Big Jolly Politics

politics in Harris County and Texas

HCRP Chair race – Paul Simpson's response to questions raised

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(note: this post is in response to a post by David Jennings on 2/6/14 about the Harris County Republican Party chair race)

Paul Simpson campaign banner

David,

This is to respond to some questions you raised in your post today, to clarify where I stand on issues important to Republicans and why I can lead the fight to restore the Harris County to a be a Republican stronghold.

You write about the shrinking influence of the County Party during Jared Woodfill’s 12-year reign. So does our campaign website and literature. That’s a direct result of the Party’s losing elections and shrinking footprint on the ground. As County Chair, I will continue to do what I have long done – work in the trenches across Harris County to elect Republicans. Like how my group of volunteers four years ago created, for virtually no cost using open-source software, the Precinct Manager tool that gives precinct chairs online access to their precinct voter data, and to other precinct chairs, with built-in communications ability, 24/7 – and made it available for free to Republican precinct chairs. Meantime, the County Party has spent some $45,000 this past year on a tool that is still not operational.

You also write about how the Party fills precinct chair vacancies between elections. We have to be smarter. A party is a coalition. Winning in politics means building coalitions with those we don’t always agree with on everything. This is not a matter of principle, but a question of tactics. Because a party that advances no principles is meaningless. But a party that wins no elections is irrelevant.

Rebuilding our grassroots army will not happen overnight, but must begin right away. I will bring together paid staff and volunteers in task forces immediately to target key precincts throughout Harris County, in strong Republican areas and in competitive districts, to identify, recruit, and train precinct chairs who can identify, persuade, and turn out conservative minded voters. It will take focus from the top, organizational ability, and sustained effort to go into such precincts and identify enthusiastic Republicans and recruit them as precinct chairs. I can and will do that.

This is important because whatever 12-year incumbent Woodfill does is hurting our Party and losing our cause. For example, Democrats won 14 of 23 district judicial races in 2012 by an average of under 6,340 votes. That’s fewer than 6 votes per precinct – and fewer than 11 votes in each currently vacant precinct. We can win such races by turning out more voters in precincts where we have chairs, and by recruiting and training precinct chairs where we have none today. The Fort Bend County Republican Party under Mike Gibson is showing how it can be done. I can and will do that.

You also write that you “know that many of Paul’s advisors are urging him to drop social conservatives from the mix.” That’s news to me, because it’s just wrong. To the contrary, I’m grateful for the support of known social conservatives such as George Strake, Jr., and Maria Espinoza, who have endorsed our campaign. If someone advised me to drop social conservatives, I would tell him he was mistaken, as I have said to any who actually ask me instead of repeating mistruths and rumor spread by our opposition. In fact, if I were to drop social conservatives, I would have to drop out of the race, because I am myself a social conservative. I’m pro-life, always have been, and a whispered smear campaign will not change that fact.

Social conservative principles are essential tenets of our Party, our platform, and our beliefs. Social conservatives give our Party conscience, and heart. As a lifelong Catholic, I believe in my church’s teachings on such issues, including life and marriage. The Republican Party must remain the pro-life party, as that is the correct, and truly compassionate, position. And it is not conservative to toss out institutions that have endured for centuries, including traditional marriage.

Your post also asks about Party finances. The Party could hardly do worse: it is over 80{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} funded by its own candidates. The County Party must stop being a mouth, and become a helping hand to its candidates. But the Party long ago lost trust of the business community that could help fund it. The 12-year incumbent Chairman who was sued by a New York hedge fund for defaulting on millions of dollars in debt that had financed some 400 plaintiffs’ personal injury lawsuits he had drummed up against a Texas company in Somerville – who has never allowed outside audits of the Party’s books – who will not adopt budgets – who relies on cronyism to spend Party money – cannot win back the business community’s trust. Our candidates and activists deserve better. Outside audits, bidding for expenditures, and ending cronyism are essential to bringing our donors back, to win elections for our cause. I can and will do all of that.

As I have done on the grassroots side, the proof is in the pudding, because doing is better than talking. I have chaired a school board that raised millions of dollars with audits and budgets. My campaign’s last two finance reports show we already raised $163,845.69 from over 125 donors. We did that by bringing together the business community and the grassroots. As County Chair, I will continue to do so, so our Republican candidates do not have to fund Party operations. I can and will do that.

