Bernie Sanders' Texas Supporters Vow To Press His Agenda

Even though Hillary Clinton has earned enough delegates to clinch the Democratic presidential nomination, Bernie Sanders supporters in Texas want to use the Vermont senator’s progressive appeal and message to expand his political influence.

An aide to Sanders said on Tuesday in a joint presser with Clinton’s campaign that supporters will press local party officials at this week’s state Democratic convention for more influence over the party’s platform. He also urged the party to adopt some of the senator’s campaign policy proposals, including a $15-an-hour federal minimum wage and trade policies that do not ship American jobs overseas. 

“I urge you to open your hearts and your minds to the hundreds of thousands Bernie supporters who care the same personal ideas as you do. Ninety percent of the people who are involved in our campaign were taking part in their political future for the very first time,” said Jacob Limon, adding that the senator’s base will not take their “foot off the gas.”

The meeting occurred hours before Sanders was scheduled to meet privately with Clinton in Washington, D.C. The meeting is part of the senator’s effort to have the presumptive Democratic nominee embrace some of his core campaign policy proposals.

Former Texas Land Commissioner Garry Mauro, who served as Clinton’s state campaign director for Texas during the primary contest, said the party should embrace some of Sanders’ ideas. He also urged the senator’s supporters, which includes an overwhelmingly strong base of young voters — a core constituency for the Democrats— to rally behind the party’s eventual nominee.

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State Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer is welcoming Donald Trump to San Antonio with a sarcastic YouTube video disparaging the presumptive Republican presidential nominee for his controversial rhetoric about Mexicans and immigrants.

The clip, titled "Bienvenido a San Antonio, Mr. Trump" and narrated by former State Sen. Joe Bernal, takes Trump's campaign slogan and flips it to declare support for Hillary Clinton.

"Enjoy your visit to San Antonio, Mr. Trump," Bernal concludes. "Mexican-Americans and all immigrants alike help make San Antonio great. We will continue to make America great by voting for the next Democratic president."

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The National Women's Political Caucus of Texas is calling for an investigation of Aaron Persky, the judge who handed down the jail sentence in a high-profile sexual assault case involving a former Stanford student.

After a jury found Brock Turner guilty of sexually assaulting an unconscious woman behind a dumpster when he was a freshman, Persky sentenced him to six months in jail, citing the "severe impact" prison would have on him. Critics have decried the sentence as too lenient.

“Judge Persky's decision is insupportably lenient to the point of signaling that rape is not the serious violent crime that it is," Texas Caucus President Sue Berkel said in a statement.