Champion for Racial Justice & Civil Rights, Merritt Will Bring Transformational Change to Black & Latino Communities  

Today, Texas Organizing Project (TOP) PAC is proud to announce the endorsement of Lee Merritt for Attorney General. Merritt, “The People’s Lawyer,” has centered his career around being a social justice torch-bearer, carrying on the legacy of the Civil Rights movement, both inside and outside the courtroom. He’s dedicated his career to fighting for justice on behalf of Black Americans killed by police, including Atatiana Jefferson, Botham Jean, Jordan Edwards, and George Floyd, as well as victims of corruption, corporate discrimination, and hate crimes. If elected, Merritt would bring this commitment to racial justice and civil rights to the office of the attorney general.

Far-right Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton has proven himself unfit for leadership time and time again. During his tenure, Paxton has abused the power of his office, using his role to service wealthy donors and a radical right-wing agenda. A Trump acolyte, who participated in the January 6th insurrection, Paxton has been under indictment for securities fraud for the last six years. Paxton has failed Texas. We believe with the right leader at the helm, the attorney general’s office could be a source of real meaningful change, particularly for communities of color who for so long have been failed by our state’s justice system. 

“This race represents a historic opportunity to elect a person from our social justice movement and the first statewide progressive Black candidate in Texas,” said Brianna Brown, TOP Co-Executive Director. “Electing Lee Merrit would lead to transformational change, particularly for Black and Latino communities. Texas needs a massive overhaul of its justice system and of the attorney general’s office, which has been corrupted by the right-wing for decades.”

“Last cycle, TOP PAC engaged 1.4 million infrequent and new voters of color. We also launched the only progressive door knocking canvass operation in the state. Our program turned out over 544,000 unlikely voters of color through early vote,” said Eric Mata, TOP President of the Board of Directors. “We intend to bring this same energy and do even greater amounts of outreach for the upcoming 2022 cycle at the statewide level. We’re fired up and ready to elect Lee Merritt the next attorney general of Texas.”

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Texas Organizing Project PAC runs the largest, independent Get-out-the-Vote political field programs in Texas, focusing on expanding the electorate of color, with an emphasis on turning out Black and Latino voters. To date, TOP PAC has mobilized hundreds of thousands of voters across the state with the aim of building a reflective democracy–one that looks like us and shares our values.

This press release was sent out December 17, 2021.

The following statement is from Michelle Tremillo, Co-Executive Director of the Texas Organizing Project (TOP), in response to the U.S. Department of Justice today announcing the filing of a lawsuit against the State of Texas over redistricting maps approved by the state legislature earlier this year:

“We thank the U.S. Department of Justice for suing against Texas Republicans’ discriminatory redistricting efforts that aim to shut Black, Latino, and Asian voters out of the political process for years to come.

“Governor Abbott and the Texas GOP purposely drew redistricting maps this past special session that weakened the voting power of our state’s growing communities of color, and they did so to cling to statewide political control. This already shameless partisan power grab is even more egregious when you factor in that 95% of the growth in Texas over the past decade has come from people of color.

“Lawsuits alone will not stop Texas Republicans’ extreme gerrymandering and overall assault on our voting rights. That’s why we once more demand our Democratic-controlled House, Senate, and White House to abandon the filibuster and put the future wellbeing of our democracy first by swiftly passing the For The People Act and John Lewis Voting Rights Act.

“Each day that passes without this legislation in place is a win for Abbott’s radical right-wing agenda, and a loss for fair representation in our state for Black and Latino Texans.”

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Texas Organizing Project organizes Black and Latino communities in Dallas, Harris, Bexar, and Fort Bend counties with the goal of transforming Texas into a state where working people of color have the power and representation they deserve. For more information, visit organizetexas.org.

This statement was sent out December 6, 2021.