Last night with only an 8.5% turnout, Texas Republicans nominated conservative extremist Ted Cruz to be their nominee for U.S. Senate.

We know the that word "extremist" gets thrown around irresponsibly by folks working in politics and that is why we don't take lightly calling Ted Cruz just that (even though Mr. Cruz called our organization and community a "lynch mob" on his campaign website).

Ted Cruz's views and stances are not just conservative - they are down right crazy.

The Texas Republican Party appears to have turned its back on the issues and nominated someone who would continue to plan for failure. We are dismayed that the Republican Party's Senate nominee is someone who believes in a crazy conspiracy theory about a global cabal intent on closing our golf course.

Golf courses are not the issue. The education of our children, the protection of our environment, the health and welfare of the people -- those are the issues. You know it and we know it. Now it is time to do something to fundamentally change the direction of our state. We need to get organized and start holding the extremists like Ted Cruz accountable and take back this state. What can you do right now?

• Sign-up and get on our rapid response list to get information about what is going on in your district and how you can get involved in your own backyard.
• Chip-in $15 right now for us to build a first-ever Texas progressive voters guide so you know who the progressive community supports up and down the ballot.
• Take our membership survey so we can get an accurate snapshot of our members opinions as we finish our planning process for the election and next legislative session.
• Become a sustaining donor right now and ensure we have all the resources necessary to fight back against the conservative noise machine.
• Get text message alerts to keep you up to date while you are on the go. To join, text the keyword "Progress" to 30644.

Now that the ballot is set and the runoffs are over, we will make sure you know what you can do to make your voice heard and how you can share progressive values in every corner of the state.