The successful “MAGA-fication” of American politics speaks less about this current moment than it does about the decades of planning and envisioning that went into making it happen.
But what of the plans Black people have to create a different political vision for the U.S. than the MAGA-fied version? Do Blackfolk even have such plans?
The Defender asked local politicos to share their vision of a Black political future, and gameplans and actions needed today and along the way toward that future.
Visions for the future
“What I think we should see is that no longer will it be a first African American this, or a first African American that. We African Americans will have more people to assume the office of President, and not just one with Barack Obama. We’ll have more African-American U.S. senators, more African-American Congresspeople, and more African-American mayors and county judges, that we’ve never had before. I do believe in 10 to 20 years from now, based on the demographic shifts and the younger people who are not as prejudiced and beholden to the old guard, I do believe we will have a blue Texas. I do believe that’s not pie in the sky. I believe that’s changing demographics and a real reality.” (Ron Reynolds, State Rep.)
“I feel like we do have plenty of opportunities in politics in the next 10 to 50 years. I hate to say it, but after these next four years, I feel like there may be some situations that may galvanize young people and other people of our generation who say, ‘Hey, we need to do something and I can’t just sit back on the sidelines and watch anymore. I have to step up. Even if it means I have to run for office. I may lose one time, but I’m gonna run again because this change is necessary.’” (Nicholas Little, NAACP Houston Social Justice Committee chair)
2026 Primaries
“To win statewide races in 2026 Texas Democrats will have to turnout at least 6.5 million Democratic voters. That number will climb to at least seven million Democratic voters to win in 2028 and require 6.8 to 7.2 million Democratic votes to win statewide in 2030. This won’t come easy but it can be done. We have to get that fire back and reach out to voters with a message that will resonate with the current needs of the people.” (Carroll Robinson, TSU professor)
“I look at the senate race between Colin Allred and Senator Ted Cruz. That was a situation where I feel like a lot of people missed the mark. We were focused on the big cities and certain political strongholds. And because we focused on those and some of the distractions around that, we missed the big picture that it wasn’t just certain areas. It’s the entire state of Texas [that demands campaigns’ attention]. (Nicholas Little)
5-year realities
“Texas Democrats, between 2026 and 2030, must prioritize electing a governor, lieutenant governor, State House majority or State Senate majority in preparation for the next round of redistricting in the 2031 legislative session. In addition to an electoral strategy, the Texas Democratic Party needs to start encouraging locally elected Democrats to get started on preparing their cities and counties for the 2030 Census count.” (Carroll Robinson)
10-20 year realities
“If Texas can avoid a major undercount in 2030, our state will likely gain two to four new congressional seats. Without any real leverage and political power during the 2031 redistricting process, Democrats will be shut out of gaining more congressional seats in Texas. With two to four new congressional districts coming to Texas after the 2030 Census, control of the U.S. House after the 2032 Mid-Term election cycle will likely be decided by redistricting in Texas during the 2031 legislative session.” (Carroll Robinson)
Current actions taken
“I would like for us to start in 2025 around voting literacy; understanding even who to be mad at. Also, I would like to see that we have succession planning from our Black legislators. We need to take their wisdom so that the next people behind them have the readiness to get in and do what needs to be done for our Black agenda.” (Shar-Day Campbell, Honey Brown Hope Foundation)
“Strategize is the word. Strategize as far as building for ourselves, but also building up leaders. We need to be able to, as a community, pick who we want to run for office, who are gonna be our judges, who are gonna be our city council members. Right now, we kind of have a free fall and whoever lands on the ballot, then we just say, ‘Okay, we’re gonna support them because they’re in our community,’ but we’re not specifically vetting those individuals and coming together to create a strategic plan that advances the community, that we’re all aligned with and we believe is gonna advance us. We need to plan out each generation, who we’re building up and training to run for office, and then put our funding behind those individuals. (Kyara Ofuani, non-profit civil rights attorney)
“To win back the majority in the Texas State House, Democrats must flip 14 of the Republicans’ current 88 seats, without losing any of their current 62 seats-to get to the 76 members that constitute a majority in the Texas State House. To get to a majority in the Texas State Senate, Democrats need to flip seven of the Republicans’ 21 seats, without losing any of their current 10 seats, to win back the majority.” (Carroll Robinson)
“We don’t need to wait until 2026 for midterm elections. We don’t need to wait for 2028 for the next presidential election. We need to be going down to Austin for the Texas legislative session. We need to make sure that we go, no matter if you’re part of an organization or as an individual. We need to talk to our legislators no matter what side of the aisle they’re on and say, ‘Hey, these are the issues that are important to me and my community. These are the issues that keep me up at night. but seems like there’s nothing being done about it. How can we constituents reach out and work with you? It’s galvanizing people to understand that it’s not just enough to go to the ballot box.” (Nicholas Little)
