Biden's virtual-convention dry run in Texas

• The Texas Democratic Party has been in contact with the Democratic National Convention throughout their planning process, a party official said, sharing best practices on how to host an online event of this size.

The state of play: To avoid any technical difficulties, speakers are pre-recording their videos for the convention, which will play throughout the nine-hour livestream on June 1.

• Biden is expected to address the importance of turning Texas blue and Texas' status as a battleground state in his video.
• Former Texas Rep. Beto O’Rourke will also join as a featured speaker.

Be smart: Biden has said he thinks this longtime red state could be a battleground for Democrats this cycle — and his participation aims to boost fundraising.

• House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who is also participating in the convention, is one of the party’s best fundraisers.

• The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee is targeting seven GOP-held House seats in Texas this cycle.
• Pelosi has said Texas is a central part of Democrats' strategy to expand their House majority in 2021.

The big picture: Polls show a fight between Biden and President Trump in Texas, though Trump still leads in most recent polls.

• The Texas Democratic Party says they’ve registered 2.6 million new voters since the 2016 election — a number they tout as “dropping the entire population of New Mexico into the Texas voter roll," Abhi Rahman, the state party's communications director, told Axios.