𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗬 𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗜𝗥 𝗝𝗔𝗥𝗘𝗗 𝗛𝗢𝗖𝗞𝗘𝗠𝗔 𝗔𝗗𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗘𝗠𝗢𝗖𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗖 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧𝗬 𝗜𝗡 𝗖𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗥𝗢𝗡 𝗖𝗢𝗨𝗡𝗧𝗬

 From the editor:  We just received the message published below from Cameron County Democratic Chair Jared Hockema.

Mr. Hockema shares his observations about the current mindset, goals and methods of the local party.

Jared Hockema

Mr. Barton,

I wanted to reach out to you regarding some of your recent posts.

I am not involved in any way in streaming any meetings of DSCC or any club. I believe you are confusing my response to concerns you had about the streaming of a debate that that group held. I responded based on information that had been annoucned at the meeting, not because I was operating the livestream. I also do not regularly attend DSCC meetings (I think I have gone twice in the past year).

Secondly, and more imporantly, DSCC and NCCD, along with our women's groups, Cameron County Young Democrats, etc, do not represent a division in the party. The Democratic Party is a coalition, and these clubs reflect our strength. I would like to see more clubs established, so that we provide as many possible opportunities for people to participate in the party as possible. These clubs have also led to increased recruitment of volunteers, and that was reflected in the 97 volunteer events that CCDP held during the past election. I have shared with the leadership of these clubs my feeling that they should be judicious in making endorsements of candidates. There is sometimes a place for doing so, and in fact I have also endorsed non-partisan candidates when appropriate (Tino Villarreal, Alejandro Garcia-Moreno and Phil Cowen, for example, when they were running against people who openly stated they were Republicans).

NCCD does not endorse candidates, but again, there is a place for that in some situations. In many parts of the state, there are multiple neighborhood and interst group based Democratic clubs and it is not uncommon for candidates to seek their endorsement. I think that's a good thing because it connects candidates with the grassroots of the party and helps create accountability. I would also note that in Cameron County we have multiple Republican Clubs, and Republicans have plainly also recrutied and helped candidates for non-partisan races. It's ridiculosu to suggest that Democrats would not do the same.

Finally, I would like to say that my role as the county chair is not to control the activities of any person, candidate or group, but to faciliate their role in the party and to try to provide guidance. When there are concerns, I address them directly with the individuals involved.

Overall, I am proud of the work that our many dedidated volunteers perform. Thanks to them we knocked on a record number of doors this past cycle (onver 97,000 between paid and volunteer), send 8,000 postcars, made over 20,000 voter calls, etc. While we did not escape the national trends of the election, we were able elect all of our countywide candidate, re-elect our constable in San Benito and our Commissioner in Brownsville and re-elect our Congressman. I know that these volunteers will be ready for 2026!

In the meantime, I invite anyone who would like to participate to be involved. We will be resuming our volunteer activies in the New Year, focused on advocating for issues that affect our resident's daily lives

Jared Hockema

Cameron County Democratic Chair