Dear Texas | Letter from the Vice Chair
To Forwardists of Texas
The Forward Party of Texas stands today upon the shoulders of every person who showed up in those early years. Those who hit the pavement under the Texas sun carrying hope in their hands, who worked to gather the scattered into common cause, and worked to find creative ways to spread the message. I have spoken with only a small fraction of you, yet the story rings familiar: that Forward's kickoff was deemed successful, yet all seemed to fizzle out in its wake.
But let me tell you what I witness from where I stand now: There was no fizzle. There was birth, the slow and steady kind that one doesn't see until it breaks soil into the light. That passion, that effort, became both seed and soil scattered across our state. From where I stand, I can now see the first harvest breaking ground.
Every argument, every burnout, every person who had to step away after giving more than any person should be asked to give. All of this laid the foundation I was able to walk into. On my first day, I could see not only the vision but every essential piece needed to build something that would endure. Many of you do not know how deeply we appreciate your work, but I am here to make it clear: your contributions built the bedrock upon which Texas Forward has grown into the movement it is today. For every Texan who has been left behind, for everyone who cannot fit into that narrow axis they call choice, we all stand taller because of your early efforts. Thank you.
To Texans
Forward's central organizing principle is all are welcome. Not merely in spirit, but through carefully crafted infrastructure, systems, and culture built with the same design intelligence that has transformed how we live. True inclusion demands precision and intentionality, it cannot exist by accident. In part, this design requires wielding truth in an expert way.
We are committed to truth. Truth that embraces data and art, science and experience. Truth must be our north star, and everything we build through Forward must remain anchored to this commitment. This is not the hollow rhetoric of compromise or bipartisanship that has been worn thin by those who wield it without meaning. This is recognition that lasting change requires holding multiple truths at once. Everyone has a place in Forward because we are all threads in the same fabric - our society. To represent truth faithfully, we must honor both what works and what makes us whole.
We reject entirely the narrow political axis that the duopoly has forced upon us. No matter how well intentioned any single line of division might be, it cannot capture the full breadth of human needs, values, and solutions. When you compress complex, living communities into two opposing camps, you create false choices that abandon most people to silence.
Our strategy breaks this duopoly at its foundation. Not by adding just another voice to their limited show, but by creating space for the kind of representation that actually mirrors how people live and what they truly need.
The GOP here in Texas has systematically built walls around themselves through ballot access laws designed to prevent any new parties from forming, filing fees that punish anyone who isn't wealthy, systems rigged to crush minority parties, gerrymandering that reduces Texans' influence, and restrictions that take away people's fundamental right to vote. While pretending to govern, they’ve left behind the majority and our needs. Taxation without representation doesn’t have a good track record.
Right now, Forward Texas pursues a singular strategic mission. We will organize to tear down the barriers that the GOP has erected around our State government. We will break open the home they have locked against us, so that all may enter into their birthright - to be governed by the people, for the people. There should never have been walls built around our democracy, for no barrier can be allowed to stand against the will of a free people.
Forward Texas is building the culture, networks, and infrastructure needed to heal the broken system of governance that brought us to this moment. We organize people, ideas, and policies while holding fast to our commitment to truth, with all the nuance, diversity, and difficult but necessary work that truth demands.
Our work serves one immediate purpose. Tearing down the barriers that keep everyday Texans locked out of their own government. Once those barriers fall, opportunity opens for all. Our mission does not end there, though. We must remain vigilant guardians, ensuring that no new walls can be erected, that this space of true representation stays open for every Texan who seeks their voice in governance. Forward will build not only to solve the current problem, but to ensure that democracy is strengthened forever.
We are here to reclaim what has been taken from us. A government that truly serves its people.
With love,
Cheyenne McCoy
Vice Chair, Texas Forward Party
