A year of political upheaval. We witnessed widespread student protests in the spring, a brat summer, a fall filled with 2024 General Election hype, hope, then despair, and a winter full of reflections.
2025 will certainly be defined as an era of change, and here at Progress Texas, we believe that on these unsteady grounds, we can build a foundation that pushes progress forward.
But for now, we can look backward and learn. Progressives and their allies should be proud of their fight, and maintain a strong coalition heading into next year. Texans know best what it’s like to survive under hostile conditions, and in the meantime we can build a big tent, fortified by strong messaging, progressive policies, and leaders from all around to rally behind. For better or worse, Progress Texas subscribers shared some of the most influential people that drove Texas news, politics, and culture, which you can read below.
Who Were the Best Texans of 2024?
1. Bold, Re-Elected Progressives in Power
In 2024, Progressives policies won all around, Texas communities re-elected local progressive champions, and we made Julie Johnson the first openly gay member of Congress to represent a Southern state. Some highlights in the U.S. House included national attention on beloved Rep. Jasmine Crockett, for coining the phrase, “bleach blonde, bad built, butch body,” in reference to MAGA Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. This went viral, and many followers online were ecstatic to see a Texas representative holding their peers and extremists alike accountable — something that Rep. Lloyd Doggett was also commended for, breaking silence and calling for President Biden to step aside in the presidential race (the first Democratic Congress Member to do so). Meanwhile, young progressive Rep. Greg Casar was unanimously elected by his peers to lead the Congressional Progressive Caucus, representing another major theme in political discourse this year: passing the helm on to a new generation.
2. Persuasive Leaders
Back at home in the Texas Legislature, Rep. Gene Wu stood out for being outspoken against Gov. Abbott’s voter purges, and was later elected to be the Chair of the House Democratic Caucus — where his commitment to accountability and expertise as a public speaker will be needed to counteract billionaire-backed disinformation in 2025. Additionally, the Texas Progressive Caucus, Clayton Tucker, Emad Salem, and a steadily growing base of followers, have kept progressive messages and actions at the forefront of an election year where national Democratic leadership opted for center-right issues instead of winning progressive policies, with Tucker sharing that “we need to rebuild the [Democratic] Party from the ground up, including recruiting, training, and motivating precinct chairs to connect with their communities.”
3. Reproductive Rights Advocates, Mothers, and Doctors
Next, we’d like to yet again honor Amanda and Josh Zurawski, plus every person involved in the Zurawski v. Texas case — as they put their lives up for display (in a new documentary) and battled their case up to the Texas Supreme Court, with the help of the Center for Reproductive Rights’ Senior Staff Attorney Molly Duane and local plaintiff attorney Austin Kaplan. The 2024 Elections and DNC were steeped in Texan influence, spotlighting the Zurawskis and Kate Cox, because Texans are seeing the first, deadly impacts of a near-total abortion ban. Our podcast series, “Abortion on the Ballot in Texas,” continued this pertinent discussion on reproductive freedoms, featuring top voices like State Rep. Julie Johnson, Austin City Council Member Paige Ellis, State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, Houston City Council Member Abbie Kamin, San Antonio City Council Member Dr. Sukh Kaur, Texas Sen. Molly Cook, Austin City Council Member Vanessa Fuentes, and former candidates Laura Jones and Averie Bishop.
4. Messagers in Online Media
Fighting disinformation requires loud and proud, strong messaging not just from leadership to constituents, but in the democratic, free-for-all online sphere, and some of the heroes leading that charge included Howdy Politics (Kat Vargas), Democrasexy (Becky Bullard), and the Progress Texas team — especially our Progress Texas Podcasts network! In a political environment where the leaderboard for top ranking podcasts in the U.S. is filled with toxic and hyper masculine figureheads that have taken advantage of the male loneliness epidemic and enticed young men with incel, anti-feminist, and hate-filled audio bites from Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, and even Theo Von, progressive messagers in digital media are more important than ever.
5. Public Education Advocates
Similarly, in our deprived public school system, the need for equitable, quality education is a tool in the fight against fascism and growing rates of illiteracy. Powerhouses like Rep. James Talarico were joined this year by countless candidates with backgrounds in education, including Rachel Mello, Adrienne Bell, Cathy McAuliffe, Tanya Lloyd and so many more who ran against voucher schemes, for their social stratifying and state-budget-depleting nature. Meanwhile, Rep. Mihaela Plesa was re-elected, defeating Abbott’s propped, pro-voucher challenger in purple Collin County, instilling hope for a Blue, educated Texas.
In Memoriam
This year we mourned Representative Sheila Jackson Lee, who represented the 18th Congressional District of Texas in Houston since 1995. During her nearly three decades-long tenure, she was a progressive champion who advocated for gun safety and Medicare for All, known for her tenacity. Erica Shelwyn Lee, is finishing her late mother’s term, honoring her legacy.
Who Are Still the Worst of the Worst?
