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With a little help from their quorum break last summer, the Texas House Democratic Caucus raised $2.2 million in 2025, a record-setting year for the minority party in the state’s lower chamber.
The HDC is set to file those figures, shared early with The Blast, at the campaign finance reporting deadline Thursday. Caucus Chair Gene Wu says that will let Democrats “preemptively” plan for the 2027 legislative session.
The vast majority of the caucus’ haul came during their quorum break and includes donations from all 50 states. About 96% of the donations amounted to $250 or less, but the money includes $100,000 from Jeffries for Congress, U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries’ campaign PAC, and $1 million from Powered by People, a PAC affiliated with former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke.
With no statewide office and as the minority party in both legislative chambers, Texas Democrats’ only vehicle for power in elected office is the Texas House. There, Democrats hold enough seats to prevent Republicans from advancing constitutional amendments and other measures that require a two-thirds vote.
“This gives us a fighting chance against the well-funded juggernaut that is dealing with the Republicans who are in power,” Wu told The Blast. “They just have unlimited amounts of money being poured down their throats from the Koch brothers and from Wilkes and Dunn and everybody else. A lot of times we’re just struggling to keep up with it.”
The HDC cannot use those funds for the midterm election, but the caucus can use the money the next time lawmakers are back in Austin. The caucus can use it to hire staff, run media campaigns, and poll on issues and messaging. That means more attorneys to sift through bills and plot points of order, and more communications staffers to shoot videos with members about their work in the Capitol.
Wu, a seventh-term member from Houston, ousted the previous HDC chair, San Antonio Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer, in a surprise outcome during the caucus’ leadership elections in December 2024. Fresh off President Donald Trump’s reelection, Democrats across the country were seeking a new direction, and Wu, a progressive who frequently uses social media profiles to troll Republicans, made the case for stronger “external communication” during the caucus’ closed-doors election.
Wu will be up for reelection within the caucus ahead of the next regular session in January 2027.
In August, Wu and most of the caucus fanned out to Illinois and across the country to block the GOP-controlled Legislature from redrawing the congressional map to be more favorable to Republicans and preserve their majority in the U.S. House. Before Democrats took their leave, Jeffries — who is in line to become speaker should Democrats retake the U.S. House — and members of the Texas delegation traveled to Austin to speak privately with their state-level counterparts.
For years, Texas Democrats have grumbled about getting paltry support from national Democratic groups. Between the quorum break aid, a Latino voter engagement rollout in Edinburg and additional funds pledged for the November election, Texas Democrats are beginning to see some attention. Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin praised Texas House Democrats for their abscondment, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom credited them for initiating his state’s counter-gerrymander.
Wu said the $100,000 from Jeffries, issued on Aug. 8 during the first week of the quorum break, was not a “thank you” or a “tip.”
“It was people who recognized very clearly that what we were doing was nothing that was easy and required a lot of resources,” Wu said.
The HDC raised $739,000 more during last year’s quorum break than they did in the 2021 quorum break under Grand Prairie Rep. Chris Turner. The contributions include $500,000 from the Texas Justice Fund, which is affiliated with the Democratic group the Lone Star Project, founded by Matt Angle.
In addition to raising $2.2 million, the caucus spent $1.5 million during the year, almost all of it on the quorum break. That covered hotel expenses and security in the face of two bomb threats.
Ultimately, House Democrats returned to Austin at the end of the first special session and the Legislature passed the map. Wu acknowledged that the U.S. Supreme Court will “probably” uphold the map. But he feels the his caucus played their role in spurring Democratic redistricting efforts and perhaps a Democratic victory in the coming midterm.
“The people who contributed to us, the organizations, the individuals, the people who sent in $1, they’re the ones who made it happen,” Wu said. “That’s their thank you card that they should get, is this November, watching Democrats from around the country, having been fully woken up, go to the ballot box and take our country back.”
