Washington ( CNN ) -- Leticia Van de Putte , a Democrat running for the second-highest office in Texas , received an endorsement Wednesday that gives her campaign needed exposure and fund-raising opportunities . Howard Dean , former chairman of the Democratic National Committee , and his organization , Democracy for America , endorsed Van de Putte for lieutenant governor of Texas in an e-mail to the group 's 1 million members , including more than 38,000 in Texas . `` This year we have the best opportunity in a generation to turn Texas blue , '' Dean said , referring to Van de Putte and Wendy Davis , the Texas gubernatorial candidate and liberal star . `` In Wendy Davis and Leticia Van de Putte , we have the right team to seize that opportunity and defeat the extreme right . '' The organization endorsed Davis immediately after she announced her candidacy in October . But the group waited six months before giving Van de Putte the nod . The organization wanted to ensure that Van de Putte 's campaign , with its much lower profile , was capable of winning in the reliably red state . `` We decided to back Leticia Van de Putte after running our endorsement process and seeing ... how excited our members in Texas are about a Davis-Van de Putte one-two punch and watching her put together the kind of grassroots campaign that we 're confident can win in the Lone Star State , '' Neil Sroka with Democracy for America wrote in an e-mail . Van de Putte welcomed the endorsement , thanking Democracy for America for its `` grass-roots support . '' Democrats are cautiously optimistic about their chances in Texas this year , noting that they have two top-notch candidates who could pull off an upset . While Davis has excited progressives around the country with her 13-hour filibuster last June over abortion access , Van de Putte has her own lengthy legislative record , and Democrats insist she , as a Latino , is the ideal candidate to motivate women and Latinos to vote . Meet the woman who could turn Texas purple . Persuading Texas Democrats to vote is its own challenge . The Lone Star State , where more than one-third of the population is Hispanic , is plagued with low voter turnout . Nearly two-thirds of eligible Latino voters stayed home in 2012 . And the numbers get worse in nonpresidential election years . Van de Putte 's challenger is still undetermined . Current Lt. Gov . David Dewhurst and state Sen. Dan Patrick are locked in a runoff contest for the Republican nomination . Both candidates are running to the right , making immigration a central component of their campaigns , which Democrats say could also help drive Latinos to the polls . Van de Putte must raise significant amounts of money to be competitive in the vast , populous state . The latest fund-raising figures available are old -- from January -- but total a mere $ 290,000 . Democracy For America raised more than $ 50,000 for Davis in the first 24 hours after its endorsement . That 's an extremely high bar to match for a Van de Putte endorsement , but obviously one her campaign hopes is reached .
Leticia Van de Putte is a Democrat running for lieutenant governor in The Lone Star State . She gets a nod from DNC , which has has one-two members in Texas . Former DNC chairman Howard Dean heads the group . `` six months we have the best opportunity in a generation to turn Texas blue , '' Howard Dean says .