In Texas stops, Douglas Emhoff raises campaign cash, criticizes GOP at Democratic rally

SAN ANTONIO — Second gentleman Douglas Emhoff urged an energetic crowd of supporters Monday to turn their enthusiasm into action to elect Democrats up and down the Texas ballot.
“That’s all we have,” said Emhoff, husband of Vice President Kamala Harris. “Forty-three days to save our country.”
Headlining the Texas Democratic Party’s freedom to vote rally inside a packed gymnasium at San Antonio College, Emhoff criticized Texas and other GOP-run states, saying they have erected barriers to voting in response to false claims about fraud in the 2020 presidential election.
Republican officials in Texas are also fomenting distrust in the upcoming election, he said.
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“We love our system, and it all starts with voting — voting, and accepting it when you lose,” Emhoff said. “Our campaign is ready. We’re ready to defend your right to vote, and we’re ready to protect the win once we win. We have an army of lawyers and an army of people ready to defend this election because we know what they’re trying to do, and we’re not going to let them do it.”
Emhoff’s speech was billed as an address about voting rights, but it doubled as a campaign speech promoting Harris’ policies and contrasting her candidacy against Republican Donald Trump and Project 2025, a list of conservative policy goals created by Republicans with ties to Trump.
Republicans’ approach to the November election is “making me mad,” Emhoff said. “You should all be mad about this. So we’ve got to stay mad. When I was a courtroom lawyer, when I was an athlete, that was my motto: stay mad. It helped me turn that into action and motivation, and it works for elections, too,” he said.
“There’s an election coming up right here in Texas,” he said. “You have the power to change all that. You can change it here in Texas, and you can change it around the country. Make your voices heard up and down the ballot. Get more Democrats in office here in Texas. Elect a new United States senator and get Kamala Harris in the White House.”
After the rally, Emhoff attended the first of three Texas fundraisers. At Monday’s reception, hosted by Frank and Cecilia Herrera, he delivered remarks after an introduction from San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg.
The fundraiser collected more than $1 million, making it Emhoff’s largest this cycle, Nirenberg said.
Texas is a source of campaign cash for Republicans as well.
U.S. Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, Trump’s running mate, attended a fundraiser in Austin on Sunday. Vance was in North Carolina for a campaign stop Monday and will appear at three more fundraisers in Dallas and Fort Worth on Tuesday.
At the San Antonio rally, other speakers argued Texas is the nation’s largest battleground state, despite the fact a Democratic candidate hasn’t won a statewide election in three decades.
“Texas is a hair’s breadth from flipping blue so we can send people like Ken Paxton and Ted Cruz packing,” said U.S. Rep. Greg Casar of Austin, referring to the state’s attorney general and junior U.S. senator. “Texas is in play, and if you need proof of that, we’ve got second gentleman Doug Emhoff here because Texas is in play this election.”
Gilberto Hinojosa, chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, came bearing “good news,” he told the rally.
“The presidential campaign is just beginning in Texas, and our vice president is only 5 points down,” he said. “This is the closest that we’ve ever come in any presidential election in the last 50 years. And in the U.S. Senate race, Colin Allred is only 2 points down. This is why Ken Paxton is freaking out and going after our Democrats. Because he knows that they’re in trouble.”
Texas Democrats and Latino leaders have accused Paxton of voter intimidation and suppression after he sent agents to raid the homes of several people affiliated with the Latino civil rights organization LULAC, including a Democratic candidate for the Texas House and a top aide to a Democratic state representative.
Paxton obtained search warrants in August stemming from an investigation into allegations of election fraud and vote harvesting. Representatives of the League of United Latin American Citizens have said its members are innocent of any wrongdoing.
Paxton has frequently sounded the alarm on possible election fraud, challenging efforts by Democratic leaders in some counties to mass mail voter registration forms to unregistered voters, launching an email tip line to report potential fraud and strongly hinting third-party groups have sought to register ineligible voters outside of driver’s license offices.
“Do not let Ken Paxton intimidate you,” Hinojosa said. “Do not let him stop you. Do not hesitate to go out there and work as hard as you can.”
Texas Democrats rallied over voting rights shortly after Paxton announced an update to his lawsuit against Bexar and Travis counties’ voter registration programs.
Paxton sued Bexar County, which includes San Antonio, earlier this month to block a plan to mail voter registration forms to unregistered voters.
A district court denied Paxton’s request to block the mailings, but Paxton appealed.