The Sherry Sylvester Show · Texas Public Policy Foundation

Fighting for Texas in the Big Blue Cities w/ Kris Coons

·24 min·5 clips

The host tapes from the statewide conference of the Texas Federation of Republican Women in her hometown. She introduces Chris Coons, chair of the Bexar County Republican Party. Coons says she has spent many years as a volunteer and grassroots leader. She says she ran for county chair because San Antonio was moving in a different direction than the state, even as state leaders were getting things done. The conversation keeps circling back to elections. Coons says getting people to the polls is the biggest challenge, and she says that challenge cuts both ways. She points to city elections, where turnout is usually only 7 to 11 percent. In the last election, she says, turnout climbed to almost 18 percent. That jump stands out to her. She calls it a huge shift in political analytics and sees it as proof that people were paying attention. The host pushes on how information reaches voters. Coons says Texas Public Policy Foundation has buildings full of researchers, but the hard part is getting the work out. She talks about building relationships with the media. She says she has sent out probably 10 to 12 press releases to help educate them and get the message out. The conversation also turns to target audiences. Coons says the plan begins with identifying the audiences they need to reach and then using analytics to sort them. The host asks how those targets are discussed in nonpolitical terms. Coons answers that the process is commonsensical, but seeing it in black and white is still striking. The segment closes on common ground and the value of having the conversation before voting.

As heard by us

A San Antonio conversation on Republican organizing, turnout, and the harder task of reaching city voters.

The episode offers a focused look at local Republican politics in San Antonio, moving from why Chris Coons ran to her view that the city is drifting away from the state.

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Why you'd press play

You want Texas city politics with turnout numbers instead of slogans.

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