Delia’s Corner: Uniquely Qualified
Delia’s Corner is an in-depth look at issues that concern Texas Democrats. In this installment Delia talks about her career work as an attorney and how her interactions with a diverse group of clients led to the knowledge to lead the Denton County Democratic Party. Her One Team vision inspired volunteerism, tripled voter outreach and inspired candidates to the ballot in races that had been won by unopposed Republicans for decades.
This post has been lightly edited for clarity.
Q: We’ve talked about the diversity of your clients and how you are able to serve a wide variety of people. One of the cruxes of your campaign has been that you truly believe that there are more things that unite us than divide us and that we have a lot of the same concerns. How does working with your clients reinforce that thought for you?
A: It sort of adds to who I’ve always been: very open. I come from El Paso, which is a military town, so I am comfortable with a diverse group of people, [and] a diverse group of economic issues. The neighborhood I chose to move into is racially and economically diverse and I think that it’s important as we look at Texas Democrats and what we need to do to begin to win elections and to move forward, that [we] embrace our commonalities. That’s how we increase our voting base: kitchen table issues.
I think if we’ve learned anything from the last elections in Texas and nationwide, it is kitchen table issues that inspire people to the polls. We learned that they are not concerned with babies in cages. They weren’t concerned with women dying, bleeding out in hospitals [and] bathrooms because they were not getting support. They’re not concerned with people like George Floyd being choked out on national TV. They have empathy, but I think if we haven’t learned by now what motivates people are the kitchen table issues that help us all achieve the American Dream – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – which is fueled by our economic prosperity, then we’re missing the point.
I believe that we have to start reaching the commonalities of our voters – of our electorate – and inspiring them to the polls so that they feel that they’re voting for people who will help them work to achieve success. Most people, I believe, want to be able to work and show that their work has made a difference in their lives. When the economy can’t do that – and the economy isn’t doing that – it makes it difficult for them to be inspired by different issues that don’t relate to that. I believe that I’ve spent my entire life working for a diverse group of people and a diverse group of issues and it’s time that the Texas Democratic Party began to message from an inclusive standpoint that includes most Americans in these issues.
Q: So, clearly your work as an attorney has made a huge impact in the community, but just a few years ago you were elected to be the chair of the Denton County Democratic Party. Tell me a little bit about what the party looked like before you took over.
A: The party [probably looked like] what every Democratic Party looks like: a little bit of chaos. When I took over, the party was imploding. We were fighting each other. There were the young fighting the older. There was the left fighting the [progressives], fighting the middle, fighting the centrists, and when I stepped in, it wasn’t a cakewalk for myself. There were plenty of those who didn’t know my perspective and challenged me – probably unfairly – but the reality is, I stayed in. I showed them that my only goal is to get Democrats elected; and we were able to create a One Team attitude in Denton County.
My first objective as chair of the Denton County Democratic Party was to turn our organization and operate it like a business. That’s how I approach everything and that’s how we need to approach winning elections: as a business [and] not from an emotional perspective. That means that we developed the structure to make our party more successful. We found people who had skill sets; we empowered them to do the things they needed to do, and in the end, all of the people who were suspicious or concerned have all gotten on board. We’re One Team in Denton County and that’s what led us to have the successes we’ve had.