Kendall Scudder's new faux pas with Texas Democrats

The Trib reports on how he's moving state party headquarters from Austin to Dallas, and pissing off party rank and file staffers who are resigning, and possibly rank and file leadership mad they weren't consulted.

Every member of the party’s top staff, including the executive director, chief of staff and two communications staffers, is departing after Scudder required them to agree to move to Dallas by November — or else be laid off. A fifth top staffer has already quit, and more departures among the seven other staffers are expected.

The Trib details the action and leadership vote:

The State Democratic Executive Committee, the party’s governing board, voted on Sept. 13 to close the party’s Austin headquarters and move the party’s central hub to Dallas, while maintaining an office in Austin and opening new outposts in Amarillo, Eagle Pass and Houston.

Then Scudder's BS.

“We are building a grassroots army of working-class Texans in every corner of this state, ceding no territory and standing firm in our convictions to do things differently to win elections,” Scudder said in a news release announcing the new offices.

Note for Kendall and party both. You could have kept HQ in Austin (the state capital) and opened an extension office in Dallas, along with the ones in Eagle Pass and Houston.  

I name both Scudder and state Dem leaders, but the ex comm wouldn't have voted for this without a push or four from Scudder. Confirmed:

Scudder pushed forward with the relocation even after the party’s executive director and chief of staff warned him that the move would result in a cascade of staff departures, said one person familiar with the discussions, who was granted anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly about the deliberations.

There you are, a mini-me tyrant. 

Per the state capital angle, this:

Members of the Democratic National Committee and Democrat-aligned political groups in Texas also expressed reservations about the move to Scudder, according to five people familiar with the discussions. They feared that relocating to Dallas would wipe out staff infrastructure, and that the resulting upheaval would fray national Democratic sentiment toward the state party going into the 2026 elections. ... 

Upon hearing of the move, DNC Chair Ken Martin expressed concern about the plan and what it would mean for staff, according to a Texas DNC member who spoke to Martin about the matter two weeks ago. That member also spoke with DNC Vice Chair Shasti Conrad and Executive Director Roger Lau, who similarly expressed concern and confusion.

Backs up my note above. 

And, given Democrats are supposed to be the party of unions, this:

Four minutes before the SDEC’s Sept. 13 meeting, a representative from the party employees’ union proposed a set of worker protections related to the move, including granting staff members the right to refuse to relocate without being fired. 

The SDEC is not typically involved in labor negotiations and did not take up the measures. But Scudder was angry and felt ambushed by the proposals, according to three people who were in the room. In a Sept. 16 letter sent through a lawyer, Scudder and other management-level representatives called the union’s move a “serious breach of its duty to bargain in good faith,” and demanded the union retract its proposals.

Don't look good. 

Will all this lead the Observer to stop fellating him, as I called them out for two weeks ago? Probably not.

For me, knowing his background, it's not a real surprise. 

"Interesting" that Kuff has nothing. 

I predict Texas Democrats will regret making him their choice to replace Gilberto Hinojosa, but it will take a while to hit that point.