In First Weeks as Chairman, Kendall Scudder’s Message Resonates Across Texas
AUSTIN, Texas – In his first few weeks leading the Texas Democratic Party, Chairman Kendall Scudder’s emphasis on the working men and women of Texas – and on the need to get billionaire influence out of our politics – is resonating across this state.
As he told WFAA’s Y’all-itics podcast: “You’re going to see a Democratic party that’s much more present in places that we typically haven’t been…that really emphasizes and focuses in on what this broken, rigged economy looks like for working people.”
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"Democrats are who fought for the little guy, who fought for farmers, who fought to make sure you had livable wages and fair working conditions," Scudder said. "As a party, that has not been the centerpiece of who we are in recent years. It's just become a small piece of who we are. I want to turn that back into the center.”
Scudder took the helm of Texas' Democratic Party in late March. The Sam Houston State University graduate billed himself as a departure from the status quo, one who could win back working class voters at a time when the Democratic party desperately needs them.
Scudder said he feels good about the party's prospects going into 2026 if its opposition is a toss-up between Paxton, who has weathered a long series of corruption allegations and legal troubles, or Cornyn, who he said was "cooked."
Austin American-Statesman: “Anyone who thinks of modern Democrats, from Texas or anywhere else, as a collection of elitists or urban snobs would likely not be referring to the 35-year-old Scudder.”
Instead, the new Texas Democratic Party chairman is a product of a working-class family from rural Northeast Texas and a first-generation college graduate. He worked at Dairy Queen and waited tables to put himself through Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, about 150 miles east of Austin.
His first task, Scudder said, is to focus the party's attention on the needs of working-class Texans and not to write off any potential voter, no matter for whom they voted in last year's presidential election.
"We're going to be showing up in places that people don't see Democrats visit," he said.
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Scudder grew up in New Boston, Texas, a town so small that Texarkana is the nearest major reference point. His family was more focused on farming purple hull peas than politics, but Scudder was drawn into the fray in the early 2000s when Republicans began a campaign that labeled LGBTQ+ individuals as unfit to be parents.
“As somebody that had lesbian moms, that was a problem,” he says, so he started knocking on doors to encourage community dissent.
“Everything that we do, I think, how does this impact that little boy in East Texas with farm calloused hands? And how do we make sure that we're setting him up to be able to have an opportunity?”
Looking ahead to the 2026 election, Scudder wants to instill the message that voting for Texas Democrats means voting to keep taxes low “for working folks,” voting for the best-funded schools possible and voting for public safety.
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There are more than 40 cities in the state with more than 100,000 residents. And in those areas, Scudder argued that the GOP has had free rein to describe and frame the Democratic party because it doesn’t necessarily show up in force in these mid-sized cities.
Big Spring. Abilene. Tyler. Texarkana. Beaumont. Scudder used all of those Texas cities as examples of where the party can start investing more resources and building true infrastructure so county chairs and volunteers who walk door-to-door can tell those residents what the Democratic party stands for.
“What we’re gonna focus on is making sure that working people are the center of every discussion we’re having and how every bill we write, every bill we are able to get passed, everything we advocate for, how does it impact a person that’s trying to put cleats, soccer cleats, on their kiddo.”
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