Jonathan Lipman

I was with Ann Richards on election night in 1994 when she conceded to Gov. Bush (t was one of those big brick looking cell phones). I was next to her when the lights went out for Democrats in Texas. For 32 years I have been waiting, praying, grieving loss after loss. Cycle after cycle. Election after election. And tonight, we elected James Talarico to the United States Senate and Gina Hinojosa Governor of Texas. Ann is the reason I’m in politics at all. She gave a young gay man from Houston his first shot, and she taught me that the first step is to stop waiting for someone else to do it. Tonight, nobody waited. Not the block walkers who knocked doors in August heat for candidates everyone said couldn’t win. Not the organizers who kept registering voters in counties the consultants had written off. Not the candidates who ran and lost in ‘02 and ‘06 and ‘14 and ‘18 and ‘22 and did it anyway, because every one of those campaigns built something the next one stood on. Not the donors who gave when the smart money said Texas was a lost cause. Not the young people who looked at a state that had never once voted for them and decided to make it vote for them. Not the Tejano moms in the Valley, the suburban dads in Collin County, the church ladies in my beloved Houston who have been doing this work since before James Talarico was born. Tonight belongs to all of them. To Gina and James and their families, who carried the weight of 30 years of hope with grace. To the staff who haven’t slept since the primary. To every Texan who got told no for three decades and showed up one more time. The lights are back on in Texas. I know Ann is watching from heaven tonight, and I know exactly what that grin looks like. Thank you, Texas. Thank you, everyone. Now let’s go to work. #TX2026