Tip: for those of you that are not in Harris County or don’t care about Republicans in Harris County, now is a good time to tune out. I’m going to vent a little about the state of the Republican Party in Harris County and you’ll undoubtedly be bored The fact that Harris County used to be the largest reliably “red” county in the US should give us all pause but undoubtedly, it won’t.
As most of you know, BJP has been trying to right the sinking ship of the Harris County Republican Party since 2009. This was after the disaster of the Obama wave in 2008 and when I walked into a meeting of the Clear Lake Area Republicans and saw that our “hopes” were being pinned on Terry Lowry, proprietor of the “Link Letter”, a pay to play rag that is the most influential “endorsement” slate in Harris County. The guy had just attacked a candidate for Harris County District Attorney by claiming that she performed oral sex on deputies in exchange for false testimony at trial. Yes, I do have a recording of that. But those claims were just one part of a “system” that has corrupted Harris County Republican politics for a long, long time.
Today, five years later, there is no better example of what is wrong with Harris County Republican Party politics than the “race” to replace Sen. Dan Patrick in Senate District 7. I’ve said, and obviously I’m not alone, that former Harris County Tax Assessor Collector Paul Bettencourt is a shoe-in for the job. Paul’s a good guy, with a good record. But no one should be “anointed” and “given” a political position that represents almost a million Texans. No one.
And that might not have been the case. Sam Harless, husband of State Rep. Patricia Harless, announced that he was going to throw his hat in the ring. And that would have been a good thing, even if he didn’t ultimately succeed. But at the end of the day, he correctly decided that it would be foolish to waste a couple million dollars in a race that he cannot win. Not because he isn’t a better candidate – Bettencourt certainly has problems that a good candidate could have exploited in any county other than Harris County. No, Sam Harless had no chance specifically because the Harris County Republican Party and the Republican primaries no longer belong to “the people”. Instead, they belong to the “Second Baptist” crowd and the pay for play slates. If Ed Young, pastor of Second Baptist, and the big three pay-t0-play slates aren’t on board, you cannot win. That is a statistical fact.
Here is Sam Harless’ concession to this fact of Harris County Republican Party politics:
Dear Friends,
Let me start by saying how humbled and grateful Patricia and I are for your support and friendship. Overwhelmed is the first word that comes to mind from the outpouring of support I have received in my short journey as a candidate for State Senate District 7.
However, after much prayer and soul searching, it is with a heavy heart that I have decided against running for office.
I believe for democracy to work, people must have a choice. Candidates should campaign on the issues and give the constituency an opportunity to know those wishing to serve them. Unfortunately, I feel that opportunity has been eliminated in this race.
This is the first time, to my knowledge, in 25 years of working on campaigns in Harris County that these “slates” have issued an endorsement for a candidate before filing even opens or the field of candidates officially announce. Not only did the “slates” endorse the other announced candidate in the SD 7 race, but so did the chairman of the Harris County Republican Party.
Because voter turnout is so low in the Harris County Republican primary, the winners and losers are chosen by the very few – less than 8 percent of the registered voters have decided the Republican candidates in the last four election cycles. That small percentage of voters is often heavily influenced by the “slates” that are mailed prior to the primary election.
Do I think someone can win against all these “king makers?” Yes. But, it will take more than 8 percent of voters showing up to vote in the Republican primary – and it will be a blood bath for our party. At a time when so many great candidates are running for almost every statewide office, we need to be united in getting more people out-to-vote in the primary.
That is what I will be doing. I will work every day as if I were a candidate, to get people motivated to show up and vote. I think we need a new generation of conservative leaders. Not the “good ole boy…you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” politicians that our HCRP called “tried and true.” That is rhetoric for “same as usual.”
I hope you will take the passion you have shown me the last few weeks and join me in changing the face of our party. Let’s make the choices we have in November better by showing up to vote in the March Republican primary.
I am eternally grateful for each of you and may God bless you and our great State of Texas.
Sam Harless
That is so, so sad for Harris County Republicans. I don’t know if Sam Harless would have been a better state senator than Paul Bettencourt. But I sure as heck would have liked to find out. I can’t blame him for bowing out. When I received a fundraising email from Bettencourt using the Harris County Republican Party email list, I knew the fix was in. Just like when County Chair Jared Woodfill flagrantly mis-used the Harris County Republican Party email list in his campaign four years ago. But no one called him on it (except me) so it didn’t matter.
The only solution is for you, Harris County Republican Party primary voters, to stop the madness and vote for candidates that you have researched and know. I’m not holding my breath for that one.
