Ep. 46: A New Way to Reach Voters (Congressional Candidate Caitlin Rourk)

This week on Mission: Texas, we sit down with Caitlin Rourk — a mom, Army National Guard officer, business leader, and Democratic candidate for Texas's 10th Congressional District. Caitlin shares her unconventional path to service (including a medical disqualification that took her nearly a decade to overcome), her work supporting Hurricane Harvey response with the Texas Military Department, and what pushed her from the sidelines into the race for Congress. We dig into a new way to reach voters called deep canvassing, the youth organizing program powering her campaign, and why the data center and AI infrastructure boom has become a defining issue in her district — especially given her opponent's ties to Elon Musk's America PAC and the redistricting process itself.Plus: back-to-school season hits Mission: Texas and Caitlin.What we cover: Caitlin's winding road to military service, from a disqualifying MEPS exam to enlisting in the Texas Army National Guard at 28 Supporting senior leadership and public affairs during Hurricane Harvey as a newly commissioned lieutenant The dual federal/state mission of the National Guard, and a shoutout to Friendly Forces and USERRA protections for guardsmen and reservists Her decision to run for Congress after going through New Politics' training program How Texas's new congressional maps reshaped TX-10, adding roughly 92,000 Travis County voters Deep canvassing strategy, a paid student canvasser program modeled on Jamie Raskin's Maryland operation, and nearly 20,000 doors knocked this summer The data center and AI infrastructure fight in Grimes County, Elon Musk's chip facility, and her opponent Chris Gober's ties to America PAC and to drawing the very district he's running in Why individual candidate trust — not party-wide messaging — is what she believes will flip red seats Good news segment: first days of school, Camp Mom, and a Secretary of State update on defending Texas voting law in federal courtSupport and follow Caitlin: https://www.caitlinrourk.com/Support the show: Love what we're doing? Become a member at patreon.com/missiontexaspodcast — just a few dollars a month keeps independent Texas media alive. And if you can't spare the cash, a five-star review goes just as far. God bless Texas. 🤠