Texas GOP $750,000 in Debt

We were lied to at the GOP convention a few weeeks ago. There's a lot more to the story to be told now that new GOP chair Steve Munisteri and his army of accountants have scoured documents and books and vendor contracts that look all sorts of "good 'ol boy."

The report that the Texas GOP was $750,000 in debt was made Tuesday at the Republican Party of Ellis County executive committee. The local party still has not found a permanent headquarters, but the fundraising is picking up thanks to chair Dan Davis' $100 Club.

Excalibur Printing has also donated thousands of dollars worth of printing to the Ellis County GOP, as well as to the Ellis County Young Republicans. This proves the grassroots have a printing operation as well. We don't need high-priced consultants all the time you know...

Republican Revolt: Ellis County's Huge Day @ GOP Convention

There are so many good things to report it's almost too much to type...but, here it goes:
1. State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) member for Senate District 22 (that's ours), Chris DeCluitt, lost re-election Saturday to Jimmy Kerr of China Spring, a Tea Party-backed candidate who is sick of the corruption in McLennan County GOP politics. DeCluitt was knocked out of the heirship of the State Senate when this blog and several other key ingredients unearthed, exposed and reported the Brazos River Authority scandal. DeCluitt's loss Saturday was a huge blow to the SREC...

2. SREC female member (each senate district has two representatives on the GOP committee, a male and a female) Janet Jackson defeated Molly Smith.
SD-22 is now represented at the state level with true conservatives! And, what's by far the best news of all:
3. Cathie Adams, appointed to the chairmanship after Tina Benkiser stepped down to take a position with the Rick Perry campaign, lost to former Ron Paul staffer (and The Ellis County Observer endorsed) Steve Munisteri in the race for GOP chairman. HUGE win for those who love the Constitution side of the GOP.

4. County Doll Judge Carol Bush was appointed secretary of something, according to spies on the convention floor, who saw her sitting at a table doing nothing but looking gorgeous.

5. I was appointed chairman of the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas. Total shock and unexpected nomination from several longtime RLC activists. The RLC is the "Tea Party" wing of the Republican Party. We were promoting the Constitutional Conservatives way, way, way back when...
All in all, I think Ellis County has definitely taken a stand in the political arena, or has had a direct impact on much of what's going on in our state. This is going to be an interesting year...

Republican Party of Texas Chairman Race Gets Nasty

Updates from the floor of the Dallas Convention Center: Follow Dave Nalle of the Republican Liberty Caucus here: twitter.com/texliberty

Or me: twitter.com/joeygdauben

Nalle should/will provide constant updates as the Texas Republican Party convention gets underway and what the floor fights will amount to, and where all those Debra Medina supporters/delegates will be stationed.

At 4 p.m. today, the Republican Liberty Caucus of Texas meets (@ the Aloft Hotel) to elect new officers and re-organize. Here's hoping yours truly gets a stake in this effort :)

Live Texas GOP Convention Updates, News, Rumors on Twitter

Follow Dave Nalle of the Republican Liberty Caucus here: twitter.com/texliberty

Or me: twitter.com/joeygdauben

Nalle should/will provide constant updates as the Texas Republican Party convention gets underway and what the floor fights will amount to, and where all those Debra Medina supporters/delegates will be stationed.

Constitutional Republicans' Choice for Texas GOP Chair: Steve Munisteri

Fellow Texas Liberty Republican:

This is just a quick note before the upcoming state convention to both convention delegates and also to pro-liberty Texans who might know or be able to influence their local deleagtes to the State Republican Convention coming up on the 10th, 11th and 12th of this month in Dallas.

One of the most important activities at the convention will be the vote to pick a new state chairman.  Of the three candidates one is clearly the most effective advocate for both liberty issues and party reform, and with the problems our state faces and the substantial debt and legacy of mismanagement in the state party we need someone as State Republican Chairman who has the right experience and the right values to turn things around.

In my opinion and based on my research, the right choice for Chairman is Steve Munisteri.  I've spoken with him at length and asked some very pointed questions and I've also spoken with others who are supporting him to get a real feel for his beliefs.  I've done this because like any smart candidate he's being very cagey in his public statements, but I'm here to tell you that even if he's putting up a bland and generic front in his campaign, he really is the only real advocate for liberty, reform and fiscal responsibility in the race.

Steve has worked on scores of political campaigns, including working for Ronald Reagan and Jack Kemp, and has experience as a grassroots organizer. He knows how to get good candidates elected and will use those skills to fight back against the highly organized effort to move Texas to the left orchestrated by President Obama and groups like MoveOn.org and Organizing for America.  Steve was one of the founders of the Young Conservatives of Texas and knows about reaching out to younger voters and new activists so he can grow the party.  He's also a successful lawyer and businessman who is recently retired and ready to dedicate his skills and experience to making the Texas GOP more effective.

As for the other candidates, both are strongly anti-liberty and offer no new ideas and no passion for reform.  Current Chairwoman Cathie Adams has been unable to balance the party's books since she's been in office and she is closely associated with the anti-liberty extremists of Eagle Forum.  Tom Mechler is a hardcore anti-reform conservative who commented at a recent event that he opposes a policy of "inclusiveness" for the party in a context which showed clear hostility to liberty activists and the tea party movement. That's not a great attitude at a time when we need to grow the party and bring in new blood.

In comparison, Steve Munisteri has been seeking advice from grassroots activists and from the Ron Paul organization.  Penny Langford Freeman from Congressman Paul's staff confirms that "Steve called the office to ask legislative questions and to discuss policy.  He is also using some of the old Paul campaign team for his race."  I'm not going to pretend that he's a hardcore libertarian or the candidate I would put in office if I could pick anyone in the state and just give them the job, but of the three candidates he is clearly the most pro-liberty and the most qualified to do the job well.

Most importantly Steve has an open mind and a willingness to work with all elements of the party and that means he won't stand in the way of those of us who are working to return the party and the nation to the core values of constitutionally limited government and individually.

If you want to help out the Munisteri campaign at the convention, contact Liz Young (lizleeyoung@gmail.com). For more information see Steve's website at stevemunisteri.com/.

I hope I'll see all of you at the upcoming Texas RLC statewide meeting on June 12th.  For more information see rlctx.org

Dave Nalle
(not writing in any of my official capacities except as a pro-liberty Texas GOP delegate)