Maybe Sam Harless will decide enough is enough and run against Jared Woodfill or finance someone to run against him. People used to laugh at me when I said we were in trouble in 2014 in Harris County but today at the Downtown Houston Pachyderm Club, Ed Johnson (HCRP vote counting guru and one of those that laughed at me) asked a question of Lt. Gov. candidate Todd Staples, essentially saying that we were going to lose unless we change our tactics. Too bad Ed doesn’t realize his own mindset is part of the problem.
Like I said, I’m venting. The current Harris County Republican Party system limits our choices and keeps grassroots candidates from rising to the top. We desperately need to abandon the current system and let true competition determine our candidates. The place to start is at the top – Jared Woodfill must be replaced. Unless and until that happens, the pay to play slates will continue to control our destiny. We have lost the top of the ticket county wide for the last three elections (2008, 2010, 2012). Those losses lie solely at the feet of the county party – with better leadership, there never would have been an “Obama wave” as Jared is prone to say. We must make a change if we desire to win in the future.
In case you haven’t noticed, the “Obama Wave” was not confined to Harris County. But unlike Dallass County, which was Republican long before Harris County was, and is now back in dem hands, Harris County weathered the 2008 punch, rebounded in 2010 (with the exception of the Bill White/Rick Perry race) and did much better in 2012 in down-ballot races.
As for the idea that the Hotze, Lowry and Polland mailers are controlling the primaries, they sure pulled it out for Senator Dewhurst!
Fortunately, with much more access to information about candidates through social media, people who take the time to learn about candidates are able to do so.
Tom, you continue to push that outlier (Cruz/Dewhurst) as some sort of bellwether that “proves” the slates don’t control the HCRP. Nonsense. You ignore the plain truth in front of you (see link in the post).
You have no statistical data to prove that the 2008 Obama wave was inevitable in Harris County. Just because it happened in blue and purple states does not mean that it should have happened in Harris County. Complete nonsense.
2010 had ZERO to do with the HCRP and everything to do with the tea party wave.
I’ve no idea why someone that is as involved as you are with the HCRP continues to give Jared a pass on failure.
Good post, hopefully it will get some traction.
MD
Where to begin. How can one sit in a church pew on Sunday, and shake hands with a man who lies and destroys on Monday? oh wait, kind of like in Jesus’ time. From the outside, those who look in can see. But those who are ” in” are blinded. The funny thing is as they destroy what was once great, when the final red flag turns blue, they will wring their hands and stomp their feet in confusion. You cannot lay down with dogs and not get fleas.
Thanks, Dave. No arguments from me. However, I was kind of hoping to see a little more about Todd Staples, who was yesterday’s speaker at Downtown Pachyderms. Of course, today is not over, so it could still happen. I have not yet decided which candidate I will support for Lt. Governor. It’s early yet. Staples is our current Commissioner of Agriculture, just as Rick Perry was before he became Lt. Governor. Of the 4 in the race, he seems like the one I would most enjoy being around, but that’s not the same as running the Senate, now is it? It was interesting to hear what he has had to do to help protect the landowners in the Valley from intrusions from the south. He seems to be a really nice young (remember, I can see the other side of the hill from here) man, with a good grasp of the issues, but we have not been able to get a good look at him, here in Harris County. Thanks, Tom, for scheduling Mr. Staples.
Although the HCRP is not alone in presiding over the decline of the Republican Party in Texas or any other state, it is very dissapointing here because there is a viable base that should carry elections, but does not. It may be have become more endemic of the Republican Party than most of us realize to exclude rather than attract followers even on a grass roots level.
Dan Patrick has been adadment about not expanding the “tent” of the Republican Party over the years. There is no room for even the hint of being Pro Choice, pro seperation of church and state, or for logical and needed regulations on business and the environment. The problem is that that we do not make many feel confortable who may not suscribe to all the Party line who may just want to visit the “tent”. Take Dan Patrick, he is Pro Life and will compete with the most Pro Life of politicians for lead dog status. He is also less fiscally conservative than you may think. Both he and Jared Woodfill take their positions to what many think are extreme while condemning those who may not agree completely or not interested in an issue. ” You’er either with us or against us” culture has not served the Party well.
Enter the Libertarians, and the system overloads. One cannot help but observe, there are many groups and special interests with deeply different views on certain issues below the surface at the Downtown Pachyderm Club. It has become common, however, among most Republican clubs. Since 2000, a plethera of political clubs, groups, and organizations have come to life on the right, especially since Obama has been in office. Puting Jared Woodfil’s performance aside, these groups have fragmented and diminished the influence of the HCRP, almost making it irrelvant. The Democrats handle diversity more productively.
The leadership needed at all levels of the Republican Party should be more welcoming to people who need to get under a “tent”. On the State level, Texas is fortunate to have new blood and leadership that listens. The future Harris County is worth the good fight!
In a genuine effort to improve the quality of comments to this blog…..I resubmit mine for quality of form but not content.