The 12-year incumbent would like to make this race about anything other than the current state of the Harris County Republican Party. If it turned on spin, he could win. But spin cannot change the facts. Despite all his talk, we have been losing Harris County to the Democrats, including close races we should be winning.

I am not running for County Chair to talk. I am running to restore independence and integrity to the Party, to once again make Harris County a Republican stronghold. Thanks for the opportunity to respond. See you on the trail.

Paul Simpson
Candidate for Harris County Republican Party Chair

Website: SimpsonforGOPChair.com

 

Abusive IRS Tactics Stymied the Katy Tea Party Leading up to the 2012 Election

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Paul Simpson
Paul Simpson

Abuses like those other Tea Party groups suffered at the hands of the Internal Revenue Service stymied the Katy (Texas) Tea Party’s efforts at a critical time leading to the 2012 elections, said the group’s former president, Darcy Kahrhoff.

Darcy this week disclosed the written demands different IRS offices issued from 2010 to 2012, detailing intrusive delay tactics that led to the Katy Tea Party abandoning its application for tax-exempt status.  But the IRS, having ensnared the volunteer group in a Catch-22 web, then assessed the group fines and penalties for delays resulting from the IRS’s own foot‑dragging and ultimate failure to decide the group’s tax status until the effort was abandoned.

In 2009, the Katy Tea Party applied to the IRS for tax-exempt status.  By early 2010, the group supplied basic information requested about its activities that qualified it for tax-exempt status.  But the IRS repeatedly demanded more information and records without ever deciding anything.

The Cincinnati, Ohio office of the IRS wrote the Katy Tea Party in September 2010, demanding, under penalty of perjury, voluminous items such as all Facebook, Twitter, and Meetup materials; resumes of all the volunteer Board members; descriptions of any rallies; materials promoting candidate forums; meeting agendas; and copies of any distributed materials presented.

Over a year passed.  Darcy said that, in response to the group’s repeated telephone inquiries, the IRS simply said it was “under review.”

The IRS finally replied in January 2012.  This time, the El Monte, California office of the IRS sent an expanded three-page list demanding detailed descriptions – still under penalty of perjury – of the Katy Tea Party’s activities since the October 2010 letter; the details of any events the group had conducted – or would conduct – in 2012 or 2013, including names of participants and volunteers, expenses, and any video or audio recordings; copies of all communications, advertisements, and distributed materials; and volunteers “shared” with other groups; how the group obtained information on current legislation; and details about how the Katy Tea Party website operated, including who selects information for the site, online advertisements, and even “the turn‑around time to post” on the website.

After this last request, the IRS told the Katy Tea Party in February 2012 that its application had been assigned to yet another agent, who had “about two pages of additional questions.”  The IRS agent then admitted that the IRS had not approved any tea party applications in the prior two years, and they were all on hold while the IRS “figured out what to do” with them.

The Katy Tea Party then abandoned its application and re-filed its tax returns, only to have the IRS assess fines for late-filing its new returns.

The Katy Tea Party stated the actions of the IRS over a nearly three‑year span seriously impeded the group’s effectiveness.  With its tax status in limbo, donors hesitated.  The IRS’s demands consumed limited resources and much of the group’s attention.  However, Darcy Kahrhoff says, “If the IRS wanted to impede the resurgence of liberty in this country, it temporarily succeeded.  But we will fight on.  We will win.  Our country needs us.”

Conservatives knew that putting a community organizer from the south side of Chicago into the White House would lead to thuggery like these IRS abuses. And in their crusade to “fundamentally transform” our country, Leftists will use any tool to eliminate their opponents – us.

For their long march through the institutions to dictate every facet of our lives, the Left needs to win Texas.  To do that it needs win Harris County.  Like the Left, conservatives need to think globally, but act locally.  The battleground is here, and now.  The price of liberty truly is eternal vigilance.  But as Maggie Thatcher said, there are no permanent victories in politics, so there are no permanent losses.

So bring it on.

 

Paul Simpson is a lifelong conservative Republican grassroots activist, campaign organizer, and former Harris County Republican Party precinct chair, district chair, legal counsel, and treasurer; a lawyer, engineer, husband, and dad; and co-founder of Harris County ConservativesInAction.  He has also been legal counsel for the Katy Tea Party. You can contact him at [email protected].

