About Us
Our Story
In 2017, while block-walking the streets of Galveston, Texas for a local State House Race, Bryan Rivera and Michael Jenkins became acutely aware of the insufficiency of affordable block-walking teams available to promote candidates and their campaigns. This is when Michael and Bryan created the idea of Texas Hometown Strategies.
Texas Hometown Strategies is a Texas-based Grassroots Company, built to help you manage your grassroots campaign without breaking your bank. Our team specializes in political campaign management, canvassing, ballot-petition gathering, canvassing sales, and political affairs.
Our Team
Bryan Rivera
Director of Operations
Bryan spent 13 years in the emergency management/emergency communications industry before fully crossing over into political field. Bryan had already volunteered for many political campaigns as a block walker prior to that, and in 2017, Bryan started running several small-scale local and county campaigns. Since then, he has block walked and managed many block walkers for city, county, regional, state, and gubernatorial campaigns inside the great state of Texas. He enjoys consulting political campaigns on the ground game side and training candidates on canvassing their districts. Bryan and Michael combined have canvassed over 30,000 houses throughout their career of block walking.
He has bachelor’s degree in Communications from Lamar University. He carries a Master Telecommunicator License in Texas and is a part-time emergency management consultant.
Dominick Zavala
Managing Director
Dominick, a local Houston resident, has multiple years of experience working for local governments in both emergency management and economic development. His involvement in State and local campaigns over the past 7 years have strengthened his skills in door-to-door canvassing, public speaking, and media relations. Deeply rooted in his dedication to family, small businesses, and his local church, Dominick is very proud of his beginnings. From a humble start as a Boy Scout, and earning the title of Eagle Scout, he was picked as one of his top peers to attend Texas Boy State. Being well-known in his local community for his leadership and communication skills, Dominick also enjoys spending his free time in the outdoors, increasing his knowledge of Texas history, and being involved in his local chamber of commerce and many local church organizations.
Jessie Knapp Jenkins
Communications and Public Relations
Jessie began her passion for conservative political values at a very early age, learning the art of block-walking by age 6, when her father ran for a local county race. Born and raised in Chambers County, Texas, Jessie has always had a big heart for local politics and small businesses, and owns her own photography business. She learned early on how important the art of communication and writing was to every aspect of her working career. With over a decade of experience working in elementary development, and five years of working in geriatric medical assistance, Jessie has always emphasized the importance of learning about local government and community interest from childhood through every year of growth. From the time she and her late husband, Michael Jenkins, first met, they both shared a passion for local politics, and even ran block-walking teams together by their second week of dating! Carrying on her husband’s legacy and passion, Jessie’s devotion as a single mother is what drives her perseverance to change the world, one local political race at a time.
Joshua Scott
Director of National Campaigns
Joshua has years of experience campaigning throughout Los Angeles County, the largest county in the nation. Joshua earned a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from California State University, Long Beach, while spending five years working in the legal field. He then spent time living in Tel Aviv, Israel, where he worked as an intelligence analyst at a geopolitical risk consulting firm, while also traveling the country, giving public speeches, and developing a nuanced understanding of the different cultures, religions, and politics of the region. Joshua got involved in politics in Los Angeles County to advocate for the US-Israel relationship and for contemporary policies to achieve peace in the Middle East. After gaining experience in all aspects of campaign infrastructure - from policy, ground game, opposition research, speech writing, and social media - Joshua ran for US Congress in 2018 as the youngest congressional candidate in the nation, and again in 2020. After organically building a base of support and a robust ground game, both of Joshua's campaigns were the most successful Republican congressional campaigns in Los Angeles County
Emily Smith
Assistant of Operations
Emily is currently a student at The University of Alabama, majoring in International Studies with a triple minor in Arabic, Counterterrorism, and the Blount Scholars Program. She is originally from Washington, D.C. Emily has worked in politics for 3 years and has a strong interest in public policy. She collegiately competes in Model United Nations and holds 4 Executive Board positions at UA. While serving as a Residential Advisor and conducting geography research, Emily also likes to write and enjoy nature walks in her spare time. Her ultimate goal is to go on to law school and practice international trade law.
Emily currently assists with the operational duties of TXHTS and aides in conducting interviews and recruiting for canvassing.
In memory of Michael Jenkins
Late Director of Political Affairs
Michael graduated from Austin Peay State University with a bachelor’s in political science, and lived in Texas since 2014. He worked with various government agencies and media markets for numerous years before transitioning into working in the Texas House of Representatives. During his tenure working for Representative Mayes Middleton, he assisted the Representative on numerous topics of legislation in the capitol, then continued on as Middleton’s local district director in State House District 23. He juggled working with numerous local governments while helping constituents during the height of Covid-19. Michael recently served as the Legislative Affairs and Media Relations Manager at Cenikor, based in Houston, Texas. Michael’s political career was cut tragically short when he passed away in a car accident just before Father’s Day, 2022. His legacy is carried on by his wife Jessie and their son Pearce.