September Meeting - A Zoom Webinar

HCCTDW will begin its fall series of meetings with a Zoom webinar with Joe P. Herrera, Democratic candidate for Texas 53, and Stephanie Phillips, Democratic candidate for Texas 73.

2020 General Election

Democratic Party leaders in Texas and at the national level have discovered that the Texas House is a key contest for the future of our country in 2020. Why? The Democrats need to win only 9 more State House seats to take control, just in time to affect redistricting in 2021. In 2018, Democrats picked up 12 seats and came close to winning another 8. Those amazing results have captured the imagination of the Democratic Party establishment.

 

Another big reason for emphasizing State House races is their down-ballot, local appeal at a time when Democrats have to learn to vote for each office individually. State House candidates are in a unique position to raise local issues and recruit local volunteers in their races.

 

With this new emphasis on State House races, HCCTDW will hear from two candidates as featured speakers at our virtual meeting on Tuesday, September 1, 2020. Joe Herrera, candidate for Texas 53 (includes Kerr, Bandera and 10 other counties), and Stephanie Phillips, candidate for Texas 73 (includes Gillespie, Kendall and Comal). These candidates are not typical in their backgrounds, and each brings a unique understanding of our local concerns.

 

Joe P. Herrera and his wife live in tiny Natalia, near IH 35 in Medina County, at the far eastern edge of his 12 county district that stretches all the way to Ozona. In 2018, Joe began his political career by running in the Democratic primary, and that experience motivated him to run again, making it to the General Election against Andrew Murr in 2020. Joe was prepared for the demands of his campaign through his career as an account representative selling food products, especially candy, in communities throughout Texas 53.

 

Joe was born and reared in San Antonio, where he attended Catholic high school and received a B.A. from UTSA and an MBA from Our Lady of the Lake University. Joe  served the larger community on the Community Advisory Board at KLRN (PBS affiliate) from 2014 to 2017. Having grown up in one of the largest cities in the U.S. and living for 12 years in a rural area gives Joe a broad perspective on the way that Texas neglects education, health care and other needs of rural citizens.

 

Stephanie Phillips, a musician, music teacher and innovative small business owner with over 30 years' experience, lives in the hills of northern Comal County with her life partner, Kathy Weiner. Through her work coaching music and performance in local schools, Stephanie has learned a great deal about the importance of fine arts and extra-curricular programs, especially with children in Title I programs. Stephanie has trained scores of teachers about innovative ways to help children engage in their schools and communities. She also performs on violin and viola with many regional symphonies. Stephanie graduated from Texas public schools, Oberlin College (B.A. in History) and Texas State (M.A. in Music).

 

Stephanie Phillips was a candidate for Texas 73 in 2018, running in the General Election against her current opponent, Kyle Biederman. Stephanie was a very active and organized candidate, the first Democrat in 10 years to run for Texas 73. She was able to increase participation as a local candidate and has the distinction of outpolling Beto O'Rourke in Gillespie County (3109 v. 2572 votes) in 2018.

 

Both Stephanie and Joe will appear live on Zoom Webinar for all our members, with streaming on YouTube for the public. They will each have the opportunity to deliver a campaign speech, talk about their campaigns and answer questions from the audience through the chat function.