Had she not followed her grandfather’s instructions, Ms. Guerra, now a Democratic strategist, might have gone down a different path. Now 31, she recalls how voting in that local election — though she cannot remember what was on the ballot — started her on a journey that has included leading the bruising but successful recent campaigns of two state senators and a state representative. Of her grandfather’s instructions, she said, “I just remember him yelling names at me, he was a couple of booths down.” She remembers thinking, “This is embarrassing.” Her former employers say Ms. Guerra is a force behind the scenes, and more than a mere up-and-comer for the state’s beleaguered Democratic Party. She is viewed by some in the party as a rare weapon for progressives in a conservative stronghold. Part of Ms. Guerra’s drive comes from a lack of patience with Democrats who think the party’s time will eventually come. “We’ve been in this holding pattern for so long, like we have to wait until ‘this’ year before Texas turns blue,” she said. “I just think, I am not getting any younger. I don’t want to wait for it to happen. I just want to make it happen.” The second of five children, Ms. Guerra was raised by her mother and her grandparents. Her mother held a number of odd jobs, including part-time work at an Army surplus store, before landing a job at the state’s Health and Human Services Commission. She eventually joined the state employee’s union and became enthralled with Democratic politics. Ms. Guerra, a graduate of Texas A&M University, said her mother’s passion, along with lessons in elections and politics from her grandparents, steered her toward her current path. She became a field worker for the Texas Democratic Party, then eventually joined Representative Chris Turner, Democrat of Grand Prairie, when he was working for former United States Representative Chet Edwards. She became a consultant for Mr. Turner’s campaign when he decided to run for the Texas House. Her latest victory came this month, when she helped propel State Senator Sylvia Garcia, Democrat of Houston, to victory. Ms. Garcia defeated Representative Carol Alvarado, a fellow Houston Democrat, in a special election that began late last fall and started with a field of eight candidates. “We were both interviewing each other,” Ms. Garcia said. “I was looking for the right manager, and I think she was looking for the right candidate, and I think it was just the right match.” “I saw her handle more than one problematic issue on the campaign to where you saw she was chiquita, pero picosa,” Ms. Garcia said, using a phrase meaning small but spicy. (Ms. Guerra is barely 5 feet tall in her signature cowboy boots.) “You saw where she was there to protect me as a candidate, there to protect our campaign.” Ms. Guerra joined Ms. Garcia’s team a week after leaving the victorious campaign of State Senator Wendy Davis, Democrat of Fort Worth, who survived a challenge from former Representative Mark Shelton, Republican of Fort Worth, in the most expensive state Senate race of 2012. Ms. Davis said Ms. Guerra was one of several people the senator interviewed, and though she lacked experience in a race of similar size and expense, Ms. Davis was soon won over. “Despite how unassuming she can be, she was not at all afraid to ask for the job and assure me with tremendous confidence that she knew she was capable of doing it,” she said. “It’s a pretty rare quality for a person of her age, and for a woman, and probably even more rare for a woman of that age who is a Latina. But she has a tremendous self-confidence, and I think that’s one of the things that keeps her very happy to be behind the scenes.” Ms. Davis came to believe her decision when she saw how Ms. Guerra commanded her field workers.
