Stop the Gaslighting! The Truth About the Texas Supreme Court’s Denial of Rehearing
August 12, 2023 | info@mctxgop.org
MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX - The Texas Supreme Court has denied the motion for rehearing of the Petition for Writ of Mandamus filed on behalf of the majority members of the Montgomery County Republican Party’s County Executive Committee (CEC).
Right on cue, Chairman Bryan Christ claimed victory in an email this morning, slinging accusations and mistruths at the party majority. He’s attempting to use a procedural denial to insinuate that the Supreme Court sided with him, all the while knowing that the denial simply indicates that the Supreme Court will not hear the case.
The party was encouraged to file the motion for rehearing because sometimes upon a second request for hearing, the Supreme Court will provide a reason for denying to hear the case; however, no reason for the denial was given.
The original Petition for Writ of Mandamus was filed at the suggestion of Republican Party of Texas leadership after the CEC majority had exhausted every available path to resolve serious issues with Chairman Bryan Christ that began with the very first meeting of the newly elected CEC in July 2022. (See “How Did We Get Here.”)
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.
The Supreme Court did not side with the chairman. They simply denied a hearing, signaling that political party disputes must be handled within the party without intervention from the courts. The denial clears the way for the Republican Party of Texas to take action by enforcing their own rules if they choose to do so. The Supreme Court’s decision 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.
More Gaslighting From the Chairman
Chairman Christ continues to use the terms “Freedom Caucus” and “Tea Party” in his communications instead of correctly recognizing that the majority of the Montgomery County Republican Party CEC took this legal action against him. Yet he claims that he wants to bring unity to the party. You can read more about the Freedom Caucus and Tea Party here and ways to bring unity to the party here.
Although Chairman Christ’s email cites the shrinking margins of victory for Republicans in Texas, including the close race between Governor Abbott and Democrat challenger O'Rourke, Chairman Christ and his crew don't show up at all to help during the General Election when Democrats are on the ballot. They only work the Primary Elections against Conservative Republicans and sometimes even align themselves with Democrats in our open Primaries if they think it will help them defeat Conservatives.
Meanwhile, the party majority participates in block walking, fundraising, phone calls, working the parking lots, and much more during the General Election to get Republicans elected and keep Montgomery County RED - with no help from our county chairman.
Efforts To Unify the Party
Chairman Christ also claims that he has tried to work with the party majority, citing a statement made in his last “victory” email. This was not an effort to make personal contact with any member of the party majority - it was a sentence in a divisive email that voters are supposed to believe is an effort to unify the party.
In reality, multiple personal efforts made by the party majority to work with Chairman Christ have been rebuffed, including a mediation effort led by the Republican Party of Texas. (Please note that this document states “confidential,” but has been cleared for release.)
If you doubt the efforts made by the party majority, we encourage you to contact Republican Party of Texas Chairman Matt Rinaldi for confirmation of the mediation report and attempts at holding our rogue chairman accountable on behalf of Montgomery County voters.
Multiple efforts made by the party majority to work with Chairman Christ have been rebuffed, including a mediation effort led by the Republican Party of Texas.
Notably, Chairman Christ states in his email, "Party members must work through differences and focus on the conservative principles that all Republicans share: the value for life, free markets, protection of constitutional rights, and deep faith in God." Chairman Christ had the opportunity to put this statement into action when the majority of the Montgomery County Republican Party hosted the recent "Full Armor of God" prayer event. Volunteers worked tirelessly to put on this event to cover our elected officials in prayer against the constant and relentless attacks they are facing.
Unfortunately, Chairman Christ refused to attend and his followers boycotted the event, even sending a slanderous email to an elected official the day before the prayer meeting. Instead of "working through differences," Chairman Christ chose to malign the volunteers bringing the county together to pray Ephesians 6:11-18 over our elected officials.
The Crony Award
Finally, Chairman Christ touts the recent award he received from the Texas Republican County Chair Association. It is important for the public to understand that after he closed down the local Republican Party Headquarters and liquidated the party’s assets, Chairman Christ then sent the Waller County Chair and Texas Republican County Chairs Association (TRCCA) President David Luther some equipment belonging to the local party. It seems in return, Luther then gave Chairman Christ a leadership award from his TRCCA. It should be noted that the County Executive Committee did not authorize any transfer of equipment to Waller County and many on the County Executive Committee consider what Chairman Christ did as theft.
Chairman Christ is attempting to circumvent the decisions of the duly elected party majority - the representatives of our local precincts and neighborhoods.
Next Steps
Chairman Christ is using the age-old tactic of gaslighting the public to get what he wants. We must continue to educate voters and 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 representatives of our local precincts and neighborhoods!
In the meantime, the CEC majority is focusing all of our efforts on increasing voter turnout for the November 7 Constitutional Amendments Election and electing strong Conservatives in the March 5 Primary Election.
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