How Texas Democrats plans to pull off an all-virtual convention.

[Gothmog]

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The Texas Democratic Party has moved to take its massive June convention to the virtual realm, giving party officials a chance to put a significant mark on the way conventions are conducted in the future. The change comes as the coronavirus pandemic upended the political world, ending traditional campaign rallies, causing primaries to be conducted entirely by mail, and even putting the fate of the national convention into question.

"We pride ourselves for having the largest convention in the country," said Texas Democratic Party deputy executive director Cliff Walker. "It's the biggest gathering of Democrats outside of the DNC (Democratic National Convention). But now that we're having to make some adjustments, I think it really does give us some opportunities."

As the coronavirus spread nationally in March, party leaders realized they may not be able to hold their customary convention, with thousands of Texas packed into a San Antonio convention center in early June, and they started looking at ways to reinvent the event for 2020 and beyond. The party announced the decision to transform its in-person convention into a virtual one in March, but is sharing details of how it will execute the plan for the first time.

"We firmly believe that this is the future of what conventions can look like," said Texas Democratic Party Convention director Hannah Roe Beck. "There's a big opportunity for innovation here. I think that a lot of the things that you'll see us doing this year are things that we're going to want to carry over."

[Gothmog]

1. Great video on Texas state Democratic convention

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