Two years ago, 13 members of the Lake Highlands/White Rock Democrats Club took a day trip to Austin to visit their state legislators.
When the group stood up in the gallery of the Senate to be introduced to the floor, Republican State Senator John Leedom looked up at the group and said: “I didn’t know there were that many Democrats in Lake Highlands.”
Laughter quickly followed and club members exchanged knowing glances.
“It’s lonely to be a Democrat in Lake Highlands,” jokes Judy Shure.
In 1994, neighborhood resident Jeanette Rowland founded the Democratic club with six members.
“I went to my precinct and looked around and said: Where are all the Democrats?” Rowland says. “There have to be some Democrats, and we’ve got to get them together.”
Three years later, the club includes 206 members.
“People have their particular allegiances, but these are all activists here,” Shure says. “Whatever it is, you’ve got a variety of people working on a variety of issues.”
The club’s mission is to educate people about current issues and provide an open forum to discuss issues.
The club meets monthly and frequently invites speakers, both Republicans and Democrats, to speak to club members.
“We try to think issues through,” says club member Ed Laska. “We have no agenda to push our thoughts on anyone.”
The Lake Highlands/White Rock Democrats also write letters to the editors of news publications, clean up a section of White Rock Lake that they sponsor and some of them work as campaign volunteers.
Ruth Barnard, president of the White Rock Republican Women’s Club established in 1960, says her club isn’t particularly worried about being overrun by neighborhood Democrats.
“In this area, people are fairly conservative and go with the Republicans,” Barnard says. “But there’s always a chance that there will be a grass-roots effort to elect Democrats.”
The White Rock/Lake Highlands Democrats couldn’t agree more, says club member Jack Crout.
“They used to think we were a passing thing,” Crout says. “But you know, we’re still here, and we’re growing.”