State-level Democrats across the country are also starting to weigh what each contender will mean for down-ballot races in the aftermath of the first two Democratic contests, which saw Joe Biden's star power wane, Pete Buttigieg notch a muddled first place finish in Iowa and Sanders eke out a victory in New Hampshire — a place he dominated four years ago. The uncertainty also clouds the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee's $50 million effort to flip state chambers in places like Arizona and North Carolina, where operatives have to fine-tune the party's message in swing states.

Sanders’ rising progressive agenda and the leftward march of Democrats like Elizabeth Warren has divided the party here about how to succeed and what lessons to divine from years of electoral losses born out of deploying untested strategies they hope will transform Texas into a battleground state.

“Sanders is a complete disaster and Warren is a complete-disaster-lite,” said Texas-based campaign consultant Jeff Hewitt, who has been working in Democratic politics since he served on Clinton-Gore’s campaign team in the 1990s. “At the end of the day, most of us want to win.”

A Buttigieg victory is “not helpful” to the party's goals in Texas, he said. But “he doesn’t hurt them as much” as Sanders.

While Democrats lost all statewide elections in 2018, they notched modest gains down ballot. They were able to flip two congressional seats and more than a dozen state House and Senate seats, putting them just nine seats away from taking control of the state House.

“For control of the state legislature and how the congressional delegation is drawn over the next decade, it’s very important that we do all we can to win the statehouse now so both parties have a seat at the table,” said state Rep. Chris Turner, chair of the Texas House Democratic caucus and who has endorsed former Vice President Joe Biden.

But progressive activists argue that bold ideas like those championed by Sanders and Warren will bring out new voters, and others say ideology matters less than ground game. It’s a debate that’s playing out across the country, but the stakes are especially high in Texas this year where Democrats at the state level have a shot at redrawing the election maps that will keep them competitive.