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'We're here to save the damn country:' state Rep. Gene Wu says after launching the 'New Southern Strategy'
WFAA (DFW) ^ | 06/28/2026 | Jason Whitely, Sheridan Bailey, Lilly Traylor

Posted on 06/29/2026 4:25:52 AM PDT by DFG

DALLAS — After 60 years of Republican domination in southern states, a new coalition of Democrats is eager to end GOP control in the South.

This “New Southern Strategy" was organized by the Texas House Democratic Caucus Chair Gene Wu, D-Houston. His idea is to bring together Democratic legislative leaders from Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Texas and other southern states.

The new coalition just met in Atlanta for the first time.

Lawmakers discussed strategies for responding to Republican legislation in their respective states. Wu said that Democrats have historically fought similar political battles independently but now suggests a collective effort across state lines could strengthen their efforts.

“What we learned from watching all the fights happening right now is that we’re all so weak because we’re operating in silos,” Wu said on WFAA’s Inside Texas Politics. “We’re fighting battles by ourselves, our communities feel isolated, and what we’re saying now is if we are all in the same position let's fight together.”

The Democratic coalition claims its goal is to unify strategies for issues like voting rights, redistricting and other challenges they say affect democracy across the region.

“We've shared tactics. We've talked about what we can do in the future and how we can move this along. And, you know, just that one meeting has paid off,” Wu said. “We're not here to help Democrats win. We're here to save the damn country.”

And Georgia was their first victory, he explained.

“For months there were concerns that Georgia Republicans would use [a] special session to further weaken minority representation through mid-decade redistricting,” Wu said. “Instead, they adjourned without advancing a single redistricting proposal.”

Wu called Georgia's decision an encouraging sign of a coordinated effort among southern Democrats that could influence political debate across the South.

“In the past, the ‘Southern Strategy’ was a movement designed to divide communities, to consolidate power in the conservative South, and take power away from minority communities,” Wu said. “This ‘New Southern Strategy’ is our effort to unite the South, to unite our communities and to say we’re not going back to Jim Crow.”

But toppling conservative control in the South will be an uphill struggle for Democrats. Republicans are deeply entrenched and have dominated elections there for decades. Redistricting congressional lines in many of these southern states will only exacerbate the Democratic effort to win seats.

Still, the coalition’s name is a deliberate reference to the Republican “Southern Strategy” used in the 1960s. It was a political plan that historians say helped Republicans flip southern states from total Democratic control by capitalizing on white Southern voters who opposed the Civil Rights movement.

Wu said this new coalition will build support across racial, religious and economic lines.

“It’s going to be Latinos, it’s going to be Asians, it’s going to the Black community, it's going to be working class white people, it's going to be Muslims and Jews and everybody else,” Wu said. “We’re stronger when we’re together.”

Though Wu insists that unity is essential, Texas Democrats still do not appear to have fully unified as the midterm elections approach in November.

U.S. Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett has yet to endorse Democratic U.S. Senate nominee James Talarico after their bitter primary election in March.

In addition, neither Crockett nor Colin Allred, the Democratic nominee for U.S. Congressional District 33, will attend the Texas Democratic Convention next week in Corpus Christi.

“I can't speak for Jasmine or anybody else,” Wu said. “All I can tell you is that the people on the ground, the activists, the workers, the people who just joined as volunteers… they're determined.”


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS: civilrights; genewu; redistricting; southernstrategy
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1 posted on 06/29/2026 4:25:52 AM PDT by DFG
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To: DFG
“What we learned from watching all the fights happening right now is that we’re all so weak because we’re operating in silos,”

The lefties pushed DEI so hard they've balkanized large swathes of American and created those very silos, and now they're complaining. Oh, Wu hoo. Embrace the suck.

2 posted on 06/29/2026 4:30:53 AM PDT by Sirius Lee ("Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference.)
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To: DFG

It’s not happening. The purple haired septum pierced super-entitled cow is out of the barn.


3 posted on 06/29/2026 4:32:11 AM PDT by struggle
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To: DFG

Are the Socialists invited too? Or is that the reason this coalition was put together?


4 posted on 06/29/2026 4:33:00 AM PDT by Hoboto (I blame Hippies.)
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To: DFG

Should call it the “Spanberger” plan: pretend you are moderate and sensible, then pull hard Left when you get into office.


5 posted on 06/29/2026 4:33:35 AM PDT by VRW Conspirator (How it started: Covfefe -> -> -> How it is going: COVFAFO)
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To: DFG

Eugene Yuanzhi Wu was born in China.

One of the most dishonest, lying Democrats (which is saying something).


6 posted on 06/29/2026 4:33:49 AM PDT by Dalberg-Acton
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To: DFG
“We’re stronger when we’re together.”

The hierarchy of victimhood will sink this whole plan. The revolution eats its children.

7 posted on 06/29/2026 4:38:09 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Enoch Powell warned us about Rivers of Blood. Well, I sure hope they're coming. It's the only fix.)
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To: struggle

“It’s not happening.”

If you mean the socialists aren’t taking over the South, I think it is happening. TX is being invaded by lefties, both by a huge Muslim influx, and by corporations leaving blue states to set up shop in TX. Both groups are bringing their leftie nonsense with them; they aren’t assimilating to the local culture.

GA is in a bad way, too. In TN, the liberalism that was mostly in western (Memphis), is creeping east and has infected Nashville. We in the east are vulnerable; it won’t be long until it’s here. (Many corporations are relocating here, too.)

KY ... who knows what they’re up to.


8 posted on 06/29/2026 4:38:58 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam ( "Trouble knocked at the door, but, hearing laughter, hurried away". - B. Franklin)
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To: Dalberg-Acton; VRW Conspirator

I get it.
They want to form the SCP (the Southern Communist Party).


9 posted on 06/29/2026 4:42:27 AM PDT by trfree98 (Daniel 12:4... It ain't over 'til its over.)
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To: struggle

“Spamburger”


10 posted on 06/29/2026 4:42:50 AM PDT by Fresh Wind
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To: DFG

I’m in Florida. I’m deluged with send-me-money ads from John Ossaf, a Democrat running for Congress in Georgia. He’s going to fight for affordability, better wages, the people, etc. I can’t recall if he’ll fight against Trump and billionaires, but probably. I generally hit mute when I see him. If I was a political ingenue I’d buy into his song because he hits all the problems that the average American is suffering from. The interesting thing is he’s soliciting money from people who are not in Georgia.


11 posted on 06/29/2026 4:44:28 AM PDT by Gen.Blather (Oh, gosh! I said that out loud. I'm so sorry.)
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To: struggle; VRW Conspirator

Sorry, my reply was meant for VRW Conspirator (post 5).


12 posted on 06/29/2026 4:44:59 AM PDT by Fresh Wind
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To: Dalberg-Acton

Another symptom of allowing unchecked foreigner to enter the country. They poison your culture and get elected by their fellow interlopers.


13 posted on 06/29/2026 4:51:56 AM PDT by Resolute Conservative
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To: DFG

Anyone who is a Democrat politician at this point in our country’s history is scum just by being a Democrat. There are very rare exceptions, but even they are questionable.


14 posted on 06/29/2026 4:54:00 AM PDT by FreedomForce
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To: DFG

Gene Wu was born in China and I think he recently called for a race war against white people.


15 posted on 06/29/2026 4:55:56 AM PDT by Vision (“Our Democracy” means "Our Slush Fund." The Left is hate.)
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To: DFG

We need to proceed as if the system were completely broken, because it is.


16 posted on 06/29/2026 4:57:40 AM PDT by Salman (We need to proceed as if the system were completely broken, because it is. )
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To: DFG

>>And Georgia was their first victory, he explained.
>>“For months there were concerns that Georgia Republicans would use [a] special session to further weaken minority representation through mid-decade redistricting,” Wu said. “Instead, they adjourned without advancing a single redistricting proposal.”

That wasn’t a Democrat victory, that was a GOPE own goal.


17 posted on 06/29/2026 4:59:58 AM PDT by vikingd00d (chown -R us ~you/base)
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To: DFG
LOL! Good luck with that. You hate conservatives. You hate White people. You hate men. You specifically hate Southerners - and Southerners know it.

You believe in gun grabbing. You believe in Gaia worship. You believe in open borders. You believe in globalism. You hate religion. You support the tranny agenda. You support socialism.

You are and will remain ANATHEMA to the vast majority of Southerners.

18 posted on 06/29/2026 5:00:10 AM PDT by FLT-bird
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To: struggle

Bump


19 posted on 06/29/2026 5:00:34 AM PDT by Texas Fossil (Texas is not about where you were born, but a Free State of Heart, Mind and Attitude.)
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To: DFG

Note to Mr. Wu: If you want to save the country, leave you commie slime.


20 posted on 06/29/2026 5:05:43 AM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel
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