Annie’s List is a Texas-based political action committee that recruits, trains, and supports female Democratic candidates who support abortion¹ for local and state office. ² Annie’s List supports women who advance the committee’s left-of-center policy positions, including supporting abortion³ and expanding government-funded health care. ⁴

Annie’s List is named after Annie Web Blanton, the first woman elected to statewide office in Texas. Annie’s List is modeled after EMILY’s List,⁵ an organization that endorses female Democratic candidates who support abortion in national elections. ⁶

Campaign Assistance

Annie’s List provides training sessions, canvassing, phone banking,⁷ research and polling, fundraising support, data analysis, and campaign staff⁸ for female Democrats interested in running for office in Texas. Annie’s List training sessions include talks on how to become a candidate, how to prepare to run for office, and how to conduct a campaign. ⁹ Its campaign staffer training programs, which train women to work on campaigns, are some of the largest in the country, available in seven cities across the state. ^{10 11}

Issues and Goals

In 2018, there were over 80 female candidates running for office in Texas, with Annie’s List either supporting or training more than 60 percent of them. ¹² During the 2020 election cycle, Annie’s List set a goal to flip the Texas House of Representatives to a Democratic majority. ¹³ To accomplish this, Annie’s List has planned activities in 29 target districts across the state. ¹⁴

Annie’s List exclusively supports left-of-center female candidates who believe that abortion is “essential healthcare.” The group aims to keep abortion legal and expand access across Texas. ¹⁵ In 2018, Patsy Woods, Annie’s List former executive director, said that the group will only fund candidates who support abortion, ostracizing even other left-of-center female candidates, especially Latina women, who do not support the practice or will not admit to supporting it publicly. ¹⁶

Support for Democratic Candidates

Annie’s List and Royce Brooks, the group’s executive director, support Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) as the 2020 Democratic Vice Presidential nominee. Brooks praised Harris’s nomination, arguing that Sen. Harris would help drive a strong Democratic agenda through Congress and would be capable of stepping into the role of president if needed. ¹⁷

On October 2, 2020, Annie’s List held a virtual 2020 Annie’s List Dallas-Fort Worth Celebration, featuring former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Jill Biden, former Second Lady of the United States. ¹⁸ Hillary Clinton said she was “thrilled” to support Annie’s List. ¹⁹ During the event, held over a month before the 2020 presidential election, Annie’s List referred to Biden as the “future First Lady” of the United States. ²⁰

Leadership

Brooks joined Annie’s List in July of 2018. She was previously the first chief equity officer for the city of Atlanta. Brooks has a history of working on behalf of Democratic candidates, working as the policy director for Democrat Sylvester Turner’s successful bid for Mayor of Houston and as statewide policy director for Democrat Wendy Davis’s 2014 campaign for Texas governor. Brooks has also worked as a policy analyst for the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies and formerly spent time as a legislative assistant for then-U.S. Representative Martin Frost (D-TX), the former chairman for the U.S. House of Representatives Democratic Caucus. ²¹

In response to U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s death in September of 2020, Brooks blamed the weakness of the national Democratic Party for creating an unsustainable situation within the Supreme Court. ²²

When referring to the 2020 presidential election, Brooks claimed that no Democratic candidate could win without the support of African-American voters, urging campaigns to hire African-American staff to advance African-American interests. ²³ Brooks has also accused Republicans of engaging in “voter suppression tactics.” ²⁴

Financials

Annie’s List directly funds its endorsed candidates’ campaigns. ²⁵ Since its founding, Annie’s List has raised over $19 million and participated in over 140 races across Texas. ²⁶

As of July 4, 2020, Annie’s List had made a total of $677,636 in political contributions during the 2020 campaign cycle. ²⁷

Several left-leaning organizations have donated to Annie’s List in 2020, including the Houston Trial Lawyers Association PAC, Justin Rodriguez Campaign, and Beverly Powell Campaign. The three largest organization contributors to  Annie’s List during the 2020 campaign cycle were Lone Star Project, a Texas group that is explicitly dedicated to defeating Republican officials and candidates; the Texas House Democratic Campaign Committee; and the Texas Democratic Party. ²⁸ Annie’s List also paid $35,000 back to the Texas Democratic Party for campaign contributions. ²⁹

Annie’s List is a financial supporter of the Texas Tribune, a nonprofit news organization that claims to be nonpartisan, but regularly publishes stories favorable to Annie’s List. ³⁰

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2. About – What We Do. Annie’s List. Accessed September 30, 2020. https://annieslist.com/about/what-we-do/
3. Livingston, Abby. “From Abortion Access to Immigration, the Battle Over the Open Supreme Court Seat Will Affect Texas for a Generation.” Texas Tribune. September 20, 2020. Accessed October 2, 2020. https://www.texastribune.org/2020/09/20/supreme-court-justice-texas/
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5. Guenther, Rocio. “Annie’s List Looks to Powerful Local, Progressive Women into Office.” San Antonio Report. August 30, 2017. Accessed October 1, 2020. https://sanantonioreport.org/annies-list-looks-to-power-local-progressive-women-into-office/
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