Born on a Marine Corps Base in California, Dana Waller Hodges jokingly says she was “born into the Corps.” But, if one thing is true, it is that she was born with a duty to serve.

Her father’s military service required the Wallers to move around for Dana’s first few years. She lived in San Diego, Kansas City, and Oahu before her parents, native Texans, decided to settle down in the east Texas town of Huntington.

Hodges says she has always been vocal about politics, but she credits her full-time involvement to Wendy Davis.

When Hodges’ kids were teens she set up a twitter account to keep an eye on them. She considered herself fully educated on politics, she says, because she kept up with news headlines and ongoing discussions. But while scrolling through her twitter feed she came across a political hashtag she wasn’t familiar with: #LetWendySpeak.

“I wondered who Wendy was and why [they] wanted her to speak so badly,” said Hodges. “After googling the hashtag, I was shocked to learn Wendy Davis was filibustering a pro-life bill (HB2) in Austin.”

Hodges initial reaction to the backlash was one of disbelief. “How could something like that be happening in TEXAS?,” she asked herself. “I thought we were a ‘conservative’ state? I guess I was wrong!”

From that moment on, she was determined to better educate herself on the issues and do whatever she could to ensure that the agenda pushed by Davis and her allies would be stopped. She immediately turned to prayer to see how God wanted her to be involved.

“Soon after, one of my twitter followers reached out to me and told me that I needed to be a part of her organization. It turned out she was the State Director of Concerned Women for America of Montana,” Hodges says, “And here I am, three and a half years later, leading CWA of Texas.”

CWA of Texas is a group dedicated to educating and activating Texans to stand for Biblical principles in public policy. Hodges says the group’s core issues are, “sanctity of life, defense of family, education, religious liberty, national sovereignty, sexual exploitation and support for Israel.” Those issues uniquely position them to work with a broad coalition of conservative organizations to advance their cause.

Hodges’s involvement stems from the desire to see the nation recommit to the principles it was founded on through an engaged and informed citizenry. “This nation was started because men and women had a deep yearning to be free, including to worship freely,” she said. “My ultimate goal is to see an engaged citizenry because I sounded the alarm to them in such a way that they saw the importance of being involved.”

Emily Cook, General Counsel of Texas Right to Life said, “Dana can always be counted on to boldly share the truth, advancing the causes of life and liberty, every step of the way. Not to mention doing so with a bit of sass and style!”

Hodges is not only leading the charge for Concerned Women for America of Texas, but she is also an active precinct chair for the Orange County Republican Party, a Commissioner on the Orange County Emergency Services District Board, and the Worldview and Social Issues Ministry Director at her church.

When not volunteering to advance the cause (which is seldom these days), she loves spending time with her children—Hunter and Hanna. An avid runner, she said she hopes to run a marathon someday. She also likes to spend time at the gun range with her husband of 23 years, Ben, shooting her purple .380 ACP Sig Sauer P238, complete with matching purple grips.

It’s safe to say that Hodges has accepted the challenge to serve in every aspect of her life, and the grassroots movement in Texas is better off because of her activism.

Charles Blain

Charles Blain is the president of Urban Reform and Urban Reform Institute. A native of New Jersey, he is based in Houston and writes on municipal finance and other urban issues.

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