From the Inbox – Harris County Republican Chair Jared Woodfill releases a list of conservative leaders in Harris County that support his leadership:
‘CONSERVATIVE’ REPUBLICAN COUNTY LEADERS SUPPORT WOODFILL
Judge Robert Eckels, Commissioners Cagle, Morman, and Tax Assessor Mike Sullivan ENDORSE Jared Woodfill
It’s unanimous – conservative county leadership only trusts one man to continue leading the Harris County Republican Party (HCRP) – Jared Woodfill. Why change what works? Conservative leaders like Woodfill do not come often, and there is a reason he has served longer than any other predecessor – he does the right thing, and he does the right thing effectively.
There are those who want to take our party in a different direction, but these Republican leaders [pictured below] know that Woodfill will not compromise on our conservative principles and platform.
Commissioner Jack CagleCommissioner Jack MormanJudge Robert EckelsTax Assessor Mike Sullivan
The facts are conclusive. No Harris County Republican Party (HCRP) Chairman has ever done better leading at the local level.
1) The years 2008 and 2012 were the two largest Republican Primary turnouts in the 64 yr. history of the HCRP.
2) In 2008 and 2012, Republicans in most large urban counties were being overrun; however, Republicans in Harris County worked hard and won seats. In fact, in 2012, while Obama was winning around the country, in Harris County all countywide incumbents won and we picked up seven new countywide offices.
3) Jared’s opponents make note that the top of the Republican ticket hasn’t won Harris County in the last three election cycles. This criticism is actually the greatest feather in the cap of Jared Woodfill and the HCRP. The fact that there have been zero coattails at the top of the ticket, but several down ballot candidates have either a) won outright, or b) received a higher percentage of the vote than the Republican Presidential or Gubernatorial candidates, speaks to the effectiveness of the local Party, its leaders and volunteers.
4) MOST IMPORTANT: It is an empirical fact that 2010 was the greatest election cycle in the history of the HCRP; more seats were won, and by a greater margin.
Conservatives understand that “change” for the sake of change – is unwise. Let’s keep doing what works. We know where “change” leads.
Would you or your organization like to endorse Jared?
For additional information about how you can help Jared’s re-election campaign, visit his website (http://www.jaredwoodfill.com).
For anyone that thinks yesterday’s sloppy release of Ed Emmett’s endorsement of Paul Simpson was a game changer, think again. Communication skills are arguably the biggest part of the Chairs job in the HCRP and Jared Woodfill excels at that portion of the job.
If you are a conservative Republican, and most Harris County Republicans are conservative, which lead do you follow? It was a huge mistake for the Simpson campaign to give talking points to the left media and bloggers in their attempt to oust the chair of the very conservative Harris County Republican Party.
This much I know: cheerleading for Simpson and Emmett from far-left vulgar bloggers isn’t going to help their cause. And advice from moderate Republicans to disavow social issues will, if heeded, result in losing elections and destroy the party. There is a balance that must be maintained between all factions of our coalition – dropping any of the factions is bad advice.
I can’t tell you how happy I am to see Harris County Republican Party Chair candidate Paul Simpson fighting back against the lie that Gary Polland spread in his Texas Conservative Review:
You wrote in your Texas Conservative Review blog earlier this week about Annise Parker’s granting spousal benefits to City employees’ same-sex partners.
In that post, you claimed that “Paul Simpson, unbeknown to most Harris County Republicans, was quoted in the Washington Times blog in support of the Mayor’s illegal overreaching.”
You later changed one word to claim, “Paul Simpson, unbeknown to most Harris County Republicans, was referred to in the Washington Times blog in support of the Mayor’s illegal overreaching. ”
There was no basis – of any sort – for those claims. I was not quoted in the Washington Times. I also oppose Annise Parker’s outrageous acts that violate the will of the citizens of Houston. The claims you made are, simply, false.
Been a long time coming. It’s past time that we as Republicans in Harris County buck the status quo and stand up for what we know is right. Good for Paul Simpson for standing up to the bully.
