The long and winding road of County Party disputes leads right back to the Republican Party of Texas
March 20, 2023 | Montgomery County, TX
The majority of the Montgomery County Republican Party County Executive Committee (CEC) has filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus with the Texas Supreme Court in an effort to compel Chairman Bryan Christ to perform his statutory duties and stop violating state laws and party rules. It is important to note that this action was taken at the suggestion of Republican Party of Texas leadership, who referred Attorney Warren Norred to help the Precinct Chair majority with legal action.
How did we get here?
The process of dealing with rogue chairs and party disputes necessarily starts with the County Executive Committee. Let’s take a look at where we are in the process and what's next.
Step 1 - County Executive Committee (CEC)
Disputed issues are meant to be debated and settled in a county party by majority vote; however, in Montgomery County, Chairman Christ has not only refused to comply with the majority vote of the CEC, he has then attempted to replace properly seated Precinct Chairs with his own people. His purpose is to try and tip the vote in his favor or at least invalidate the vote of the CEC by destroying the integrity of the CEC and the process. The CEC, who Christ works for, notified Christ that his actions are a violation of the Texas Election Code and party rules. After repeated efforts to get Christ to do his job were ignored, the CEC appealed to the state party.
Step 2 - The State Party
The state party sent a mediation team to Montgomery County in an effort to settle the dispute. The team offered solutions, which were all rejected by Chairman Christ. The official Mediation Report cited the cause of the problems in the local party as a “complete failure of leadership” by Christ and also mentioned that he seemed to have no interest in resolving the dispute. This matter was then referred to the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) for review. The SREC reviewed a 120-plus page report outlining Christ’s unethical and illegal actions, but decided not to take action because there are more than 40 counties facing similar problems with rogue chairs across the state and they do not have the resources to fight each of them in court to enforce their rules. Although the SREC refused to take direct action, they suggested that the county party file a lawsuit against Christ for his continued efforts to disrupt and damage the party. Republican Party of Texas leadership then recommended a lawyer to help the Montgomery County Republican Party in taking this legal action.
Step 3 - The Secretary of State
The Secretary of State requires County Chairmen to maintain an accurate record of Precinct Chairs on the Secretary of State's website. To date, Chairman Christ has reported several names of people who were not properly seated as Precinct Chairs to the Secretary of State. At last count, there were about a dozen criminal complaints filed against Christ for his violations of the Texas Election Code and the Texas Penal Code. Since the Republican Party is a private organization, there is some question as to whether the Secretary of State's office will take action on the falsified records. Thus far, the Secretary of State has not addressed those complaints.
Step 4 - Lawsuits
Because Chairman Christ refuses to properly perform his statutory duties and comply with party rules, the Precinct Chair majority has filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus lawsuit with the Texas Supreme Court. The Supreme Court may refuse to hear the case on the grounds that this matter pertains to a political party, or they may point the party to a lower court for remedy. It should also be mentioned that Christ has publicly accused party officers of fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud, and embezzlement, and even insinuated that criminal charges had been filed when they had not. To be clear, no charges can be filed because there are no such crimes and Christ was well aware of this when he defamed party officers. Defamation lawsuits addressing these accusations are expected once the Supreme Court and lower courts dispose of their cases.
Step 5 - Back to the Republican Party of Texas
If the courts and Secretary of State choose not to get involved with this private political party matter, the way will then be cleared for the Republican Party of Texas to finally take action against Chairman Christ. The fear of lawsuits from rogue County Chairs like Christ will no longer be of concern to the state party, allowing them to act swiftly and decisively if they choose to do so.
More Information & Questions
The Precinct Chair majority has been faced with a difficult choice - stand up for the rules on behalf of those who voted them into office or look the other way in the name of “party unity.” That is the long and winding road that the Montgomery County Republican Party has been forced to travel in an effort to resolve this dispute with the County Chairman.