EMILYs List Statement on Texas Republican Retirements

For Immediate Release

August 5, 2019

EMILYs List Statement on Texas Republican Retirements

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In recent weeks, four Texas Republican congressmen have announced their retirements: Reps. Mike Conaway (TX-11), Pete Olson (TX-22), Will Hurd (TX-23), and Kenny Marchant (TX-24). Stephanie Schriock, president of EMILYs List, released the following statement:

“The political winds are shifting in Texas, and Republican incumbents don’t like what they see. After Lizzie Fletcher flipped a long-held Republican seat and the state finally elected its first Latina congresswomen, Veronica Escobar and Sylvia Garcia, in a long-overdue milestone last year, Texas Republicans have to face the fact that their party’s extremist platform is unpopular in an increasingly diverse state. EMILYs List is working with many strong women candidates in Texas and we look forward to flipping more seats in the state next year.”

EMILYs List, the nation’s largest resource for women in politics, has raised over $600 million to elect pro-choice Democratic women candidates. With a grassroots community of over five million members, EMILY's List helps Democratic women win competitive campaigns – across the country and up and down the ballot – by recruiting and training candidates, supporting strong campaigns, researching the issues that impact women and families, and turning out women voters to the polls. Since our founding in 1985, we have helped elect 150 women to the House, 26 to the Senate, 16 governors, and nearly 1,100 women to state and local office. Nearly 40 percent of the candidates EMILYs List has helped elect to Congress have been women of color. During the historic 2017-2018 cycle, EMILYs List raised a record-breaking $110 million and launched a record independent expenditure campaign. We helped elect 34 new women to the House, including 24 red-to-blue victories; enough seats to have delivered the U.S. House majority alone. Since the 2016 election, more than 46,000 women have reached out to EMILY's List about running for office laying the groundwork for the next decade of candidates for local, state and national offices.