As I said, I’ve been reviewing various campaign finance reports from Harris County Republicans. I soon noticed that PO Box 2606, zip code 77252, was showing up on many reports under various payee names. I thought that was odd and decided to look further into it. Searching the campaign finance reports at the Texas Ethics Commission yielded 123 different transactions, totaling $128,771.54 between September 2003 and April of 2009.
| Year | Total |
| 2003 | $ 1,500.00 |
| 2004 | $ 12,630.00 |
| 2005 | $ 38,049.75 |
| 2006 | $ 25.609.15 |
| 2007 | $ 29,697.24 |
| 2008 | $ 20,285.00 |
| 2009 | $ 1,000.00 |
These 123 transactions, totaling $ 128,771.54 represent payments to ten different entities:
| Payee | Amount |
| The Adams Group | $ 48,956.54 |
| CLOUT | $ 1,500.00 |
| Eagle Forum | $ 2,900.00 |
| Harmon, Peg | $ 345.00 |
| Houston Area Pastor Council | $ 20,070.00 |
| Jared Woodfill Campaign | $ 3,200.00 |
| Justice Foundation | $ 10,850.00 |
| Living Water International | $ 2,500.00 |
| The Urban Alternative | $ 600.00 |
| Vision America | $ 37,850.00 |
A quick Google search shows that the primary handler of PO Box 2606 is Dave Welch. Mr. Welch is the founder and Executive Director of the US Pastor Council, which umbrellas the Houston Area Pastor Council. He is also President of The Adams Group. In addition to those formal roles, he also represents Vision America. At a breakfast that I attended, he was passing out flyers for Vision America’s AMERICA plan.
The list of contributors to PO Box 2606 reads like a Who’s Who of the HCRP and Texas Republicans, mixed in with a few oddities (a Plumbers Union giving Jared Woodfill $1,000?).
- Alcala, Elsa
- Anderson, Devon
- Anderson, John
- Anderson, Mike
- Bernal, David
- Bohac, Dwayne
- Bradshaw-Hull, Lynn
- Bridgewater, Roger
- Callegari, Bill
- Chisum, Warren
- Donovan, John
- Elkins, Gary
- Elrod, Jennifer
- Farr, David
- Fletcher, Allen
- Friends of Judge Ken Wise
- Friends of Kyle Janek
- Friends of Susan Combs
- Frost, Kern Thompson
- Galik, Annette
- Guzman, Eva
- Haley, Dan PAC
- Hamric, Peggy
- Hedges, Adele
- Heflin, Talmadge
- Higley, Laura
- Howard, Charlie
- Janek, Kyle
- Keyes, Evelyn
- Nichols, Robert
- Nixon, Joe
- Patrick, Dan
- Patterson, Jerry
- PLUMBERS LOCAL UNION NO. 68 PAC FUND
- Riddle, Deborah
- Roberts, Fred
- Rondon, Mauricio
- Rynd, Frank
- Seymore, Charlie
- Smith, Wayne
- Talton, Robert
- Texans For Dan Patrick
- Texans For Greg Abbott
- Texans For Joe Nixon
- Texans For John Davis
- Texans For Marriage
- Texans For Tommy Williams
- Van Arsdale, Corbin
- Woodfill, Jared
- Woolley, Beverly
Interestingly, Joe Nixon sent $ 1,000 to CLOUT, an organization formed by then radio host and now Sen. Dan Patrick – who went on to defeat Mr. Nixon for the seat in Senate 7. Also interesting, that donation and a $500 one by Dwayen Bohac were the first two sent to PO Box 2606, both on 9/25/03, shortly after the HAPC was formed..
But more interesting for my purposes today are the transactions involving the chair of the HCRP, Mr. Woodfill. I say interesting because he both sent to and received money at PO Box 2606. While unusual at first glance, The Adams Group bills itself as a fund raising entity, and five of the transactions are from Mr. Woodfill to The Adams Group ($ 28,912.39) so it is plausible that donors mistakenly sent checks to PO Box 2606 instead of Mr. Woodfill’s campaign address.
More importantly, what does all of this have to do with the decline of the HCRP? But first, has the HCRP declined under Mr. Woodfill’s leadership? Certainly, first as I noted with their financial problems but also in voter turnout. Mr. Woodfill became Chair of the HCRP in 2002. Let’s take a look at voter turnout in the Harris County Republican Party Primary before and after his tenure as chair:
| Year | Headline Race | Votes Cast |
| 1992 | President | 135,145 |
| 1994 | Governor | 103,578 |
| 1996 | President | 157,169 |
| 1998 | Governor | 83,881 |
| 2000 | President | 160,624 |
| 2002 | Senate | 83,573 |
| 2004 | President | 78,898 |
| 2006 | Governor | 76,544 |
| 2008 | President | 169,448 |
Pay particular attention to 2004 and 2006 because they are far more indicative of the state of the party than last year. Although turnout was up last year about 5.5{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} from the last open Presidential race in 2000, voter registration could account for most of that increase, as the total number of registrants was up by 4{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}. Democratic Party turnout was up 680{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} (407,102 vs 52,196) but I would agree that is an anomaly that we should discount.
Why has Republican voter turnout in the primaries declined under Mr. Woodfill’s watch?
I think that the answer lies in understanding the complete takeover of the party by what we commonly call the religious right, a large portion of that takeover being reflected in the campaign finance numbers above. In the next few weeks, I’ll break this down further and shed light on some of these organizations and how they drive people away from the party that would normally be allies. It is important to make a distinction between people that are religious, particularly Christians, and those organizaitons that have co-opted the term “religious right” for political, and perhaps personal, gain.
(note: I have created a Google document which contains each transaction and a hyperlink to the original campaign finance report. Click here if you wish to review it.)