, Marco will build trust among the Democratic coalition that thinks the state party is failing, ineffective, or irrelevant. The process is as important as the cause.
Issues
THE BIG IDEA – OUR NATIONAL MOVEMENT: PROJECT 2027, 2029, & 2031
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Illiberal ultraconservative victories have destroyed the progress of decades of those who shed blood and died for the right to suffrage. The old South is rising; we have to be steadfast and in solidarity to fight for our rights. With the coup de grâce of the 1965 Voting Rights Act that the U.S. Supreme Court delivered in Louisiana v. Callais, we have to give it all to win races in 2026 and 2030, like Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General, Comptroller, and Land Commissioner, as well as gain Democratic control every cycle of the Texas House to restore a Democratic Speaker of the House to power.
We must set large goals over the next three cycles to enact legislation, execute policy, and move the majority of the public opinion for the following:
To fight for fair maps at the Texas House, Texas Senate, State Board of Education, and Congressional Levels
To pass legislation at the state and national levels similar to the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
To tax the billionaire class, make corporations pay their fair share in part by stopping the incentivization of private equity and big corporations so that small businesses and working families can thrive, and not get into stupid wars to fund:
Giving everyone affordable or free health insurance
Properly fund our public schools & universities
Forgive Education debt
Protect the rights of all professionals in our education system and pay them fairly for a day's work
Everyday people need a fair shot to make ends meet with rent, mortgage, utilities, insurance, and other necessities of life.
[See below in the bullet “• Unpack the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Senate Filibuster Reform, U.S. House Membership Reform, and General Judicial Reform” how increasing the number of members in the U.S. House would aid in fixing the gerrymandering issue, as well as increase the number of votes in the Electoral College]
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Constitutional norms have increasingly eroded, even more so in the Trump era, in the Legislative and Judicial Branches. We have to be smart and fight back by:
Establishing 18-year term limits for U.S. Supreme Court justices to ensure the judiciary remains accountable and reflective of the will of the people through a term-limits law, after which a Justice would move to a lower court
Ensuring the judiciary remains accountable and honorable by holding justices to the highest ethical standards through a code of ethics law
Curb abuses of the shadow docket
Improve the confirmation process
Establishing a streamlined legislative process to fast-track Congress’s ability to respond to judicial rulings
Allow cameras in the courtroom
Unpack Trump’s and the GOP U.S. Senate’s packing of the Supreme Court by increasing the number of justices
The U.S. Senate should update its rules to:
Forbid the paper filibuster
Mandate only the traditional floor filibuster as acceptable
Decrease the filibuster threshold from 60% to 55%
Increase the membership of the U.S. House by so much that it greatly weakens the ability to gerrymander by having:
A smaller voting pool, which makes it mathematically difficult to dilute concentrated minority populations or opposition strongholds
More boundary constraints, because more lines make more contortion of the map, making it harder to pack, crack, and irregularly shape districts
Difficulty in isolating, a larger number of total seats leaves more room for the opposition to win a proportional share of the representation
We must educate, campaign for, and enact legislation and policy that:
Diversifies the legal pipeline in background and experience
Pushes progressive prosecution and criminal justice through addressing root causes, overhauling regressive sentencing structures
Fights for the jurisprudence and interpretation of a living Constitution against originalism and increases civil rights
Fund, staff, appoint speedily vacant judicial seats via the executive and U.S. Senate, and increase the size of the federal bench to serve justice properly
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Federal and most state-level Candidate campaigns run to win an election or reelection to a two, four, or six-year term, normally in even-numbered years. Yet State Parties and National Committees run year-round operations and will have less success if the infrastructure is not maintained. Fundraising, management, spending, and budgeting of state parties and national committees must take this into account, including when dealing with joint fundraising agreements and complex campaign compliance. These organizations should not spend down to near zero at the end of an election cycle, because the fight continues not only every cycle but every year.
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We are less safe, plus our economy is weaker and more indebted due to the destruction of the national civil service through:
Mass purges with no replacement or political replacements
Targeting dissent at varying levels of agencies
Dismantling merit-based protections
Consolidation of executive power
We must successfully campaign, move public opinion, and enact legislation and policy to restore, depoliticize, and protect a meritorious civil service.
Other good governance checks and balances that have eroded over the last decade must be studied, with appropriate legislative fixes applied in response to ensure they stand the test of time.
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Fight for each state to enact the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact so that if a critical mass of states do so, they would give all the state’s electoral votes to the popular vote winner. If this were to happen, it would be the de facto elimination of the electoral college.
Because some Constitutional scholars believe that the District of Columbia cannot become a state, Congress should legislate the redrawing of Washington, D.C., to include only the White House, the National Mall, and the U.S. Capitol. Congress should make the remaining area in the former Washington, D.C., the Douglass Commonwealth, the 51st state, as proposed by the D.C. City Council in honor of Fredrick Douglass.
Congress should grant statehood to all five inhabited U.S. Territories, not just Puerto Rico, thereby making Puerto Rico, Guam, the U.S. Virgin Islands, American Samoa, and the Northern Mariana Islands the 52nd-56th states.
By securing voting rights and statehood for all citizens of the United States, you not only empower all the people but also add 12 members to the U.S. Senate.
[See above in the bullet “• Unpack the U.S. Supreme Court, U.S. Senate Filibuster Reform, U.S. House Membership Reform, and General Judicial Reform” how increasing the number of members in the U.S. House would aid in fixing the gerrymandering issue, as well as increase the number of votes in the Electoral College]
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Many of these ideas for Project 2027, 2029, & 2031 are based on ideas already circulating among other individuals and organizations. This campaign does not have all the answers, and this section is not meant to be an all-inclusive authority, but the greater movement that gets us back to a true representative democracy of the people, by the people, and for the people requires collaboration and consensus.
Some of the ideas and principles herein are based on the content of Former Labor Secretary Robert Reich, the Roosevelt Institute, the Brennan Center for Justice, and Project 2029, as well as content from other sources.
