April 1, 2025 – Kendall Scudder, a 2008 graduate of Sulphur Springs High School, has been chosen to chair the Texas Democratic Party. In a decisive win on the first ballot, Scudder received 65 out of 121 votes eclipsing the next challenger who received 27 votes. Scudder said upon taking the gavel. “Let’s build a party that the working men and women of this state can be proud of.”
Scudder will take over as chair of the state party at a moment when Democrats are grasping for a way forward after blowout losses up and down the ballot last year, including President Donald Trump’s victory and a surge to the right by traditionally Democratic groups, such as Hispanic voters in South Texas.
After proclaiming Texas a competitive state where Democratic candidates had a fighting chance of winning statewide for the first time in three decades, party leaders instead watched as Trump and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz trounced their Democratic challengers by roughly 14 and 9 percentage points, respectively. Democrats also ceded ground in the state Legislature and lost nearly every contested state appellate court race, in addition to 10 judicial races in Harris County — eating away at years of Democratic dominance in Texas’ largest county.
Scudder graduated from Sulphur Springs High School before attending Sam Houston State and receiving a degree in Politcal Science. Scudder moved on to attending Cornell University, and George Washington University where he recieved his Masters Degree in Political Management.
