Battleground Texas, the push to "turn Texas blue," celebrated its first anniversary on Wednesday. Democrats in the state are hoping that recent momentum—from Republicans defecting from the GOP due to the escalating influence of the Tea Party, as well as the rise of the Latino vote—can transform Texas from a conservative stronghold into a battleground state.

The effort has mobilized more than 12,000 volunteers and recruited an additional 5,200 more, according to the campaign's website. Additionally, two programs have been at the forefront of the effort to make Texas Democrats more competitive: the Executive Latino Leadership Program (ELLP) and the Fellowship Program.

The ELLP brought in an initial class of 60 Latino leaders in for networking, development and a series of weekend seminars to train them in all aspects of running a campaign.

"The Latino community is rapidly growing, but too few Latinos play leading roles in Texas elections," the organizers note on their website. "To help address that, we established an intensive 10-month training program for Texas Latinos interested in learning the skills necessary to run modern campaigns."

While Democrats are remaining hopeful that the Latino vote can be a strong part of the equation necessary for success, there are lingering question marks over whether or not sufficient numbers in the Latino community can be galvanized to affect change. A recent report suggests that low voter turnout among Hispanics could make for a disappointing result in the 2014 mid-term elections.

"The majority of Texas Hispanics eligible to vote, 61 percent, did not cast a ballot in 2012," read a Texas report released this month as part of the "America's Voice" study by Latino Decisions, which added that "Texas would be as competitive as Florida in statewide elections if this untapped electorate voted."

The Fellowship Program brought 800 Democrats into an apprenticeship program, training participants in digital organizing, data best-practices, and volunteer organizing.

The real test of whether or not Battleground Texas has done its homework well is on the horizon. However, despite the success or failure of Democrats in the upcoming elections, Battleground Texas will likely stick around for years to come.

"Over the coming years, Battleground Texas will use the data-driven, people-focused approach that helped win grassroots campaigns throughout the country to turn the Lone Star State into a battleground where all elections - from City Council to the White House - are hotly contested," vowed Battleground Texas on its campaign blog.