Red state Dem official urged not to seek reelection over 'hostile work environment'

Thirty six Texas Democrats — including a congressional candidate, a former Texas House member and former party staffers — are urging Kendall Scudder to forgo reelection as chair of the Texas Democratic Party, citing operational failures and a “hostile work environment” fostered by his leadership over the past year.

“We have seen a Texas Democratic Party that makes bold promises to voters and candidates, yet cannot answer basic questions about strategy,” reads the open letter, which continues to garner signatures. “A Party that speaks of urgency but fails to act on it. A Party that asks for trust and money it has not earned.”

With “urgency and deep frustration,” the signers called on Scudder to step aside.

“Mr. Scudder, the Texas Democratic Party cannot afford another four years of operational failure,” the letter says.

The letter, signed by a substantial contingent of party insiders, reflects a persistent level of discontent among Texas Democrats after changes made by Scudder, including decentralizing the party’s base from Austin and overhauling staff positions, threw the party into a state of upheaval last fall.

Among the signers of the letter are the Rev. Frederick Haynes III, the likely successor to U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in Texas’ 30th Congressional District, and former state Rep. Mark Stiles, who represented East Texas from 1983-99. Eleven former staffers were identified only by their vacated TDP position and one signed as a House “political professional” for fear of professional or legal repercussions. The Texas Tribune verified the identities of the former staffers.

The open letter comes as Democrats look to November as a prime opportunity to make major gains all over the ballot, with massive turnout in last month’s primary election and favorable political tailwinds nationwide boosting Democratic energy and optimism.

Scudder did not provide an on-the-record statement in response to requests from the Tribune. He did not respond to two text messages and a call Friday seeking comment.

Some Texas Democrats defended Scudder’s leadership, calling him accessible and pointing to positive developments, including a wider party presence across the state and paying off a $500,000 party debt that he inherited.

“The primary speaks for itself,” said Angel Viator Smith, chair of the TDP’s Finance Committee, pointing to Democratic turnout exceeding Republican turnout.

Scudder was elected chair by the party’s governing board in March 2025 after the previous leader, Gilberto Hinojosa, resigned following Democrats’ blowout losses in 2024. Texas Democrats will select a chair for a four-year term at the party’s convention in June. The deadline for candidates to file to run is April 24. Scudder has not yet filed for reelection.

The letter covers a range of concerns with Scudder's leadership, arguing the TDP failed to maintain an up-to-date voter file that supports campaign outreach and didn't properly prepare Democratic voters in two counties for the loss of countywide voting locations on primary election day last month.

Hundreds of voters were turned away from the polls March 3 in Dallas and Williamson counties, unaware that the county Republican parties months prior had forced a switch to precinct-based voting for both Republican and Democratic voters.

Despite knowing about the change for months, the letter reads, the TDP failed to adequately prepare voters and instead “forced our Party into reactive damage control.”

“This is not responsible stewardship of our Party. It is mismanagement with consequences that will be felt well beyond a single election cycle,” the letter reads. “Texas Democrats deserve a leader that anticipates threats, prepares exhaustively and executes on program. Your leadership has not met that standard.”

Dallas County Democratic Party Chair Kardal Coleman said it was hard to predict how chaotic the switch to precinct-level voting would be. The county and state Democratic parties, he said, worked together before election day to game out what the change would look like, and on the March 3 primary to help voters find their assigned polling sites. Coleman added that the county party had successfully lobbied the Dallas County Commissioners Court to spend $1 million on a campaign to educate voters about the change.

Coleman said he thought Scudder was “working around the clock,” and that he had not seen a party chair who had “put in as many hours to be one, accessible, but also responsive to the needs of the state.”

“He’s been an amazing surrogate for the issues and the platform that our party wants to put forward,” Coleman said.

In a statement after seeing the full letter and signers, Coleman said that “the sentiments of the letter should not be dismissed. Coordination and election preparedness are foundational. We owe that to our voters.”

The letter also highlighted the state party’s failure to maintain an up-to-date voter file, which campaigns rely on to shape voter outreach. The letter cited “little evidence of sustained public pressure on the Texas Secretary of State or proactive collaboration with Democratic counties” to ensure accurate voter data and precinct maps.

In an interview last month, TDP Executive Director Terri Burke said the party’s voter file was out of date because the Texas secretary of state’s office had provided incomplete voter lists. The party met with the agency to address problems it saw in the data, but “most of this is totally outside our control,” she said.

Ethan Lipka, the party’s former data director who left in early February, added county election administrators across the state had faced problems uploading data to the secretary of state.

“There’s a lot to criticize the TDP over, but I think this is a really clear case where the SOS failed,” he told the Tribune.

The letter also described “concerning employer practices that stand in direct violation of our Party's values,” claiming former staffers spoke of “being exposed to racism and a hostile work environment, which stripped away core responsibilities from staffers, deliberate misreporting of debt and being forced out and replaced by consultants.”

“Party leadership has demonstrated a willingness to consolidate power at all costs, actively working to exclude or replace those who offer alternative approaches,” the letter reads.

Viator Smith, the party’s finance committee chair, argued that the letter’s concerns would not be solved by a change in leadership.

“The fact of the matter is that Kendall has been across the entire state, energizing the base across the entire state,” she said. “With the momentum that is being built, the positive reaction to decentralization and the massive primary turnout — I don't understand why we wouldn’t continue with this leadership.”

Renzo Downey contributed reporting.

Disclosure: Texas secretary of state has been a financial supporter of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete list of them here.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.