We don't endorse Republicans!

We can't have change unless we vote for change

Summer 2025

That summer is when things really heated up between the Hidalgo County Democratic Party and our Mothers for Democracy chapter in the RGV. There was a lot of drama. Even though some of our M4D-RGV members were precinct chairs, the party began associating those roles directly with our organization.

That led to a flood of calls, emails, and letters. Eventually, things quieted down… until the last two weeks.

That’s when I started getting calls again. People were saying the chapter seemed more focused on fighting with HCDP than doing the actual mission work of building community. All I could do was listen and apologize.

During primary season, I’ll be honest. I was on Team Eric Holguin. I adored him. The chapter volunteered for his campaign and we were excited. I was genuinely happy for him.

Toward the end of summer, Julio Salinas announced his campaign and called to let me know. I wished him luck and told him about our RISE Summit. That was it.

A few months later, he called asking for a donation. I said no, but wished him luck. A few weeks after that, he called just to say hi and share that his campaign was doing well. I assumed Eric was ahead and told him, “Please don’t play dirty. We’re fighting Republicans, not Democrats.”

Then I saw a video last fall where Julio pointed out that Seby Hadad had voted for Trump and likely Abbott multiple times. He had been a Republican until the 2024 primary. Then another video surfaced of Seby at a Tea Party meeting, where he discussed his campaign. WTAF.

I called Julio and said, “You and Eric need to focus on beating Seby. We need young progressive voices in the RGV.”

Again, I thought Eric was ahead. Until I spoke to a journalist who said, “Have you seen how much Julio has raised? It’s a lot.”

That’s when it clicked. Julio was doing the work. He was building a real campaign and working nonstop.

We made Eric a Trading Card and were so excited to send it. I even remember saying a prayer over the card before I sent it in the mail. (Now I never share that I do that, but I am a person of faith. His brother had just died, and I literally said a prayer for God to watch over him before I put the cards in the mail.)

I was still surprised when Julio won the primary. I truly thought Eric would win. I was really sad that Eric lost. I brought tears to my eyes. I really liked him.

Right before leaving for spring break, I sent the board a list of candidates to consider for endorsements in the runoffs and general.

On March 4, I texted Stacy Solis:
“We are going to endorse Julio. Better than Seby.”

She responded:
“I personally will not endorse Julio. I do not necessarily agree he is better than Seby.”

She went on to say she believed Seby had the best chance of beating the Republican. She acknowledged his Republican voting history but described him as moderate, not MAGA. She also said Julio had lost her support due to what she viewed as his lack of character.

I responded that Mothers would still be endorsing Julio. I had worked with him at the Capitol, and I was making a recommendation to the board. There are over 1,600 members in the RGV Chapter and most believe in progressive change. Most like Julio, otherwise some wouldn’t have voted for him.

Mothers couldn’t endorse someone who had consistently voted Republican.

Stacy’s issue with Julio stemmed from a letter she believed slandered her and Melissa. She saw him as two-faced.

And once again, that letter came back up.

It had become impossible to separate leadership tensions from the relationship with HCDP. It was affecting everything. I was getting comments from candidates. I was calling statewide candidates, asking them to ignore the noise and continue engaging with the chapter.

It was a mess. But I stood by the chapter.

I asked Julio about the letter and he said he never signed it and that someone at the HCDP put his name on it but he didn’t want to get involved in the Stacy and HCDP issues because he was focused on voters.

I didn’t reach out to Eric right away after his loss. His brother had just passed, he lost his race, and it felt like too much. I wanted to give him time.

March 8th I reached out. I would normally not share this but Eric’s attacks on me today were a new low! See below and look at how I was being supportive and a good listener.

March 30 I returned from spring break, and on March 30 the board approved endorsements.

The week of April 9, I interviewed Julio for a webinar and worked on his trading card.

On April 20, I posted Julio’s endorsement. It didn’t get much traction.

On April 21, I posted Seby’s voting record showing he voted with Republicans. That’s when the comments picked up.

At 11:47 PM, I received an text from Eric.

I didn’t respond. I explained why in an earlier post, but honestly, starting a conversation with “I’m disappointed in you” is not exactly an invitation to talk. It does the opposite.

I slept on it. I thought Eric is hurt and certainly he won’t do anything.

April 22

I spent the entire day finishing updates for the Democratic Directory. I had already been working on it for three straight days and was determined to finish.

That night, I kept thinking: why do men feel entitled to speak to women in leadership as if we owe them explanations? We don’t need permission. We don’t need to run decisions by them.

Our chapters don’t make endorsements. Our PAC board does, based on a review process. We endorse electeds who earn A’s on our report card and progressive candidates.

There were a lot of attacks online that day!

I went for a two-mile walk. A friend called, and we talked through everything: the calls, the endorsements, the tension. I said I just wanted to put the group on pause so we could regroup. It was stressing me out and I had other deadlines looming.

I went to bed concerned about online attacks from Denisse (Seby’s campaign Mgr), Erik, and comments from Stacy.

April 23

That morning, I got a call from two members who were shocked at how Stacy was treating me in the group and allowing others to pile on. They also asked if I had seen Eric’s post. I hadn’t.

They told me Stacy was planning a breakaway group and that I needed to act quickly.

I hadn’t even gotten out of bed yet. I just said, "Okay.”

I removed Stacy as admin and cleaned up some comments. She called me, and I asked if we could just take a break. I told her I was getting a lot of calls and needed time to think. I paused the group.

Then everything blew up. But I really just wanted time to think. No one makes good decisions when there is so much noise.

Stacy and a few others sent me a letter and left the group. Meanwhile, I was still trying to understand why so many people were suddenly calling me and what was really happening.

At the same time, Eric was upset that his post had been removed by a moderator who stepped in to help, this all happened between candidate webinars.

The past few days, I stayed quiet. I went on walks, cleaned my house, tried to reset.

Here’s what I know:

1. Our PAC does not answer to candidates about endorsements. And the way Eric spoke to me was unacceptable.

2. I gave him the benefit of the doubt. I even told a team member I assumed he was hurting from the loss, and I would let it go. But the expectation that I answer him? That was something else.

3. Whatever is happening between HCDP and Mothers has gotten out of control. The volume of calls alone made that clear. I even questioned whether bad actors were stirring things up. I still don’t fully know.

Then Eric released a video this afternoon, and it was hurtful considering how much I liked him. I thought he would be Supportive of choosing another young progressive Democrat. If it were the other way around, I know Julio would have supported him. I wish Eric had taken some accountability for not making the runoff, instead of blaming it on other things. And like I said, with me, Julio only said nice things about Eric. Both called each other nice. So I don’t understand the change of thought.

Eric talked about everything he did for Mothers. And yes, we were grateful. But M4D gave Eric an audience, too.

Our chapter leader at the time, Fabiola, was doing incredible work. Sometimes she and M4D weren’t even included in things Eric did, despite the groundwork already being there.

He didn’t build the group. He stepped into something that was already moving.

If you know Fabiola, you know.

At the end of the day, I’ll still give Eric the benefit of the doubt. He’s been through a lot.

And I am sorry if endorsing Julio hurt him.

But we cannot, in good conscience, endorse someone who has consistently voted Republican and we had high hopes that Eric would have won his election because I believe in him. And like I said, I think Eric is destined for wonderful things. We have to come together and continue fighting for progressive change.

And I am especially sorry about how everything rolled out in the chapter. The chapter is not folding, but we need leadership that can separate itself from the HCDP and the tension there. We have Democrats to elect.

We can’t have a change in the RGV unless the voters vote for change. And that’s why we are endorsing Julio Salinas, a young progressive who knows how things work at the Capitol. He’s a really nice person who would represent the RVG well. He would break quorum and not go along to get along.

Nancy Thompson