by Mark McCaig
As the race for State Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas comes to a close, I wanted to share some last-minute news surrounding the race as well as some closing thoughts as the state convention approaches.
Vice-Chairman’s Race
Incumbent Vice-Chairman Amy Clark announced several months ago that she would not be seeking re-election to her position. There are currently two announced candidates for this position. Under RPT rules and the Texas Election Code, the State Chairman and Vice-Chairman must be of the opposite sex.
Here is a little bit about each of the announced candidates:
A longtime fixture in Bexar County Republican Politics, Alma-Perez Jackson served as a Republican Precinct chair for from 1987-2016 and was a member of the SREC from 2014-2016. Perez-Jackson has also been a Republican candidate for public office, having been the Republican nominee for State Representative District 125 in 2015 and a Republican candidate in the State Senate District 26 special election in 2015.
Former Republican National Committeewoman Denise McNamara was also running for Vice-Chairman until last week. McNamara’s campaign gained endorsements from Republican National Committeeman Robin Armstrong, current SREC members Stephen Broden (SD 23), Sue Evenwel (SD 1), J.T. Edwards (SD 11), and Mark Ramsey (SD 7), and the Conservative Coalition of Harris County. McNamara endorsed Jackson upon her withdrawal from the race and many of those who endorsed McNamara have followed suit in endorsing Jackson.
The only announced male candidate for Republican Party of Texas Vice-Chairman, Rangel has established himself as Cindy Asche’s unofficial running mate. A member of the SREC since 2016, Rangel was a candidate for San Antonio City Council in 2005, 2011, and 2015. Rangel also serves as a public member of the Broker Lawyer Committee of Texas Real Estate Committee, having been appointed to the position by Governor Abbott in 2016.
Although politically active for many years, Rangel is a newcomer to the Republican Party. Voting records obtained from Bexar county show that Rangel voted in a Republican primary election for the first time in 2012. Prior to that, Rangel consistently voted in Democratic primary elections.
Campaign finance records on file with the Texas Ethics Commission also reflect Rangel’s recent conversion to the Republican Party. Rangel made several contributions to the Northwest Democrats of Bexar County PAC between 2002 and 2012, with his last contribution made just one month before the 2012 Presidential election. Rangel did not begin making contributions to Republican candidates and organizations until 2015.
Rangel’s Facebook page touts endorsements from many of Cindy Asche’s biggest supporters including Asche’s mother, Donna Crocker, former RPT Chairman Tom Mechler, former RPT State Chairman candidate Rick Figueroa, and a handful of SREC members.
Anonymous Attacks Against James Dickey
Fred Rangel has also used his Facebook page to share content from “Texas Conservatives for Liberty and Freedom”, an anonymous Facebook page and e-mail list that has recently popped up as a vehicle for attacks on incumbent RPT State Chairman James Dickey. “Texas Conservatives for Liberty and Freedom” was soundly denounced by many conservatives for its use of strong invective and personal attacks against Dickey and graphic images it published portraying a villainous-looking Dickey alongside splattered blood.
Cindy Asche’s campaign even attempted to distance itself from the tactics of “Texas Conservatives for Liberty and Freedom”, issuing the following statement:
Our campaign received several questions about an email that was sent out about my opponent this morning and some social media posts that have followed.
I want to make it abundantly clear that neither I nor my campaign consultants or staff were aware of this group’s existence prior to the email this morning, nor do we know who is behind the group. This content was sent out without our knowledge or approval.
While we have provided information on relevant legal issues related to this race, every statement we have made has been backed up by extensive legal documentation. We do not condone smear campaigning.
At this point, we do not know if the person behind this is trying to help our campaign or hurt it by making it look like we are running a smear campaign.
If you receive any questions about the email or Facebook ads, please refer people to this statement. Let us know if we can provide any additional clarity.
Despite this denunciation, Rangel and many of Asche’s most prominent supporters have not hesitated to disseminate these smears against Dickey.
Campaign Fundraising and Spending
The recently released “8-day” campaign finance reports, covering campaign activity between May 6th through June 4th reflect James Dickey’s campaign having raised $35,509, spent $33,712, and no outstanding debt and Cindy Asche’s campaign having raised $1,900, spent $141,421.50, with $145,613.38 in outstanding debt (all personal loans) during this reporting period.
Asche’s extraordinary self-funding of her campaign has raised many eyebrows, especially since the office of State Chairman is a volunteer position and she has not previously been actively involved with Republican Party of Texas activities nor been a major donor to the Republican Party of Texas.
While Asche and her supporters have called Dickey’s fundraising ability into question and claim that Asche will be able to attract major donors to the Party that are not currently giving, Asche’s lack of fundraising for her own campaign calls into question whether she would be able to successfully raise funds for the Republican Party of Texas if elected. To the extent that Asche has raised money for her campaign, nearly half of those raised funds ($6,000) have come from former RPT State Chairman Tom Mechler.
Closing Thoughts
As I wrote here several weeks ago in a post defending James Dickey against unfair personal attacks lodged against him by the Asche campaign, I expressed my desire that the contested race for State Chairman would elevate to a contest of ideas about how to grow and strengthen the Republican Party of Texas. Unfortunately, this has not occurred.
Particularly troubling to me are the accusations from the Asche camp that many hardworking grassroots activists who have spent many years working within the Republican Party to grow the party and promote limited government, pro-family public policy are somehow Libertarian infiltrators who have worked to hijack the Republican Party and promote abortion and marijuana use. This rhetoric is not only wholly meritless (the vast majority of liberty-minded Republicans I know are strongly pro-life, just as Ron Paul and Rand Paul are), but completely undermines the message of party “unity” they claim to promote.
It’s also peculiar that they would accuse longtime Republican Party volunteers of trying to “infiltrate” and “hijack” the Republican Party, but at the same time embrace and promote the Vice-Chair candidacy of Fred Rangel who was voting in Democratic Party primary elections and making financial contributions to Democratic organizations in San Antonio when these liberty-minded Republicans were hard at work to bring new voters to the Republican Party and oppose the disastrous Obama agenda.
While this race has been unnecessarily divisive, we must not lose sight of what is at stake in November. Democratic candidates across Texas, and particularly Harris County, are increasingly embracing socialism openly and disparaging those who practice traditional Christianity. The Republican Party must make a clear distinction between pro-growth, limited-government policies we stand for and the socialist views espoused by many on the Democratic ticket. We must embrace those who have previously been apathetic politically or have been turned off by the Democratic Party’s shift to the far left.
While I personally support James Dickey, I know many of Cindy Asche’s supporters to be good people who care deeply about the success of the Republican Party at the ballot box and the Republican Party platform in the halls of the legislature. Despite the heated rhetoric of the campaign, it is imperative that all Texas Republicans unite around the Party leadership elected by the state convention delegates. Our time and effort after the convention must be focused on fighting Democrats, not other Republicans.
Good article Mark. Nicely written. I dont think many are paying attention at all to the vice chair race, and who this other guy even is or qualifications/experience. Had no idea who his endorsements were and who is being aligned with who. The VC race has been a sleeper so far, as the slash/burn divisive unecssiarily brutal campaign tacts of the Asche camp swinging swords at everything and everyone in reckless abandoned (reminiscent of the Sir Lancelot attacking the castle Phyton wedding feast scene in the Holy Grail classic) has eclipsed anything else in the upcoming convention.
Well said Mark
Can I ask a real general question – when people talk about the “libertarian” influence in the RPT are they referring to groups like Empower Texans, Right to Life, Eagle Forum, etc. or are they referring to something else?
I think they use the L-word as a swear-word to describe the constitutional and fiscal conservatives like Empower Texans, TRTL, Freedom caucus state reps, as well as other conservative groups and tea party orgs. They can’t go around calling the conservatives “conservatives” or they’d be laughed at by the grassroots, many of whom ARE conservative and Tea Party affiliated. You have to understand that a lot of moderate wing politics is about the public school lobby and spending lobbies that back Straus etc., with many ties to TASB and ISDs. They look at anyone who is not in the ‘more money for public schools’ camp as a ‘libertarian’.
The Chairman’s race is a no-brainer as far as I am concerned. The Asche campaign has been one of the nastiest campaigns I have ever seen outside of the Democratic Party. The fact that her major supporters are from the discredited “establishment” wing of the party seeking through whatever means necessary to re-establish their stranglehold on the voices of the Texas grassroots is enough for me to say not No…but Hell No! I truly have looked upon this race with disgust. Not once have I seen James Dickey stoop to the level of his opponent. Unlike the Vice-Chair race between Alma Jackson and Denise McNamara. I was at a statewide gathering of conservative leaders the weekend before Denise dropped out and threw her support to Alma. I listened as each candidate got up and gave her pitch as to why she should be the vice chair of the RPT. Each one STARTED by saying nice things about the other before going into reasons why we should vote for her. Note that they did not try to tear each other down but offered competing narratives based on their life stories, experience and vision. Ultimately, I believe that Denise’s heart was softened when she heard Alma that day. And with courage, principle and conviction she stood up and did what was right for Texas and the Republican Party, she dropped her bid and rallied to the support of Alma and the rest of the conservative grassroots. Not like the scorched-earth politics being played out by one side of the Chairman’s race. You people out there already know the truth. You’ve seen the mailers, heard the speeches, read the articles and observed the social media to be able to discern the truth between the Dickey and the Asche campaigns. The question now is what kind of Republican are you?
Well said, Dale!
Well said Dale!
Denise McNamara and Alma Jackson are both class acts, something Cindy Ashe could learn from!
SD 6 has proposed that the State and party do away with the requirement that the chair and vice chair be of the opposite sex. I don’t know how much traction it will get this year, but hopefully it will start people talking about the idea.
Before I jump in the weeds for those who don’t want to read this whole post, Cindy Asche is on record as supporting gender quotas in the Republican Party of Texas (RPT), James Dickey is not.
There is actually a U.S. Supreme Court case, Fong Eu, et al., vs. San Francisco DCC (489 U.S. 214), that seems to be on point with the gender quotas found in Texas Election Code §171.003(a). In that case, the California Legislature was micromanaging the California Democratic Party. If I recall correctly, among other things, they mandated that the Chairman and Vice-Chairman live either in Northern California and Southern California, respectively, or vice versa. And SCOTUS found that to be an unconstitutional infringement upon the California Democratic Party’s First Amendment right to freedom of association. I believe that TEC §171.003(a) was nullified by this Supreme Court case almost thirty YEARS ago, in 1989, yet remains on the books, so the RPT follows it.
Why are the gender quotas a problem? Here are two recent, real-world examples. In October 2009, State Chairman Tina Benkiser resigned mid-term to campaign for Governor Perry’s re-election, and by TEC §171.003(a) her vacancy had to be filled by the SREC. Since the incumbent State Vice-Chairman, Robin Armstrong, was a male and he chose not to resign, Benkiser’s replacement had to be a female. That meant that the two other persons interested in the job, Steve Munisteri and Tom Mechler, were prohibited from filling Benkiser’s vacancy, regardless of their experience, qualifications, or level of support. So the SREC followed state law and elected a female, Cathie Adams. It is impossible to know whether or not either Munisteri or Mechler would have won if this statute had not been in place, but the point is that the RPT can decide for ourselves who should lead our Party, NOT the Texas Legislature.
Then, in June 2010, after Steve Munisteri won a two-year term of his own at the State Convention, his State Vice-Chairman had to be a female, regardless of the fact that he might have had a trusted confidante that he wanted to help him lead the Party who happened to be male, and regardless of the fact that the incumbent State Vice-Chairman, Robin Armstrong, had been serving capably for several years and might have wanted to continue doing so, providing valuable insight and transition to the new State Chairman. Armstrong had to go, regardless of his experience, qualifications, or level of support. The exact same problem would have arisen had Munisteri and Armstrong both been females. Munisteri is actually a two-time victim of the gender quotas because in the 1980’s he was a very popular candidate for State Vice-Chairman but saw his campaign literally implode when the female candidate for State Chairman withdrew her candidacy AT the State Convention.
Bill Eastland and I tried to get the gender quotas abolished by the Texas Legislature three sessions ago, in 2013. Rep. Stephanie Klick sponsored the bill in the Texas House of Representatives, and it sailed through virtually unanimously because the Texas Democratic Party ALSO wants to ban the gender quotas. In fact, Glen Maxey, who actually WROTE the gender quotas into law in the 1970s or 1980s, was the Executive Director of the Texas Democratic Party in 2013, and testified in FAVOR of abolishing his OWN legislation because even a extreme leftist Democrat realized its unfairness and its real-world complications. But in the State Senate, from what I can tell, the bill never gained traction because Melinda Fredricks, who was then RPT Vice-Chairman, allegedly convinced then Lt. Governor David Dewhurst to quash it. So apparently we can thank Melinda Fredricks for the ongoing gender quotas in Texas.
The requirement should be eliminated. It is nothing more than an example of social engineering that looks like something that would have come from the Democrat Party of Texas not the RPT. A person’s gender has ZERO influence or consideration on my voting for them.
Big Jolly, I want to thank the 20 SREC members who gave me their endorsement as well as the countless encouraging messages from grassroots delegates. Your support meant a lot. My decision to withdraw was made to avoid having to fight both against the Mechler/Asche/Dashiell gang as well as a few on the Dickey team. In the end it was just not worth causing more division. Thanks especially to Dr. Robin Armstrong. See you all in San Antonio!
Thank you Denise. I respect you.
