Trick-or-Treat Politics: Local Democrats Masquerading as Republicans
October 20, 2023 | Montgomery County, TX
by Jon Bouché, Vice Chairman, Montgomery County Republican Party
The weather is cooling down and Halloween is upon us!
This is the time of year when we see many scary costumes. There will be people dressing up like ghosts, goblins, witches, and monsters of all kinds, and we will also see people donning costumes of their favorite superheroes, storybook characters, or just fun costumes to make people giggle.
But voters should beware because this is also the time of year just prior to election season when Democrats masquerade as Republicans to try and con their way into office.
Democrat Danto Running as a Republican
One such race where you can clearly see a Democrat pretending to be a Republican is in the race for Position 5 on The Woodlands Township Board.
The incumbent, Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, is a former U.S. Congresswoman and a staunch Conservative who has consistently and fearlessly stood up for Republican Party Principles and against the “woke mob.”
In contrast, her Democrat opponent, Tricia Danto, has only recently voted Republican and seemingly only did so for the sole purpose of presenting herself as a Republican in this upcoming election.
Danto’s neighbors have confirmed that she is a Democrat and frequently has the campaign signs of Democrats in her yard at election time…Danto has only donated to Democrats and Democrat organizations, such as ActBlue and Beto for Texas.
Danto’s neighbors have confirmed that she is a Democrat and frequently has the campaign signs of Democrats in her yard at election time, but if you go to her social media pages, you will see that she has scrubbed her social media and removed any anti-Republican pictures or posts. But what Mrs. Danto could not scrub was what is already in the public forum beyond her control, such as her political donation records as posted on opensecrets.org, TransparencyUSA.org, and FEC.gov, the Federal Election Commission website. A quick review of the information on these websites shows that Danto has only donated to Democrats and Democrat organizations, such as ActBlue and Beto for Texas.
Tricia Danto’s contributions to ActBlue:
Tricia Danto’s contributions to Beto for Texas:
Tricia Danto’s donations to Steve Toth’s Democrat challenger:
Aside from donating multiple times to ActBlue and Beto For Texas, voters should also note that in the Texas House 15 District Race, Danto donated to Kristin Johnson (D) against Rep. Steve Toth (R), who is one of the most conservative members of the Texas House.
Danto Masquerading as a “Lifelong Conservative”
Despite having a well-documented record of donating to leftist organizations that are trying to flip Texas “blue,” Danto is now presenting herself to voters as a “lifelong conservative.”
And sadly but predictably, the “Good Ole Boy” RINOs here in Montgomery County are filing in behind Danto because they and the Democrats share a common enemy in small government Conservatives like Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.
Montgomery County RINOs and Democrats share a common enemy in small government Conservatives like Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs.
What’s in a Name?
A favorite tactic used by the Democrats and RINOs is to form Political Action Committees (PACs) with names that belie their intended purposes. One group, calling itself the “Preserve The Woodlands PAC,” endorsed Democrats pretending to be Republicans in recent election cycles. There are other such “Good Ole Boy” RINO PACs in Montgomery County like the Republican Voters of Texas PAC and Montgomery County Republican Club PAC, which also work with Democrats against Conservative Republicans during Primary Elections.
These two PACs, or some other deceptively named PAC with the word “Republican” in it, will undoubtedly be endorsing many of these RINO and Democrat candidates in the upcoming Primary Election so voters need to be aware of this.
Unfortunately, Montgomery County Republican Party Chairman Bryan Christ and his wife Kristin, who is a paid political consultant, are two of the biggest perpetrators of this type of dirty electioneering. While it is a clear conflict of interest for the chairman of the local party to orchestrate this deception, which helps his wife’s paying clients and increases his own household income, that doesn’t seem to bother Chairman Christ as long as it is profitable and he can get away with it.
Montgomery County Republican Party Endorses Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs
While the Montgomery County Republican Party does not endorse in Primary Elections when the race is “Republican vs. Republican,” the local party has officially endorsed Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs as a proven Republican against her opponent, Tricia Danto, who is undeniably a supporter of Democrats.
Resolution Endorsing Dr. Shelley Sekula-Gibbs for The Woodlands Township, Position 5
In consideration of the ongoing threat posed by these fake Republican PACs’ continued attempts to hijack the Republican Party brand, there is a growing discussion within the local Republican Party about breaking tradition and putting forth a resolution to oppose any candidates who participate in fake “Republican” PACs that are working to defeat Conservative Republicans and divide our local Republican Party.
How Voters Can Help
If we are to keep Montgomery County “Red,” the local Republican Party must protect its brand and not allow it to be stolen by groups like the Republican Voters of Texas PAC or the Montgomery County Republican Club PAC.
Voters need to take a stand to cut this cancer out of our county and vote against every single elected official who is funding this deception and dividing the local Republican Party.
Republicans should vote for the candidates who support the Republican Party Principles and Platform. If you want to help the local party and meet these great candidates, join us for our Drive the Vote Golf Tournament fundraiser on November 6. For more information and to see a list of donors to the local Republican Party, go to mctxgop.org/golf.
Jon Bouché is Vice Chairman of the Montgomery County Republican Party and serves on the Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District Board of Directors. He is the host of Red Zone Politics and co-host of Texas Fully Loaded. He was the 2019 Republican Party Volunteer of the Year for SD 4 and served at the 2022 State Convention on the Platform Committee and as Chair of the Criminal and Civil Justice Committee.