Who Are the Texas Young Republicans and What Do We Do?
Learn who the Texas Young Republicans are, our history, and how our local clubs help Republicans ages 18 to 40 get involved and win elections.
We are the Texas Federation of Young Republicans. Our job is straightforward: help Republicans ages 18 to 40 gain the knowledge, experience, and connections to win elections.
We have been doing that work for a long time. Young Republican clubs date to 1856. At Herbert Hoover’s request, the national federation organized in 1931 and chose West Point graduate George H. Olmsted as its first chairman.
The early Texas history is harder to piece together. We know a strong statewide organization existed by 1952. It nearly went dormant after that election, then reorganized in 1956. By 1957, clubs were doing serious campaign work.
In 1960, our national committeeman managed John Tower’s Senate campaign. Our state treasurer served as assistant campaign manager. Tower lost that race, but the people who worked on it stayed involved.
That mattered. The campaign brought young Republicans into politics, helped elect a Young Republican to the Legislature, and laid the groundwork for Tower’s victory in the 1961 special election for Lyndon Johnson’s old Senate seat.
The clubs kept growing. Membership more than doubled between 1963 and 1965. First vice chair Neil Calnan later estimated that membership reached 14,000 in 1967. Democrats still controlled Texas, but Young Republicans were helping Tower and George H. W. Bush build a party that could compete and eventually win.
Our structure still reflects that history. Local members build clubs around the needs of their communities. They write a constitution, recruit members, and decide where they can make a difference.
The federation helps them work together. At the state convention, delegates elect officers and adopt the priorities and resolutions that guide our work. Throughout the year, the federation coordinates statewide block-walking deployments and works with clubs on campaign strategy and training.
The clubs carry that work home. Members knock doors and make phone calls. They learn how campaigns run, get involved in their county parties, and sometimes run for office themselves. Today, we have more than two dozen chapters and more than 1,800 members.
The reason to join is much the same as it was when Republicans struggled to win in Texas. Campaigns need people who know what they are doing. County parties need members willing to take responsibility. And someone has to help the person who wants to get involved but does not know where to start.
Winning an election does not finish that work. Neither does losing one. We have to keep bringing people in and giving them the chance to learn by doing.
That is why we exist.
If you are 18 to 40, find the club in your county. If there is not one, start one.