Revenge of the RINOs
Grassroots Republicans fill the gallery at the Texas Capitol on January 12.
May 21, 2023 | Montgomery County, TX
Texans have been watching our state slide toward purple for several years now. In the 2020 presidential election, Democrats comprised an alarming 46.5 percent of the vote in the Lone Star State. There are many reasons for this voter demographic shift, but some portion of the blame can certainly be placed on a slew of elected Republican officials who have abandoned President Reagan’s vision of a Republican Party platform of bold, unmistakable colors and have instead covered themselves in pale pastels.
Republican delegates seek accountability at the state convention
In June 2022, thousands of Republicans descended upon Houston for the Texas GOP Convention. They were determined to turn the Party back to those bold colors. Accountability was on the menu and the overwhelmingly conservative majority in attendance adopted very impactful Legislative Priorities to help Texas stay “Red.” And with the countenance of steely-eyed missile men, the convention attendees were determined to hold any wavering elected Republicans accountable to those Party principles.
The message of this convention could be summed up as follows: The Republican Party Legislative Priorities are actually priorities and not simply preferences to be dismissed, and there would be consequences for those who continued to ignore the will of the Party.
The Legislative Priorities that were adopted are as follows:
Protect Our Elections and Close the Primaries
Secure the Border
Ban Gender Modification of Children
Stop Sexualizing Texas Kids by repealing the “Obscenity Exception” in the Texas Penal Code 43.24(c)
Ban Democrat Chairs
Abolish Abortion in Texas
Defend Gun Rights
Parental Rights and Educational Freedom
At the close of the convention, the members of the Republican Party of Texas were determined to get the state back on track by holding our elected Republican leaders accountable to the platform, Party principles, and to the oath they took when they entered office. Something had to break. Were the “Pastel Republicans” going to come back to the Party they had all but abandoned? Were they going to just continue to do what they had been doing and risk facing the wrath of the Party? Or would they strike back against the Party for trying to box them in and hold them accountable?
The RINOs strike back during Legislative Session
When the 88th Texas Legislative Session began on January 9, 2023, the Party received the answer to this question as it became abundantly clear that the “Pastel Republicans” would use this legislative session to try and destroy the Republican Party of Texas as they wrote laws to marginalize the Party’s power and influence in Texas.
House Bill 1635
District 83 House Representative Dustin Burrows out of Lubbock, who is considered by his colleagues to be among the most moderate of Republican House members, took the lead in attacking the Republican Party of Texas with his own House Bill 1635. If passed into law, HB 1635 would eliminate the Republican Party’s ability to disassociate with any candidate who refused to follow Party principles or Party rules.
Under HB 1635, anyone who met the eligibility requirements as outlined in the Texas Election Code could fill out an application to get on the ballot and run for office under the Republican brand - even if they did not believe anything that the Party believes or follow the Party rules. Under Burrows’ bill, the Party would be powerless to do anything about it.
Burrows’ HB 1635 was clearly designed to keep the Party from holding elected officials accountable under Republican Party of Texas Rules and it certainly seems to violate the Party’s First Amendment Right of Freedom of Association.
House Bill 4636
The next salvo in the attack on the Republican Party came in the form of HB 4636, which was presented by District 13 House Representative Angelia Orr, another legislator with an R behind her name. Representative Orr is married to Webb County Republican Chairman William Orr. HB 4636 consolidates all power and authority of the County Executive Committee into the County Chair, thus obviating the need to even have an elected County Executive Committee made up of Precinct Chairs because the County Chair would be a dictator with all of the power under HB 4636.
It would certainly seem to be a clear and shameless conflict of interest to have an elected official trying to give complete and total control of the local Republican Party to her spouse, but that is exactly what Orr presented with her bill.
A group who testified against Orr’s bill at the Capitol on April 13 were notified by one of Orr’s staff members that HB 4636 was written by Attorney Eric Opiela, who is representing the rogue County Chairman in Montgomery County, Bryan Christ, in a case before the Texas Supreme Court.
The case against Chairman Christ was filed by the majority of the Montgomery County Republican Party because of Christ’s multiple violations of Party rules, the Texas Election Code, and the Texas Penal Code. While Texas courts are typically reticent to get involved in political party matters, a fact it seems Chairman Christ and his attorney are relying on, the Texas Supreme Court is taking a good long look at this case and ordered Opiela to respond to the court by May 15, 2023.
In his response to the court, Opiela began by decrying that the court is even considering the matter since the Republican Party is a political organization and the courts have a history of avoiding such cases. While it is true that the courts are reticent to get involved in political disputes, perhaps Chairman Christ’s actions are so egregious that the courts are breaking with tradition in this case.
To some it seemed that Opiela and Orr’s HB 4636 was not only written to consolidate power to the County Chair, but also specifically to try and undercut the Texas Supreme Court filing against Chairman Christ.
When presented in committee, Orr’s HB 4636 was met with overwhelming opposition both online and in person from grassroots Republican Party members all across Texas and was also opposed by the Republican Party of Texas. Only a handful of county chairs and Opiela, the attorney who wrote HB 4636, showed up to testify in favor of the bill.
On April 13, when the testimony was complete and in front of the House Elections Committee, the opposition to HB 4636 greatly outnumbered the supporters, so the bill was left pending in committee. Many thought HB 4636 was dead, and when the House Elections Committee met again on April 23 to address pending business, HB 4636 was not even on the agenda.
For a moment, it appeared that the Elections Committee had actually listened to all of the opposition and that the bill would indeed die in committee. However, in the dead of night on April 24, the Elections Committee brought up HB 4636 again and passed it by a vote of 8-1 with only District 150 House Representative Valoree Swanson voting in opposition.
You may ask yourself, “How does a bill that is so unpopular and clearly goes against the Republican form of governance get passed?” The answer is simple. The “Pastel Republicans,” such as Speaker of the House Dade Phelan, Representative Dustin Burrows, and Representative Angelia Orr wanted it to pass and used their power and influence to push it through.
Republicans on the Elections Committee who voted for this bill, which creates a dictatorship on the County Executive Committee, showed their true colors by voting to do away with the voice of the Precinct Chairs, the elected office closest to the people they represent.
Republican Representatives on the House Elections Committee who voted for HB 4636:
District 62 Chairman Reggie Smith (Committee Chairman)
District 83 Representative Dustin Burrows
District 98 Representative Giovanni Capriglione
District 133 Representative Mano DeAyala
While Representative Burrows’ HB 1635 has been referred to the Senate State Affairs Committee, Representative Orr’s HB 4636 was put on the General State Calendar for May 11, 2023 where it died without a vote.
TAKE ACTION
If you want to preserve the Republican Party as a “bottom-up,” grassroots organization, please contact the Senate Committee on State Affairs and ask them to oppose HB 1635.
Chairman - Sen. Bryan Hughes
Vice Chair - Sen. Angela Paxton
Members: