AUSTIN, Texas — On Sunday, Democratic candidates at all levels were in Austin for what officials dubbed a “coordinated campaign kickoff."
Hundreds of people packed the event hosted by Travis County Democratic Party.
State Rep. Sheryl Cole of Austin and U.S. Rep. Colin Allred of Dallas, who is running for U.S. Senate, were two of several candidates who highlighted key issues and urged people to vote.
The event had been rescheduled from the previous Sunday after the attempted assassination on former President Donald Trump.
“We don’t ever, ever resort to violence,” Allred said. “I’m proud of y’all for coming here a week later in the best tradition of our democracy and showing that this is what democracy looks like.”
The event wrapped roughly an hour before President Joe Biden announced he would not seek re-election, a move that followed weeks of growing calls from Democratic lawmakers and donors for Biden to drop out.
“As much as I know folks have a lot of questions about the national level, forget that,” Allred said. “We have a choice here in Texas. It’s very clear.”
Allred dedicated Sunday’s event to his colleague and “dear friend," the late U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee of Texas. The Democrat from Houston and 29-year veteran of Congress died Friday at age 74.