Today, the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) announced the addition of 9 staff in Texas, bringing our total number of staff mobilizing voters in Texas to 11 with just 54 days until the November 3rd election.

HRC is adding staff in key states across the country dedicated to mobilizing and turning out 1.7 million “Equality Voters” that will make the difference in elections for President, Senate, Congressional races and state legislative races across the state. HRC’s grassroots army builds upon the more than 600 endorsements made this cycle, a record for the organization.

HRC is also announcing the endorsement of an additional 19 state legislative candidates, bringing our organizing strength to bear in these key races in an effort to elect a pro-equality majority in Texas. Texas still has a patchwork of local protections for LGBTQ people without statewide anti-discrimination laws on the books. Today’s endorsements mark the next step of our efforts to elect as many pro-equality allies as possible to the state legislature so all Texans, regardless of who they are or whom they love, are treated equally under the law.

“We’re excited to announce our support of an impressive slate of pro-equality candidates in Texas. Together, they can help deliver protections to the 858,000 LGBTQ Texans who still can legally be discriminated against without any statewide laws on the books,” said Human Rights Campaign’s Texas State Director Rebecca Marques. “Beyond today’s endorsements, we know that delivering a pro-equality majority in Texas requires hard work, and that work can’t be done without investing in Texas, so we are thrilled to be increasing our staff presence on the ground in the home stretch of this campaign. By working hard, partnering with local leaders, and fighting for equality in this year’s election, we can and will deliver the meaningful change LGBTQ Texans need.”

HRC Endorsed Candidates include:

• Roland Gutierrez (SD-19)
• L. Sarah DeMerchant (HD-26)
• Travis Boldt (HD-29)
• Celia Israel (HD-50)
• Keke Williams (HD-54)
• Sharon Hirsch (HD-66)
• Lorenzo Sanchez (HD-67)
• Mary Gonzalez (HD-75)
• Jeff Whitfield (HD-92)
• Lydia Bean (HD-93)
• Alisa Simmons (HD-94)
• Joe Drago (HD-96)
• Elizabeth Beck (HD -97)
• Jessica Gonzalez (HD-104)
• Joanna Cattanach (HD-108)
• Celina Montoya (HD-121)
• Brandy Chambers (HD-112)
• Kayla Alix (HD-129)
• Akilah Bacy (HD-138)

HRC previously endorsed seven state legislative candidates this cycle.

In the 2018 midterms, HRC mobilized our grassroots army of 3.2 million members, supporters, and volunteers to work on behalf of pro-equality candidates and engage pro-equality voters primarily in six key states: Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. This unprecedented grassroots mobilization worked to recruit and train volunteers, register and mobilize voters and grow the organization's political organizing efforts in order to pull the emergency brake on the hateful anti-LGBTQ agenda of the Trump-Pence administration and elect a Congress that would hold them accountable.

In 2020, our engagement and mobilization efforts have only deepened. In addition to our expansive volunteer network, HRC has had significant full-time staff in seven priority states (Arizona, Michigan, Nevada, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Texas, and Wisconsin) since 2017 the organization is expanding our efforts with additional staff focused on a second tier of states. While in person organizing has been limited by the COVID-19 pandemic, HRC has embraced digital organizing, launching a new tool called TEAM allowing our broad network of volunteers and steering committees to engage their networks personally and hundreds of virtual phone banks and text banks to engage pro-equality voters even without the ability to interact in person.