Travis County Democratic Party Headquarters Vandalized

AUSTIN, TX — The Travis County Democratic Party headquarters in downtown Austin was vandalized overnight with graffiti, officials said in an advisory.

Texas Democrats provided photos of the damage done to the exterior of the building located at 1311 E. 6th St. The photos show extensive damage to both front doors and exterior walls that were defaced with graffiti. In a response to a query from Patch, party officials said a police report was filed Tuesday morning after the vandalism was discovered.

Officials said no staff or volunteers were on site at the time of the vandalism, and no damage was found to the interior of the building. Party officials added there were no items missing from inside the structure.

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Travis County Democratic Party Chair Katie Naranjo suggested party members are not intimidated in the wake of the vandalism: "Travis County Democrats are coming off a strong election cycle where we made historic gains. We flipped the last seat held by a Republican by electing Ann Howard to the Commissioners Court, and we protected Rep. Vikki Goodwin in House District 47 to turn Travis County completely blue. We are undeterred by these acts of vandalism and remain committed to continuing the organizing and community building needed to empower voters to support policies and candidates who believe in lifting people up."

Naranjo added: “We will continue to speak truth to power in support of science, essential workers, access to healthcare, gun safety, criminal justice reform, anti-racism, and climate change. TCDP calls on all political parties to denounce vandalism and elevate discourse on policy and politics. Extremists resort to violent behavior and destruction when they cannot win hearts and minds on the merit of their policies.”

The vandalism comes at a time of deep ideological divisions as votes continue to be counted elsewhere in the country following the Nov. 3 election. That fissure was seen last weekend when throngs of Donald Trump supporters took to downtown streets in protest of the election's outcome.