When the Party Forgets Its Purpose

Ensuring Democracy Works: Respecting Volunteers and Process

I am no longer an active member of Mothers for Democracy RGV, but I still support their work whenever possible. The reason I’m writing now is simple: I was sent a picture of someone who was inspired by our work—and she just filled out her precinct chair application. She sent me her pictures November 8, 2025.

The young woman is someone who used to travel about an hour to attend a Mothers for Democracy RGV meeting and see for herself what we were about.

I must clarify one very important thing: Mothers for Democracy RGV was never part of the Hidalgo County Democratic Party. It began as a private Facebook group created to educate and connect people who wanted to help. While many of us became precinct chairs, it wasn’t because the party recruited us—it was because we were encouraged by the then-local chapter leadership of Mothers Against Greg Abbott RGV to apply.

To explain the group’s evolution: it started as Valley Blue Dots, then became Mothers Against Greg Abbott RGV, then back to Valley Blue Dots. That’s when I took over leadership and started Mothers for Democracy RGV, a chapter of the larger federal PAC Mothers for Democracy. Today, Stacy Solis is the current chapter leader.

Back in 2023, the Hidalgo County Democratic Party, under Chair Richard Gonzales, was largely inactive. Of 269 seats, there were about 40 precinct chairs. And most were not active. To be fair, most of the state had similar situations; I’ve written about it here on my Substack and it was the topic of many of my posts on the Facebook page.

When I came in as a Precinct Chair in late 2022, I wondered who the others were. But then I found out they were not being engaged, or actively recruited or trained. Also, I was never informed of budgets, committees, and at County Executive Committee (CEC) meetings, there were no votes—just candidates asking for our support and breakfast sponsored by local politicians. We didn’t have any kind of onboard training, no guidance of any kind.