For the second time in a row, the Texas Democrat Convention ended not with a bang but a whimper as attendees fled the convention before business was complete.
The lightly attended gathering, which was held in El Paso from Thursday through Saturday, was supposed to be an opportunity for Democrats from across the state to band together and craft their platform ahead of the November election.
However, on Saturday afternoon as the number of delegates dwindled, Democrat Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa ruled that there was no longer a quorum to conduct business.
Delegates moved to appeal the ruling of the chair (that there was no longer a quorum). And while that vote overwhelmingly passed, it did so without a quorum.
The convention was quickly adjourned amid boos and hisses. One disgruntled Democrat was heard shouting, “This is why we lose!” on the convention’s live stream online, before the audio was muted and replaced by upbeat music.
In a strange turn of events, it appeared that Democrat Party leadership was actually the force trying to shut the convention down early ahead of a debate on a new rule proposal that would add a “no preference” option to the presidential primary ballot.
Earlier in the day, attendees were subjected to a speech by female drag queen (a woman dressed as a man dressed as a woman) Brigette Bandit, who has a history of explicit behavior online.
Donning drag regalia, Bandit lectured attendees on the virtue of providing gender mutilative procedures and drugs to children as well as the importance of drag queen story hour.
“I am a product of the Texas public school system. I have worked with children for over a decade and I am now a full time drag queen in Austin, Texas,” Bandit proudly proclaimed to applause.
Texas Republicans took the opportunity to blast the other side.
“Stay the hell away from our kids,” a post on the Texas GOP X account stated.
Gov. Greg Abbott also shared footage of the drag queen’s speech.
Quote from a Democrat operative at the State Democrat Convention:
“Our tagline as Democrats should be: ‘Join us. We’re the normal people party.’”
Now this. https://t.co/SQo5a07y1s
— Greg Abbott (@GregAbbott_TX) June 8, 2024
This isn’t the first time the Texas Democrats have left their convention before business was complete.
In 2022, the party’s convention in Dallas ended abruptly due to lack of a quorum before they could approve a party platform.
