The Webb County Democratic Party

Year in Review
2021-2022

Energized…Inclusive…Progressive…Transparent…Committed to Our Democracy

Greetings, Fellow Webb County Democrats,

Almost three years ago, March, 2020, our Webb County Democrats elected me Chair of our Webb County Democratic Party, and this past March, I was elected once again, a responsibility that I consider one of the most important in my lifetime. And since transparency was one of my primary goals, an annual report of WCDP’s progress has been a commitment as well.

My platform goals had been very specific: a strong, inclusive, community-wide education-outreach program, an equally strong voter registration plan, and then a concerted effort to assure that all who were registered actually voted. Also essential to our Democratic, grassroots community: a precinct chair for every single one of the 78 precincts in Webb County. And finally, my intention to work in tandem with all who were just as willing to better our Webb County Community as I was.

Three years later, I am exceedingly proud of the impressive work that our Webb Democrats have accomplished, i.e. growing the seventeen precinct chairs that I inherited to forty two today, a dynamic GOTV Committee that has registered over three thousand new voters in the past three years, special attention and support given to young Democrats based in TAMIU, coalitions built both with fellow border counties and with local advocacy groups that also espouse our Democratic platform, a rich kaleidoscope of community events that are telling the story of our Democratic Party, a vibrant array of social media venues, amongst them our own web site, two FB pages, Twitter and Instagram pages that reach thousands every single day.

Even though our hopes for a saner, stronger, fairer and kinder Texas were dashed with the defeat of Beto and his team of exceptional state candidates, AND our own Webb County voter turnout was nowhere what we were working towards, we can still be proud of what we did accomplish, to illustrate:

• Our WCDP introduced its first ever Coordinated Campaign…with the sole purpose of turning out Webb County Democrats to vote. The WCDP’s Field Program set a universe of 9,003 doors. The program launched on September 27, with a team of 13 canvassers. In addition to our paid canvassing program, Webb Dems also expanded their program to multiple rounds of text messages, targeting different demographics of our community and held daily phone bank opportunities. Our WCDP Field Program was managed by our very own Brenda Cruz, the Texas Democratic Party’s Regional Political Manager for South Texas. Through regular check ins with the TDP Political and Data teams, we would learn that our program made more progress in talking to voters as a proportion of county size, than any other county party program in the state. We made 16,878 total knocks and sent 44,449 text messages.

• We can be proud of the fact that in a state comprised of 254 counties, Webb County was one of the 19 that remained true to our Democratic platform, one that is truly committed to the people of our community.

• We can be equally proud of our determination to raise the voice of our community via our vote and can point to our GOTV Committee’s stellar voter registration results, totaling over 3000 new voters in three years, to strong engagement in a non-partisan community wide Yes, I Will Vote Campaign that brought together over 30 organizations, all advocating for increased voter turnout.

• And because we remain committed to our WCDP’s mission… to do all that we can to raise the VOICE of our community via our VOTE, we pledge to continue working on that goal, perhaps by reaching a better understanding of what are the underlying factors that keep our folks from the polls and then working on a plan to turn that around.

• Finally, essentially important, we remain committed to community outreach, our goal to make our Webb County Democratic Party a household word, one which our Webb County Citizens will view as the Party that best represents their interests and is working hard on their behalf.

So…for now, let’s take time to refresh, get a better understanding of what our WCDP achieved in 2021-2022, and then, pledge to come back together again…. because we are not done yet!

In closing… I am very proud of our Webb County Democratic Party, proud of our many volunteers who have contributed hundreds of community service hours, proud of our elected officials whose servant leadership exemplifies Democracy in Action, proud of our benefactors whose generosity fuels our efforts….and looking forward now to 2023!

Sylvia Bruni,
County Chair
Webb County Democratic Party

Download Annual Report