CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Texas Democratic Party concluded its three-day state convention Sunday at the Hilliard Center Arena in Corpus Christi, with thousands of delegates and activists rallying around a singular goal: breaking the Republican Party’s 30-year hold on every statewide elected office in Texas.
McKinney, the Collin County seat located about 30 miles north of Dallas, has around 200,000 residents and is home to the Globe Life corporate headquarters.
The convention, which ran from Friday through Sunday, featured keynote addresses from U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey, and Democratic gubernatorial nominee Gina Hinojosa, among others. Party leaders framed the 2026 midterms as a moral crossroads, with speakers repeatedly calling on delegates to convert convention energy into voter registration and turnout efforts across the state.
Hinojosa, who will challenge Republican Governor Greg Abbott in November, centered her remarks on public education and campaign finance. “Abbott devastated our schools when he passed his voucher scam,” Hinojosa told the crowd. “As long as we have a governor who can be bought, we won’t have the Texas that we deserve.” Hinojosa cited a $6 million donation from an out-of-state billionaire as evidence of undue influence over Texas policy.
James Talarico, who is a nominee for the U.S. Senate, drew some of the loudest ovations of the convention with a message that blended Texas history with a call for political renewal. “That Texas state of mind resists any tyranny, whether it comes from dictators 200 years ago or billionaire mega donors today,” Talarico said. “There is a deep hunger for a different kind of politics. Not a politics of hate, but a politics of love. A love that can heal what is broken in America.”
Outside the convention center, Republican counterprogramming was in full force. The pro-Abbott group Radical Texas deployed mobile LED billboard trucks circling the arena with GOP messaging, while volunteers distributed free breakfast tacos wrapped in anti-Democrat flyers. Two longhorns were displayed under a “Don’t Buy The Bull” banner.
