The Republican Party of Texas, under new Chairman James Dickey, has started preparing early for the 2018 midterms, over a year ahead of election day. Read below some of the ways RPT is ahead on historical milestones:

Victory Chair

Senator Dawn Buckingham announced as Victory Chair for 2018, more than a year before the midterm election. Senator Buckingham will lead get out the vote efforts and fundraising, ensuring Texas remains a Republican stronghold in 2018 and beyond.

Texas’ top Republican leaders had nothing but praise for Senator Buckingham’s announcement as Victory Chair; see the quotes from Governor Greg Abbott, Lt. Governor Dan Patrick, U.S. Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn, as well as RPT Chairman James Dickey on the press release here.

Campaign Management School

This past week, Republican Party of Texas hosted a three-day Campaign Management School in Austin, TX. This workshop instructs campaign staff members, candidates, and elected officeholders on all aspects of a campaign: fundraising, digital, communications, engagement, campaign finance, and more. This Campaign Management Schools is held only once every two years, with some of Texas’ best campaign staff and consultants traveling to Austin to share their political knowledge.

This flagship Campaign Management School is the culminating event for the series of 17 regional candidate trainings held over the past five months. These one-day trainings have covered almost every major area of Texas and are designed to provide information for those who may be considering running for office or helping a new candidate.

RPT’s campaign training gives Republicans across this state the tools they need to win.

Regional Field Staff

In the past 2.5 months RPT has hired 3 Regional Field Directors, growing the field team to a total of 5 and the entire political team to 8. New field staff doing daily voter contact and relationship building are based in the Dallas Fort Worth area, Corpus Christi area, and greater Houston, with additional hires anticipated in the San Antonio area and in Congressional District 23.

With the assistance of volunteers and our political department in Austin, RPT is on track to knock on 10,000 doors of future voters by November 1, 2017. This marks an unprecedented level of engagement an entire year before the midterm elections. Typically, this milestone is achieved after the primary election in April or May of an election year.

Meanwhile, Democrats Can’t Find A Credible Gubernatorial Candidate

Republicans are already out campaigning force, while Democrats in Texas are still trying to decide who should run against Governor Greg Abbott, the top-of-the-ticket race in 2018. Wendy Davis––the 2014 Democratic gubernatorial candidate who lost by over 20% to Governor Abbott––is even thinking about running again, writing in Cosmopolitan last week: “I’m trying to figure out when I should put myself back out there, and when will the electoral climate in Texas be right for me.”