Sad, Disappointed, Frustrated, But Still Standing for Right!
June 24, 2023 | info@mctxgop.org
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX - The majority members of the Montgomery County Republican Party’s County Executive Committee (CEC) were saddened yesterday to learn that the Texas Supreme Court “denied” our Petition for Writ of Mandamus to compel the County Chairman to follow the laws of Texas, the rules of the state Party, and the bylaws of the County Party.
The Petition for Writ of Mandamus was filed at the suggestion of Republican Party of Texas leadership after we had exhausted every available path to resolve serious issues that began with the very first meeting of the newly elected CEC in July 2022. (See “How Did We Get Here.”)
The decision of the Texas Supreme Court does not come as a surprise since they have a long history of not getting entangled in political party disputes. You can find out more about this process by referring to this article written on March 20, 2023.
It also is not surprising that the Chairman and his attorney declared victory simply because the Supreme Court would not force the Chairman to do his job. That is what the Chairman would like the public to believe, but the reality is that the Supreme Court did not side with Chairman Christ nor did they say his actions were proper. They simply denied a hearing.
The Supreme Court’s denial signals that political party disputes must be handled within the party without intervention from the courts, clearing the way for the Republican Party of Texas to take action.
In his press release yesterday, the Chairman made several misleading and false statements:
He continued to use the term “Freedom Caucus” instead of correctly recognizing that the majority of the Montgomery County Republican Party CEC took this legal action against him.
The Chairman and his lawyer falsely accused the duly elected Vice Chairman, Jon Bouché, of orchestrating the lawsuit, a diversionary tactic by the Chairman to avoid addressing his own refusal to follow Party bylaws and perform his statutory duties. You can find out more about Vice Chairman Jon Bouché by watching this video.
The Chairman also made the false statement that the loss of the County Party Headquarters was a result of the lawsuit. The reality is the Headquarters was closed without any notification to the CEC, while the majority was continuing to pay the rent. You can read more about that here.
He claimed that the lawsuit resulted in the “diversion of tens of thousands of donors’ dollars away from the control of the CEC by Jon Bouché, Charles Shirley, and John Wertz,” when in fact the CEC voted on August 13, 2022, to replace the Chairman on the CEC bank account so he would be unable to divert funds away from Get Out the Vote efforts to his “Montgomery County Republican Club PAC,” which he is currently doing with the bank account he still controls. The Montgomery County Republican Party CEC has already ruled on our Chairman’s actions. Nothing has changed with the Texas Supreme Court deciding to pass on hearing this case.
We must continue to oppose Chairman Christ’s efforts to divide and disrupt the Party while replacing it with his “Montgomery County Republican Club PAC,” which is not affiliated with the Republican Party of Texas and, according to his own statements, allows the Chairman to circumvent the decisions of the duly elected Party majority.
The attorney for the Montgomery County Republican Party majority is considering all options at this time and the Party majority is looking to the Republican Party of Texas to enforce its own rules. In the meantime, the Party will continue to focus on electing strong Conservatives.
Montgomery County is critical to keeping Texas “red.” We cannot turn a blind eye when state laws, Party rules, and Party bylaws are swept under the rug, even if that would be the easy route. Too much is at stake in our county, state, and nation.