As for Jared Woodfill’s response, crickets are chirping louder. C’mon Jared, money isn’t more important than your integrity.
Just in time for the New Year and for the Harris County Republican Party Primary, we get our first glimpse of how HCRP Chair Jared Woodfill and team are going to handle one of his challengers, Paul Simpson.
With lies, particularly about social issues such as gay marriage.
Okay, well, that was pretty much to be expected given their past performances but this particular lie was as predictable as the sun setting in the West. Courtesy of Woodfill supporter and mailer of paid slates Gary Polland, we get this:
Stop The Imperial Mayor Of Houston:
No Ruling By Executive Orders
It seems that for Mayor Annise Parker of Houston, the City Council is something to ignore as is the will of the people. The citizens of Houston in a referendum years ago (2001) said NO to partner benefits. The citizens of Texas passed a constitutional amendment defending the tradition of marriage.
Despite that, Parker and her chief lawyer David Feldman have in their latest effort reversed the people’s vote and ignored the City Council and are allowing partner benefits.
Courageous HCRP Chair Jared Woodfill is leading the fight to stop this illegal grab of power in the courts and obtained an injunction to halt this illegal act.
Meanwhile, Woodfill’s opponent, Paul Simpson, unbeknown to most Harris County Republicans, was QUOTED in the Washington Times blog in support of the Mayor’s illegal overreaching.
It says here Simpson is running for Chair of the wrong party. Maybe the Libertarian Party is interested.
Doesn’t matter that Polland changed “quoted” to “referred to” because it is still a lie. The author of that blog on the Washington Times website, Dave Nalle, never once said that Paul Simpson supported Annise Parker’s attempted end around of Texas and Houston voters. And Simpson doesn’t support that end around, as he confirmed to me but that I already knew just from being around him and from his past statements. As well as his strong Christian faith.
But what’s a little lie here and there in the pursuit of power, right? And money, don’t forget the amount of money that Polland makes off of the taxpayers via court appointments from Judges that are beholden to Jared Woodfill or the candidates in the Republican primary via Polland’s paid slate “newsletter”.
After years of following the paid slates in Harris County, I don’t expect “better” from Gary Polland. The man is what he is.
But Jared. Sigh. From Jared I expect much, much more. Remember what I wrote after he won the run-off primary in 2010? I’ll remind you of part of it:
Don’t equate Jared with certain members of his team. I’ve found Jared to be a person of integrity and I wish other politicians were as tough when it comes to absorbing blows and understanding that it isn’t personal.
Fact is, he doesn’t need his team and supporters to lie about his opponents as he is the odds on favorite to maintain control of the party. Jared is an excellent spokesperson for the HCRP even if he has other faults. This type of campaigning only makes it harder to bring the party together after the primary and try to win Harris County for Greg Abbott, something that we failed to do for Governor Rick Perry in 2010.
Jared, as you stated in the video below at the 4 minute, 45 second mark, the best voter’s guide is the Bible. And one of the teachings of the Bible is that you should not bear false witness about your neighbor. Jared, be a Proverbs 32 manand help your supporters do the same.
Paul Simpson was surrounded by supporters as he filed Wednesday to run for Harris County Republican Party Chair.
Paul Simpson filing the paperwork to run for county chair. (photo from the Simpson campaign)
Simpson stated he is running because, “We are in a fight for the future of Texas. Harris County is a key battleground. To win, the GOP needs to rebuild, ground up. But reform must start at the top. That’s why I ask for your vote in March 2014 for Harris County Republican Chair.”
Simpson continued, “As Harris County GOP Chair, I will bring a lifetime of leading civic and conservative Republican organizations to empower a Strong grassroots organization with a Solid positive conservative message backed by financial Solutions.”
A lifelong pro-life conservative, Paul has advanced conservative Republican political causes as a hands-on conservative activist since high school. His political activities – campaigning, recruiting, mobilizing, precinct organization, election judging, and conventioneering, and serving as legal counsel and treasurer of the county party – give him the practical expertise and ability to lead the Party to political resurgence. Paul has honed his skills by also leading non-political volunteer civic organizations, demonstrating his ability to recruit, organize, and lead volunteers in everything from blockwalking neighborhoods to a successful multi-million dollar fundraising campaign.