1. Again: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton takes the top spot on our list for the second consecutive year in a row, on a host of topics from healthcare to abortion, public education, and LGBTQ+ and voting rights. He started the year getting off decades-long fraud charges to top off his 2023 impeachment acquittal. Then he charged onward, leading amorphous, violent culture wars with subpoenas galore — not a hospital in or out of state, Public ISD, mother, or trans kid, left without worry of a target on their back. He even weaponized Texas law enforcement to raid the homes of Latino political candidates and Democratic activists in South Texas, alleging illegal vote harvesting. This right-wing attack dog consistently tried to overturn years of precedent to subject our state and the rest of the country to his and Gov. Abbott's agendas — targeting interstate travel and mail prescriptions for abortion-inducing medications. Texas serves as a warning sign for national trends and authoritarian threats, and you can trust that Paxton will be the dog leading that fight. We’ve predicted a spot for him in the upcoming Trump administration or Supreme Court. We shudder and we shall see.
2. Elon Musk
Tech CEO and Trump’s puppeteer, Elon Musk, is a certified worst Texan. As millions flocked to his app’s competitor, BlueSky, this year, (including us! Follow @progresstexas.bsky.social) he ran the app into the ground. Musk announced that X’s headquarters would be moving to Texas too, making him even more our problem now — adding to his presence in Boca Chica with the SpaceX headquarters, currently under FAA investigation for its vast environmental impacts on wildlife impact, beach preservation, and water pollution. Musk, along with other deep-pocketed extremists that include oil billionaires like Tim Dunn, religious organizations pushing Christian Nationalism as a panacea, corporate-backed PACs and more, all dumped millions into the Republican machine in Texas, and as you can see by the state of things, all that investment paid off handsomely for them.
3. Governor Greg Abbott
Speaking of billionaire-backed campaigns, Gov. Abbott installed anti-public-education candidates and waged war against his own party members seeking re-election — delivering on his promise to cannibalize and excommunicate Republicans who refused to implement his voucher scheme during the last legislative session (with unlimited funding from Dunn and Jeff Yass). He eroded young, student activists’ rights to free speech, assembly, and protest, and took his fight against public education to our state’s top ranking collegiate institutions — targeting DEI practices across the board.
Meanwhile, within only the first month of 2024, Abbott made national news for using deadly barbed wire along the Mexico border, and by deploying the Texas National Guard to seize an Eagle Pass park, bringing his immigration battle to the Supreme Court, only to lose. He later sensationalized the elimination of 1 million Texas voters from the rolls and boasted that he removed people on the “suspense list,” emphasizing the removal of noncitizens. Gov. Abbott is steadfast in eliminating Texans’ rights, and with Trump’s plans for “mass deportations,” he’ll find a twin flame in Abbott.
4. The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
The most conservative federal appeals court in the country, known for putting Dobbs v. Jackson on the docket, is determined to rule away your rights. Consisting of more than five Trump-appointed judges, the 5th Circuit is based in New Orleans, and hears appeals from Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk out of Amarillo, takes the cake, standing out as one of the most vile (in)justices when he ruled against reproductive rights to ban the life-saving abortion medication, mifepristone — which the Supreme Court thankfully rejected this year.
5. Senator Ted Cruz
We are still, and will always be, Humans Against Ted Cruz. On the bright side, with his re-election, you have a reason to go buy one of our shirts or stickers here! We don’t have to tell you twice, but here’s 50 reasons he’s the worst anyway.
Lukewarm mention: U.S. Congressman Colin Allred
Everyone has mixed feelings about Allred, because to go against Cruz should be an easy run, and yet many felt that Colin’s campaign fell flat, started late, ignored his base, and focused on the wrong policies and strategies entirely. Not to mention that immediately after losing, he was one of three Texas Democrats who voted against protections for free speech and non-profits (like ours truly) in HR 9495. When you’re in the same bunch as Representative Henry Cuellar, who was indicted for accepting hundreds of thousands of foreign interest-bribes, take some time to reflect on how you got there — and the millions of people you let down along the way.
What’s Left:
$80 million went into only one race this past November (Colin Allred’s). For your information, readers, that amount would grow and sustain our organization for 80 years. Campaigns come and go, but our progressive movement is forever.
For us on the progressive side, it’s an uphill battle and the backbone of our funding comes from just normal everyday people just like you, who agree with our mission and consider our work worth investing in. An authoritarian extremist ruling party deserves a strong, united opposition. We don’t operate on subscriptions or behind paywalls because the content we create is important for ALL Texans to be able to enjoy, learn from, and be inspired by. Stay with us, invest in progressive messaging to mobilize our communities.
What’s Next:
- Catch up on Progress Texas’s 2024 work, featured on our annual impact report!
- Read up on what we’re expecting the upcoming 2025 legislative session to look like, from school vouchers to abortion rights.
- Check out our 2023 list of Best and Worst Texans!
- RSVP for the Texas Democratic Chair Forum in January 2025, hosted by the Texas Progressive Caucus!
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