I am now a Texas Democrat, but I did not arrive here because I have spent my entire life inside one political lane. When I first registered to vote in 2010, I registered as a Republican in Connecticut. At the time, I understood that label to include room for fiscal responsibility, personal liberty, civic duty, respect for public service, and a belief that government should be careful, accountable, and effective. I have also contributed to moderate Republican candidates in the past because I believed then, and still believe now, that public service should be judged by seriousness, character, and a willingness to serve the whole community.

That history is important because my values have not been built around partisan loyalty for its own sake. I believe in responsible budgets, strong public schools, safe neighborhoods, honest elections, constitutional rights, and local government that is accessible to ordinary people. I believe parents should be heard, teachers should be respected, public servants should be held accountable, and neighbors should not be treated as enemies just because they disagree. I also believe faith, service, and civic responsibility call us to care about people beyond our own household, our own party, or our own comfort zone.

What has changed most dramatically since I first registered to vote is not simply my personal politics. It is the political environment around us. Since 2010, much of what is now called “conservative” politics has moved away from the traditional, institution-minded Republicanism associated with the Nixon, Reagan, and Bush eras. I do not romanticize that history, and I do not pretend those leaders or their policies were beyond criticism. But there was once a more recognizable Republican tradition that at least claimed to value stable institutions, public service, civic duty, national leadership, local responsibility, and respect for the peaceful transfer of power.

That is a very different tradition from the Trump and Abbott-era Republican politics that now dominates so much of Texas. Today’s Republican brand has increasingly been shaped by grievance, culture-war messaging, loyalty tests, hostility toward public institutions, and a willingness to treat neighbors as threats rather than fellow citizens. Nationally, Pew has found that congressional Republicans have moved much further right over recent decades while Democrats have moved somewhat left, and Brookings has similarly summarized the modern polarization trend as one in which Republican elected officials moved more to the right than Democratic officials moved to the left. 

That shift is visible in Texas, too. The modern Texas Republican Party is not simply offering a cautious, limited-government conservatism. Its own 2024 platform and priorities reflect a party organized around border escalation, election restrictions, attacks on public education, opposition to LGBTQ Texans, and an increasingly combative view of government itself. That is not the kind of politics I believe builds strong neighborhoods, good schools, or healthy local government.

That is why I sometimes use the phrase “what is now called conservative.” I do not believe responsible conservatism requires hostility toward public schools, suspicion of every public institution, cruelty toward vulnerable people, or treating every local issue as another front in a national culture war. A person can believe in fiscal discipline without attacking the people who rely on public services. A person can value tradition without trying to exclude neighbors who live, worship, love, or vote differently. A person can support parental involvement without undermining teachers. A person can believe in public safety without using fear as a political strategy.

I am a Texas Democrat because, in this moment, that is where I see the clearest path toward practical, people-centered government. I want politics that protects public education, respects working families, defends voting rights, supports local communities, and treats diversity as part of our strength rather than a threat. I do not pretend the Democratic Party is perfect, and I do not believe every good idea comes from one party. But I do believe democracy works best when people are honest about their values, serious about governing, and willing to build coalitions instead of just score points.

For me, serving as Democratic Precinct Chair for Precinct 813 is an extension of the same community work I have tried to do for years. I believe people are more likely to participate when they feel informed, respected, and personally invited into the process. My goal is to help neighbors understand their choices, connect with one another, and see local politics as something they have a real voice in shaping. That includes Democrats, independents, and traditional, institution-minded Republicans who feel pushed aside by Trump and Abbott-era politics. My politics are rooted in service, shaped by experience, and guided by the belief that strong communities are built when people feel welcomed, heard, and empowered.