Now More Than Ever, Montgomery County Republicans Must Come Together
Constant attacks are being leveled at the local party, but these attacks are not from the Democrats as one might expect.
May 19, 2024 | Montgomery County, TX
While the local Republican Party is focused on raising funds, educating voters, and getting people excited about the party, constant attacks are being leveled at the volunteers and hard-working Precinct Chairs who make up the local party. But the attacks are not coming from the Democrat Party as one might expect. Instead, the attacks are coming from the outgoing County Chairman Bryan Christ, his wife, and their minority faction of the party. Although voters rejected this divisiveness in the March Primary, the attacks continue.
There is nothing new about the attacks coming from Chairman Christ. The tactics never really change as he and his faction tell outright lies or half-truths which are sometimes accompanied by selectively edited videos to which Chairman Christ or his wife supply their own narrative in an effort to mislead people about what actually happened.
Another favorite tactic employed by Chairman Christ and his wife is to refer to the majority of the party as the “Freedom Caucus” or “Tea Party” in all correspondence, instead of acknowledging that the majority of the County Executive Committee stands in opposition to Chairman Christ.
Thankfully, the voters knew better and on June 22, Gwen Withrow will be taking the gavel and will begin to clean up the mess that Chairman Christ and his wife have left behind. But rebuilding the party will not be easy and it seems that Withrow will have to do so while the disgraced former Chairman and his wife continue to try and sow discord in the party.
The Latest Attack
On Friday, May 10, Chairman Christ posted this threat accompanied with two Bible scriptures on his Facebook page. He tagged over 90 people in the original post, but some had removed their tag by the time the screen shot was taken.
People need to be aware that during Chairman Christ’s disastrous tenure, he has lost the party headquarters, disposed of all of the party’s assets, defaulted on a copier lease resulting in the lease going into collection for over $6,000, frivolously sued 18 volunteers including his political opponent, Gwen Withrow, and filed multiple baseless Texas Ethics Commission complaints, seemingly for the sole purpose of harassing the Montgomery County Republican Party Treasurer.
And based on Chairman Christ’s latest post, he is intent on continuing his bad behavior. This latest attempt to demoralize the local party comes at a time when Republicans should be locking arms to fight the leftist tyranny coming at us from all sides.
Meanwhile, Vice Chairman Jon Bouché continues to run the County Executive Committee Meetings as he has done for the entire biennium since Chairman Christ has refused to chair, or even attend, any meeting where he cannot win the vote.
On May 7, 2024, Chairman Christ sent out an email to the entire County Executive Committee in which he, once again, insinuated that the party’s treasurer had committed a crime.
Chairman Christ’s May 7th Email:
Good afternoon all current and future CEC members.
In the most recent TEC filing for Filer ID 00083126, Freedom Caucus members Charles Shirely and John Wertz reported using $12945 for “GOTV consulting” during the 2024 Primary. These dollars come from the general account funds that were formerly hosted in the Sunflower Bank account. I have looked diligently for evidence for GOTV during the 2024 Primary yet have to find anything of the kind. I would suggest this is a matter of concern for all members of the CEC and expect an answer from those responsible. Falsely reporting the purpose of expenditures to the TEC is a Class A misdemeanor.
Bryan Christ
MCRP Chairman
Vice Chairman Bouché responded on May 12th:
All Current and Future CEC Members,
On May 7, 2024, outgoing Chairman Bryan Christ sent an email titled, “$12k Expenditure Needs Explaining,” in which he strongly insinuated that $12,945 in party expenditures were falsely reported to the Texas Ethics Commission by Montgomery County Republican Party Treasurer Charles Shirley, and Assistant Treasurer John Wertz.
It is really unfortunate that Chairman Christ continues his divisive behavior during the final few weeks of his tenure. Had he attended the County Executive Committee (CEC) meetings and done his job as Chairman, he would have been aware of the vote to approve the Get Out the Vote (GOTV) budget and expenditures and would have at least a basic understanding of what is happening with the party that he chairs.
At this time, I would ask that all of you consider that if Chairman Christ, or anyone else for that matter, had a question about the party expenditures, they should have attended the most recent CEC Meeting on Tuesday, May 7, 2024, and inquired. According to the bylaws and Republican Party of Texas rules, that is how the party operates.
However, Chairman Christ‘s poor decision to instead send out an email to the entire team in an effort to cause division and cast aspersions on party officers was just another glaring example of his lack of leadership.
Folks, we have a lot of work to do and it is time to come together and get focused on keeping Montgomery County and Texas “Red” while getting President Trump back in the White House, and I am looking forward to working with you to accomplish all of that!
Sincerely,
Jon P. Bouché
Vice Chairman – Montgomery County Republican Party
We Must Come Together
Texas with its 40 electoral votes is second only to California, which has 54 electoral votes. As such, it is no wonder that the Democrats are working day and night to flip Texas into the “blue” column so that they can re-install “Crooked Joe” back into the White House. And while just about every large county in Texas has already turned “blue,” Montgomery County remains the “Reddest” of the large counties so all eyes are on Montgomery County to churn out the Republican vote and keep Texas “Red.”
We MUST come together and reject Chairman Christ’s divisive behavior and not let him distract us from the task at hand. Texas is counting on us!