Q&A: "You Can't Just Give Up. That's How the Authoritarians Win." A Texas Organizer on Fighting Back

"It's not just about getting power, it's about holding on to it."

As Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed into law the new Congressional maps that the state legislature passed at the behest of President Trump, he didn’t hide that he was enshrining a partisan power grab intended to prevent Democrats from winning future elections. “Texas is now more Red in the United States Congress,” Abbott said during the signing ceremony. The Republican-led gerrymander is expected to make it much more difficult for Democrats to retake control of Congress in the 2026 midterm elections.

I spoke with Stephanie Gomez, political director of MOVE Texas, a nonprofit organization that seeks to build power in underrepresented youth communities, about why Texas is the “canary in the coal mine” and how she responds to the question, “If it’s inevitable, what’s the purpose of the fight?”

Meaghan Winter: What has it been like on the ground in Texas during the special session Republicans held to gerrymander the maps?

Stephanie Gomez: The energy in Texas has been really palpable. We saw crazy turnout at all of the hearings over the gerrymandering. People were ready to testify. Thousands of people have been coming to our rallies, in heat that will take you out.

The idea of a proud Texan probably conjures up an image, a stereotype, that’s not true, an image that is very contrary to me. But Texans really do love their state. People really want to see their legislators fight for what's right and for a Texas that puts their interest first. For me, that’s super exciting. But at the same time, as things continued to get nuts, they also got farther and farther away from what Texans actually need, which is disaster relief, after the absolute disaster of floods we had this summer. For a lot of Texans, for Republican state leadership to put this partisan issue on the top of their legislative agenda this summer was just honestly a smack in the face. A lot of people are still cleaning up their homes, their communities, trying to rebuild their lives.

This gerrymander is so blatant. Republicans are just saying they want to ensure that they can control the outcomes of the 2026 elections. That has national ramifications. As a Texan, for us, it's always going to be about: How are you putting Texans first? Once again, Governor Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton, all of these folks are completely missing the mark about what people need.

Meaghan: Can you talk about some of the real-world consequences of Republicans gerrymandering Texas?

Stephanie: It's hard to live in Texas. I love it here, but I don't have full autonomy over my body. As a person who would want an abortion and has had an abortion, I’m very aware that I’m living in a state where laws that are wanted by a very particular few are governing me every day. In the days after Texas’s trigger law (which in 2022 made performing an abortion a felony crime) was put into place, people had an awakening. Here in Texas, a lot of people who consider themselves conservative or right-leaning were saying, “Hey, this goes too far.” So, we’re already in a situation where people are personally feeling [the consequences of state policy].

I think of Texas as the canary in the coal mine. Texas is really an example of what people in other states fear when they talk about the rise of authoritarianism, the attack on civil society. We're already living in that. We already have very few competitive districts, and we already live in a state where they're always working to make it harder for us to vote, and for our vote to actually have an impact.

This gerrymander is also sending these shock waves around the nation right now, and we are seeing what will happen if Donald Trump, Governor Abbott and other politicians are able to just cheat their way into holding on to power. Because it's not just about getting power, it's about holding on to it and making sure that they cannot be held accountable and that their extremist policies do not have any checks and balances.

Texas is also part of a larger strategy to save democracy. And I urge people, especially those that do political work, to always remember that when they're in partnership with people from Texas or across the South.

So much of what I do as an organizer is answering the question: “Well, if it’s inevitable, what’s the purpose of the fight?” People ask, “Why testify? Why submit my public comments? Why call my legislator?” And that's when I have to say that we're building a public record, an opposition. We're laying the groundwork if this becomes a fight in the courts, if this becomes a cultural fight, a narrative fight, a political fight. We still have tools in our toolbox to stop this from getting worse. You can’t just give up. That’s how the authoritarians win.

Meaghan: How does MOVE Texas being a youth-focused organization affect your perspective?

Stephanie: I think people sometimes forget that a lot of social movements have been led by students, and young people and students have played an important role in keeping our culture where it needs to be.

Sometimes, especially in Texas, starting a voter registration student group can be seen like a radical leftist thing, and so it can be very eye-opening for students who come here from other states, who have just learned about government and democracy in high school, to suddenly be interacting with an administration that is trying to stop them from doing things, like registering voters, that they just learned were the foundational aspects of democracy.

Meaghan: With everything happening, how are you coping?

Stephanie: I love the aerial arts. I highly recommend that people who do like very desk-oriented, theoretical work get on a trapeze every once in a while.

Whenever I get to share spaces with real people, like during the protests we just had, it fills my cup. Remembering that I'm not just doing this work for funders. I'm not just doing this work for lawyers. No, I’m doing this work for people, especially young people, and that gives me purpose.