Why I’m Glad I worked for Battleground Texas

Wendy Davis, Democratic candidate for Governor of Texas, got beat on Tuesday. This was no surprise, but what was surprising was just how badly she lost. Despite a state-of-the-art grassroots organization like Battleground Texas (a group I volunteered for from March-November), 34,000 volunteers, and millions of voters contacted over and over again, Davis lost the Governor's race by the largest margin since 1998--George W. Bush's reelection.

Battleground Texas’ major goal was to increase voter turnout—especially amongst demographic groups favorable to their candidate: women, Latinos, and young voters. In almost all aspects, they failed. Turnout  dove from 38% in 2010 to 33% in 2014. A large majority of women—55%--voted for Greg Abbott, as did a huge chunk of Latinos—44%. Based on the evidence, objectively speaking Battleground Texas failed. Or did it?