Last weekend, Taylor Rehmet – an Air Force veteran and union machinist – won a Texas state senate seat in Tarrant County. It’s a seat that hasn’t gone to a Democrat in decades, and it’s a district Trump carried by 17 points.
He didn’t squeak by, either. He won by 14 points.
That’s a 31-point swing.
There are all the typical caveats. It was a special election. Weird weather. Specific local dynamics. The Texas Tribune reported that some Democrats are counseling restraint – one congressman noted that “Texas is far from becoming one of the country’s liberal bastions.”
Point taken. But also – conventional wisdom would look at a district Trump won by 17 points in 2024 and consider it unwinnable.
Taylor Rehmet not only didn’t get that memo – he actually proved it was wrong.Subscribed
How He Did It
According to the Texas Tribune’s coverage, Rehmet’s campaign couldn’t match his opponent’s fundraising – she raised $2.6 million. So instead of trying to compete on the airwaves, his campaign focused on something else entirely.
Talking – and listening – to people.
They set a goal to knock on 40,000 doors, and worked backwards from that number. They spent time training volunteers on how to be better active listeners. They encouraged volunteers to reach out on behalf of the voter if they didn’t have the answer to a question – and sometimes the team would call Rehmet right then and there, in front of the voter, if they didn’t know.
In an environment where people want an authentic human being to listen to them and respond to their concerns, that level of personal attention is exactly the kind of thing that can cut through political partisanship like a hot knife through butter.
His message of affordability and public schools, and his background as a working person and a veteran, resonated throughout the district.
So Saturday showed that a great message, a great messenger, and a great campaign can flip even a ruby red district.
While it’s true that we can’t extrapolate from this race to every race across the country, it also proves that we can’t count anyone out.
Why This Matters to Every State Blue
Since 2017 we’ve been funding exactly these kinds of candidates. The ones running in ruby red districts. The ones that get written off. The ones who can’t compete dollar-for-dollar with their opponents and have to make every single dollar count.
We use what we call the “bathtub method” – we fund first the nominees who have the least, then keep filling buckets until we run out of money.
That means we’re typically funding the reddest, most rural parts of the three states where we have active projects (Missouri, Ohio, and Tennessee).
But when folks ask me – why bother funding races you can’t win? – my first answer is to not count anybody out, because life comes at you fast and we’re in unprecedented times. Being prepared to take advantage of opportunities and momentum is smart.
But besides that, even when you don’t win, showing up matters. It forces Republicans to spend money defending seats they took for granted. It gives voters a choice. It speaks truth to power, builds infrastructure, creates a volunteering community, and tells voters that you’re willing to work hard to earn their respect.
And sometimes it changes the entire conversation.
The Tribune quoted one Democratic operative who said about Rehmet’s opponent – a MAGA activist backed by Trump himself: “Taylor Rehmet is just an absolute reflection of that district. Leigh Wambsganss is an absolute reflection of national MAGA. The voters decided which one they like, and it wasn’t a close call.”
That’s the choice. Do you want someone who reflects your community and fights for your daily struggles? Or do you want someone who reflects a national partisan brand?
Turns out, even in deep red Texas, voters prefer the former.
So remind me, why do we write off these districts?
Every single cycle, the conventional wisdom tells us which races are “worth” investing in. And every single cycle, candidates in “unwinnable” districts prove that conventional wisdom wrong – if they have the resources to compete.
That’s where you come in.
When you join Blue Missouri or Blue Ohio or Blue Tennessee as a monthly donor, you’re not just supporting one candidate. You’re funding an entire slate of nominees who would otherwise run with almost nothing. You’re making it possible for them to knock on those doors, have those conversations, and give voters a real choice.
You’re also making recruitment easier – because candidates in tough districts need to know someone has their back.
And you’re changing the landscape – because when Republicans have to defend previously safe seats, that’s resources they can’t spend elsewhere.
On Saturday, Texas sent a message. But it’s a message we’ve been hearing from our nominees in Missouri and Ohio and Tennessee for years now.
People are hungry for leaders who see them, understand them, and fight for their actual daily struggles – not just the culture war headlines. People will respond to authentic organizing and genuine connection – even in the reddest districts.
And people are not as divided as the powerful want us to believe.
Taylor Rehmet showed up in a Trump+17 “unwinnable” district, talked about what actually matters to the people living in that district, and won by 14 points.
That’s the playbook – or it should be.
And at Every State Blue, we’ve been running it since 2017.
So let’s keep running everywhere. Let’s keep trusting voters. Let’s keep funding and empowering the nominees others ignore.
Because we can’t predict where the next breakthrough will happen. But we can make sure we’re there, and we’re ready, when it does.
Ready to support downballot Democrats in red districts?
Join Blue Missouri | Join Blue Ohio | Join Blue Tennessee
Or support the scrappy Every State Blue team that makes it all possible: Support ESB
P.S. If you want to read more about the Texas race, the Texas Tribune has excellent coverage. And if you want to hear more about why running everywhere matters, check out Michele’s recent Small Deeds post.
