Texas Democrats head to National Convention

While North Texas Democrats travel to Chicago this weekend for the Democratic National Convention, former Texas Democratic Party Chairman Boyd Richie will be watching from his home in Wichita Falls, savoring the excitement surrounding the ticket of Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

“I haven’t seen this much enthusiasm in the party since Obama in 2008,” he said in a recent interview. “We had lines twice around the Frank Erwin Center [in Austin] when he and Hillary Clinton came to debate.”

The state Democratic convention in Austin that year was “overwhelmed,” he recalled. “We couldn’t accommodate everybody,” he said.

Although the national excitement about Ms. Harris and Gov. Walz will not translate into electoral votes from Texas, “I think we will have a greater turnout than we normally would,” he said.

“People are very excited about Vice President Harris,” he said. “Her energy, as Gov. Walz said, a joyful warrior. The party hasn’t experienced that in at least a decade – we have sort of been in the doldrums. I am very enthused by the response even here in Texas.”

He said the Texas Democratic Party is seeing “people volunteering that have never volunteered before and young people are getting excited.”

“There is no question that it is going to be a really tight election,” he said. “The country is just so polarized and hopefully we will be able to squeak it out.”