OMG! Did you see Asche “ash” herself at the RPT convention on Friday afternoon? Right there on the big stage on Friday, that stupid vindictive moron decided to viciously attack Dickie again for 4 minutes in front of everyone, but soon got booed off the stage. Then, the convention voted 5,000+ to 3,000+ to elect James Dickey. What a fitting end to a disgusting race run by “Miss Piggie”, whom she mimicked in her behavior. Then, Dickie ran an outstanding convention Saturday with Rules and Platform fairly, thoroughly, and well-presented and voted on, and everyone left seemingly united, until the SREC meeting afterwards. Kudos to Dickey, and Platform Chairman Houston’s SD 7 own Mark Ramsey, and Rules Chair Bruce Bishop (Dallas).
To the Hall of Shame Award List of fellow “Pigsters” with the Ash-one, you can add Lil’ Daddy Crocker, Tom Mechler, Tom Washington, RNC Toni Anne Dashielle, and that great Svengali-Karl Rove-like strategist (in his own delusional mind) fmr Straus lawyer Eric Opiela. He appears to be the one that chose the initial “Minority Report” strategy, that maneuvered her caucus vote in the morning from 4,000 down to 3,000 in the afternoon, with Dickie remaining at a firm 5,000+ votes both times. An awesome strategist he is not! Of course, using sometimes dense and dumb RNC Toni Anne Dashiell to introduce a non-delegate credentialed, RPT quitting-accountant at a floor microphone was truly priceless. Always nice to see a “disgruntled employee strategy” used on the floor of a convention (NOT!) to try and destroy a former employer, especially when it’s our hard-earned RPT. What a low class act that was by Eric et al, especially when subsequent information came out from Mechler’s own (and still current) RPT Executive Director contradicting her. Don’t report to work at the RPT in the morning Jennifer, Kyle will probably be filing an ethics complaint on you on CPA license, as he should. I guess she must not be the sharpest pencil in the pencil box, eh?
Then, at the SREC meeting after the convention adjourned, the brand new rookie SD 8 (North Dallas near Cindy) committeeman decides he wants a “forensic investigation”, even though Chair Dickey had just empowered the Audit Committee comprised of the two RNC and a few SREC, to conduct an immediate audit, so as to address any concerns anyone might have.
Of course, it was never about the finances or anything other than Joe Straus’s mini-mee’s trying to seek revenge on Chair Dickey for voting for him to be censured by the SREC. Supposedly, Straus wants this “blemish” removed, and wants to destroy Chair Dickey and takeover the party with one of his flunkies, like Cindy Crocker Asche. Hopefully, we’ll never see “Miss Piggie” up on the stage of any RPT Convention in the future.
Lastly, several elected officials speculated with me on County Judge Ed Emmett’s plans, once he’s been re-elected. Turns out, they say he will resign in February, three months after being elected to a 4 year term. What a corrupt crook he is, if he does that like his predecessor Robert Eckels did after his 2006 re-election. The big disgusting speculation from these folks is that Emmett wants to be replaced by St. Rep. Sarah Davis. Miss “Prp-Choice Poster Child” is the ultimate Straus loyalist. How disgusting can you get?
If true, Ed Emmett needs to resign his nominee position and let the HCRP EC choose his successor for the November ballot. Of course, like Eckels, he won’t do it. Why? Because he is a probable Napoleonic control freak that has to control even who succeeds him as County Judge. Sadly, Eversole, Radack, Eckels, Sylvia, and El Franco chose Ed in 2007, so maybe they’l all blow Ed off, and appoint someone with engineering background.
Anyone know more about Ed’s Grand Departure????
I know that you just made it up whole cloth with no evidence whatsoever. And, by the way, “Sadly, Eversole, Radack, Eckels, Sylvia, and El Franco chose Ed in 2007”???? Emmett has consistently been the GOP’s largest vote getter in 2008, 2010 and 2014 – so it’s WE THE PEOPLE who chose Ed. What kind of coward are you to hide behind Internet anonymity to make ridiculous accusations?
Last paragraph was not finished when posted:
If true, Ed Emmett needs to resign his nominee position and let the HCRP EC choose his successor for the November ballot. Of course, like Eckels, he won’t do it. Why? Because he is a probable Napoleonic control freak that has to control even who succeeds him as County Judge. Sadly, Eversole, Radack, Eckels, Sylvia, and El Franco chose Ed in 2007, so maybe the rest of the current Commissioners Court of Cagle, Radack, Moorman, and Rodney, will all blow Ed off, and appoint someone with engineering background, rather than a Democrat-like RINO lawyer and Speaker Straus’s Pet, Sarah Davis.
Anyone know more about Ed’s Grand Departure????
Interesting the article managed to avoid the elephant in the room of warnings from the party accounting director of Dickie’s financial shenanigans and his paying a fine for fraud against a nonprofit and his lame excuse that he was unfairly prosecuted 16-years-ago.