Leader of DNC to speak in Austin

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Democratic National Committee will speak at an annual fundraising dinner held by the state party in Austin next month — the latest sign of national Democrats taking Texas more seriously as 2020 approaches.

DNC Chairman Tom Perez, who served as Secretary of Labor in the Obama administration, will address the annual Texas Democrats Johnson-Jordan Dinner on Oct. 5, the Texas Democratic Party announced on Monday. It’s the first time a DNC chair has attended the dinner.

His visit to Austin comes as national Democrats have invested more in the state. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, for instance, has stationed senior staff in Austin and scattered operatives in a half-dozen GOP-held districts they hope to flip in 2020.

“With unprecedented investment from national partners like the Democratic National Committee, this is our moment,” Texas Democratic Party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement. “Our movement is growing from the ground up, block by block, and neighborhood by neighborhood. We are changing this state and country so everyone has a fair shot to get ahead.”

The state party earlier this month laid out an aggressive plan to win Texas — which it has taken to calling the biggest battleground in the country — ratcheting up an already expensive arms race with the Republican Party to woo new voters and convince those already registered to turn up at the polls next year.