Paul is a graduate of Rice University and University of Houston Law. He has been a partner with the law firm of McGinnis, Lochridge & Kilgore since 2001. Paul and his wife Kathy have been married for over 28 years. Their son, a recent college graduate, and daughter, a college senior, are both Houston natives and proud Republicans! To get involved with Paul’s campaign to Take Back Harris County, please join him at his Campaign Kick-off Party on December 11, 2013 at 6:30Pm at Cafe Adobe on the Katy Freeway. To learn more, contact Kelly Horsley at [email protected] or please visit www.SimpsonForGOPChair.com.
I’m seeing a lot of momentum this year for Simpson, unlike his two previous runs. He’s lined up an impressive group of supporters this time, including: George Strake, Jack Rains, John O’Neill, Bert Keller, Anne Clutterbuck, and Toni Lawrence among many others. In addition to that list, he is being supported by many of the “liberty” groups around the Harris County area. This is important because they are young and bring a lot of energy to his campaign.
Will this be the year that Harris County Republicans finally reject the regime of current HCRP Chair Jared Woodfill, and by extension the pay for play slates? If so, it will go a long way towards avoiding a disaster in November 2014. As I’ve said many times, Jared is a wonderful spokesperson for the party but what we need at this point in time is someone that has the ability to organize the party, broaden our coalition, and turn out the vote. Simpson has demonstrated that he can do that.
The most recent example is a huge biennial event called the Harris County GOP Judicial Signing Party. The party spends a huge amount of money that they have a hard time raising to host an event that allows judicial candidates to get signatures for their petitions in order to avoid paying the filing fee to get on the ballot for the primary. I want to point out three problems with the event that is being held this year.
Held in the middle of Rosh Hashanah
The event is being held on Thursday evening, September 5th, smack dab in the middle of Rosh Hashanah, celebrating the Jewish New Year. Which means the party is shutting out the Jewish population in Harris County. Why is that important? Seriously?
Incumbents only
The signing party is for incumbents only. Want to know why we have some judges that suck? The HCRP has become the Incumbent Protection Society.
Party of the Rich
The IPS signing party is being held at the Westin Galleria, and “Complimentary heavy hors d’oeuvres will be served”. Awesome. I suppose that’s better than “light” hors but you know what this does? Um hmm. It just reinforces the perception that Republicans are the party of the rich.
Perception is reality these days
I was at a meeting with Rep. John Culberson last week and he mentioned that his district included the three largest synagogues in the area and that he had begun a dialogue with the Rabbis to reach out to the Jewish community. I don’t think he knew how high the hill was that he was going to have to climb.
Paul Simpson, who is running to replace Jared, told me that this was just another example of how out of touch the party is with the diversity of the county. He doesn’t think that this one single event will prevent the party from engaging the Jewish community but the three things listed above hurt us in the effort to expand the party in general.
I had a long conversation with Jared about the way the date was picked. He told me that he appointed a seven member committee that includes a representative from each of the judiciary levels on the ballot. They picked the date and location and had already signed the contract when someone pointed out the date problem and asked them to move it. Jared conceded that had this been Easter or Christmas, someone on the committee would have known not to schedule it on that date. He did promise that the party would host “many” signing parties around the county before the filing date.
Hey, we’ll give you seconds! Vote for us but don’t for a minute expect to be a part of the team!
I guess I can’t blast Jared too much about this one as it is just another in a long string of examples of why the party is shrinking under his leadership. A strong leader would have recognized the problem, cancelled the contract, and moved the date. But Jared isn’t exactly a strong leader – an excellent, if not great, spokesperson for the party but not a strong leader.
And that is just the way the pay to play slates like it.
No Jews, blacks, browns, Asians, or gays allowed. Women can do the behind the scenes work but let’s not have them run things. But at election time, let’s go out and ask everyone to vote for our candidates! Awesome strategy.
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].
