Personal Narrative: Rebuilding The Grand Old Party

Rebuilding the Grand Old Party

We were all in. As president of the local Young Republicans chapter, I made the executive decision to shift our entire political operation (all five active members) to support a longshot political novice. We were committed to working for Republican nominee Sarah Davis in her bid to become the State Representative for southwest Houston. It seemed clear to me that Sarah Davis represented the future of the Party: a refreshing young candidate eager to listen to the concerns of the next generation, a successful female lawyer ready to alter the perception of a Texas politician, a self-described “rational Republican” willing to buck her Party’s establishment in support of progressive policy prescriptions. The question of the campaign was whether this new type of Republican could win a general election.

As political canvassers, my team was on the frontline of this effort. We employed retail politics in our local neighborhoods,

By developing a new kind of party activist and supporting strong candidates willing to reach across the political divide, we could move past politics as usual. It was this understanding which attracted me to my first post-college job as a Houston field organizer for Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s gubernatorial campaign. I was inspired by Governor Abbott’s personal story as a man able to overcome his circumstances to become the state’s first wheelchair aided governor. I believed fundamentally in the campaign mission of building a stronger Republican Party through improved engagement with historically neglected minority communities. The campaign shared my belief that a successful political party in the 21st Century requires elected officials who reflect the diversity of its people, and that Republicans have a special obligation to show that our values are universal ideals applicable to people of all faiths, races, abilities and sexual