 

 

Will we let more cowbell deliver Harris County to the Left?

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Paul Simpson
Paul Simpson

On the heels of David Jennings’ pointed article on Chris Busby’s recent experience before the Harris County Republican Party Vacancy Committee, Chris Busby’s follow-up, and buzz and comments among activists, is there more to say?  Yeah.  Lots.  Let’s keep talking.

There’s always tension between political activists, and their party’s candidates and officeholders.  Activists advance principles.  A party elects candidates.  But their interests have to be balanced.  A party that advances no principles is meaningless.  But a party that wins no elections is irrelevant.

Everyone has a pet reason for the GOP losses in 2012.  You can fault almost any factor when elections are close.  I for one don’t believe standing for traditional principles is to blame.  Not only should we stand for our beliefs – we can win with them.  The Reagan/Edmund Burke/Bill Buckley coalition of economic, social, and foreign policy conservatives is still viable.  But it needs updating.

I believe the Texas GOP has the right policies in place.  But the irony is that demanding adherence on every issue can lose them all.  How critical is opposing initiative and referendum?  Or limiting jury service to registered voters?  Did you know those are positions in the Texas GOP platform?  Enforcing purity at all levels of party activism is not a winning formula.  A party is a coalition.  Winning in politics means building coalitions with those we don’t always agree with on everything.

We need what some call “infighting” to forge a new path for the GOP in Harris County.  That means those of us who call ourselves conservative – including those of us who are pro-life and socially conservative – have to keep the big picture in mind.  The status quo is hurting the cause of all conservatives, economic and social, because we are losing Harris County.  More of the same – more of the status quo, more cowbell – will deliver Harris County to the Left for the foreseeable future.

Consultants and paid opinion makers exert too much influence in Harris County Republican primaries.  Chasing money and (short-term) power, they fiddle while the Party burns.  They play in the primary sandbox – focusing on winning half of the mere 8{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} to 12{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of voters who bother to vote in springtime Republican primaries.  Then the GOP gets washed away by the waves of November elections.

This ain’t news.  The Democrats have won the top of the ticket in Harris County three cycles in a row: 2008, 2010, and 2012.  That followed the Dem takeover of Dallas in 2006.  The Republican Party in Harris County has shriveled for over a decade.  In the mid‑90s, there were over 700 Republican Precinct chairs in Harris County.  Today, the County GOP has fewer than 500 precinct chairs – a 30{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} decline in the face of a 40{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} greater County population (3 million then; over 4.2 million today).

Where do these trends lead?  Do we abandon the urban battleground – in Houston, the most ethnically diverse big city in the country – so the Democrats can occupy it uncontested?  Can the Harris County Republican Party keep retreating west, until it ends up in Waller County?

Something’s gotta change.

Let’s learn from the Left.  After getting whupped in 2004, the Democrats doubled down on their statist ideology, fortified by their Right & Left Coast cultural shock troops.  They built coalitions of like‑but‑not‑identically‑minded people with a focus on advancing their cause, by little steps and big steps.  They won Colorado.  But it’s not plausible that our country swerved so far to the Left so quickly.  Rather, our side has been outmaneuvered and outhustled for a decade, locally and nationally.  Read The Blueprint and Inside the Cave see what the Left has been up to.  And now they have Texas in their sights.

We need to get serious about winning Harris County.  That means more grassroots activism, reaching real voters in communities the GOP has long ignored.  The GOP needs better (modern!) technology, real marketing, sound finances, empowered activists.  Quit preaching to the choir and start winning converts.  We need to focus on beating Democrats and the Left.

Harris County ConservativesInAction is focused on equipping and training our activists with tools they can used to win elections.  We will work this year with GOP activists, trainers, and precinct chairs, and other conservative groups across Harris County to help grassroots be more effective in their neighborhoods and precincts to win elections.  We ask those with interest, ability, or money to pitch in. We need your help.  Rome wasn’t built, and Harris County can’t be regained, overnight.  But enough of us working together can carry the day.  Don’t wait.  Our country is at stake.

 

Paul Simpson is a lifelong conservative Republican grassroots activist, campaign organizer, and former Harris County Republican Party precinct chair, legal counsel, and treasurer; a lawyer, engineer, husband, and dad; and co-founder of Harris County ConservativesInAction.  You can contact him at [email protected].