Doug Emhoff to lead San Antonio rally for Texas Democrats

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WASHINGTON — Second gentleman Doug Emhoff heads to Texas next week to headline a San Antonio rally Monday for Texas Democrats.

Emhoff will also speak at a fundraising reception in San Antonio on Monday and at fundraisers in Austin and Houston on Tuesday featuring Beto O'Rourke, the El Paso Democrat who unsuccessfully ran for the U.S. Senate, president and governor.

The San Antonio rally will be for Texas Democrats’ coordinated campaign, dubbed “Texas Offense,” led by Senate candidate U.S. Rep. Colin Allred. Several prominent Texas Democrats will also speak at the rally, including U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, U.S. Rep. Greg Casar and Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar. Comedian Cristela Alonzo and Gen-Z activist Olivia Julianna will also be present, as well as state House Democratic candidates Kristian Carranza and Laurel Jordan Swift.

The rally will focus on the “Freedom to Vote.” The city attracted national attention after state investigators under Attorney General Ken Paxton searched the homes of several Latino political organizers, including in Bexar County, as part of a probe into alleged voter fraud. Among the subjects of the searches were Cecilia Castellano, a Democratic candidate for state representative in a competitive district, and members of Texas LULAC, a non-partisan Hispanic civil rights organization.

LULAC and Texas Democrats have decried the searches as voter intimidation, calling on the U.S. Justice Department to investigate Paxton.

Emhoff’s appearance at the rally is also a sign of support from the presidential campaign for Texas Democrats, who have bemoaned being largely left off the map in the presidential race. Vice President Kamala Harris’s campaign must target the swing states needed to reach a majority in the Electoral College and determined Texas did not make the cutoff.

Still, the presidential ticket has made appearances in the state, including July visits by Harris to Houston and Dallas, where she spoke at meetings of historically Black sororities. President Joe Biden also spoke in Austin at an event commemorating the Civil Rights Act in July after dropping out of the presidential race. Harris, Biden and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the vice presidential candidate, have all visited Texas to fundraise this cycle.

Texas Democrats launched their coordinated campaign in July to bundle resources from the Senate race down ballot. It’s the first coordinated campaign led by a Democratic Senate candidate since Republicans took control of the state.