Although the HCRP is not alone in presiding over the decline of the Republican Party in Texas, or in any other state, it is very disappointing here, in Harris county, because there is a viable base that should carry elections, but no longer does. It may have become more endemic of the Republican Party than most of us realize, in excluding, rather than attracting followers, even on a grass roots level.
Dan Patrick has been adamant about not expanding the “tent” of the Republican Party over the years. There is no room for even the hint of being Pro Choice, pro separation of church and state, or for logical and needed regulations on business and the environment. The problem is that that we do not make many feel comfortable who may not subscribe to all the Party line but who may just want to visit the “tent” and to listen. Take Dan Patrick, he is Pro Life and will compete with the most Pro Life of politicians for lead dog status. He is also less fiscally conservative than you may think. Both he and Jared Woodfill take their positions to what many think are extreme while condemning those who may not agree completely, or not interested in a specific issue. ” You’re either with us or against us” culture has not served the Party well.
Enter the Libertarians, and the system overloads. One cannot help but observe, there are many groups and special interests with deeply different views on certain issues below the surface, at the Downtown Pachyderm Club. It has become common, however, among most Republican clubs. Since 2000, a plethora of political clubs, groups, and organizations have come to life on the right, especially since Obama has been in office. Putting Jared Woodfil’s performance aside, these groups have fragmented and diminished the influence of the HCRP, almost making it irrelevant. The Democrats seem to handle diversity more productively.
The leadership needed at all levels of the Republican Party should be more welcoming to people who need or want to get under a “tent”. On the State level, Texas is fortunate to have new blood and leadership that listens. The future of Harris of County is worth the good fight and needs a change in direction at HCRP to secure a road to success!
“The Democrats handle diversity more productively” — try telling that to a pro-life Democrat
“Expanding the ‘tent’ of the Republican Party to include those who are Pro Choice” — we are the party of life; we believe that abortion is the murder of another human being. Why, then, would we want to welcome the culture of death into our party? It’s one thing to be open minded, but it’s another thing to be so open minded your brains fall out.
Before proceeding, I must profess I was on two occasions the beneficiary of the slate endorsement of Hotze and Lowry, on my first successful runs for County Treasurer and Tax Assessor-Collector. My victories were proof positive of the importance of these slates. However, neither endorsement was received before I announced for the office or was vetted by the endorser. I must also profess that I am supporting Paul Bettencourt in his bid for Dan Patrick’s state senate seat.
In my bid for re-election to win re-election to the Tax Assessor’s office, the slate endorsement fix was in so far that Sullivan had already paid Lowry $10,000 before he was re-elected to City Council and the payment was actually paid out of his council campaign account. Blakemore has never worried much about keeping his candidate’s finances straight. Because Sullivan was a Blakemore client the normal relationship with Hotze easily prevailed.
I want to make it very clear that I do not condone this pre-announcement, pre-filing fixing of the primary election by the slate endorsers. By their actions these slate endorsers are engaging in unprincipled, egregious behavior. Neither, except under the most unusual circumstances (murder, fraud), should the party chair ever endorse in a primary race. Certainly, this race is not one of those circumstances.
Perhaps, if Sam Harless had been sufficiently involved in local grass-roots Republican politics, he would have been aware I was on the receiving end of a pre-announcement slate endorsement scheme carried out by Alan Blakemore for Mike Sullivan. Then, he could have acted in anticipation of the same treatment. I wrote about it on multiple occasions.
But, absent Harless spending the big money he pledged, nothing was going to make up for his lack of involvement, a record or name recognition. Bettencourt has earned his place in this race.
David,
The only real job the Texas Election Code gives a County Chair is responsibility for the primary election, from reviewing and accepting/denying applications, preparing the ballot, running the election, and delivering the results. For the County Chair to take sides in a primary hurts the whole party in the long run. But it's not only politically damaging — it's just flat wrong.
As Steve Munisteri has done on the state level, the chair should be a neutral, fair broker. Integrity demands it.
Same thing is going on in Galveston County.
Why would you be surprised by this Paul? It's a natural progression( i was going to use the word evolution….but….) of what started years ago, with the winner take all spite contests that started with the Evangelical/Tea wing of the party trying to dictate who is and is not an orthodox Republican.
It used to be just "customary" in our party as it was being built here in Texas for a county chair to NEVER get involved in a primary. That and SREC now just all line up to give their approvals.
Dave-
Sorry about the delay in getting back to you, but I was actually doing some work the last few days.
Your premise is that
1) GOP primary voters are mind-numbed robots that wait till either the chip implanted in their brain tells them how to vote or they get a mailer from Terry Lowry that fulfills the same function.
2) Jared Woodfill is so incompetent that if he were not party chair, Republicans would have swept Harris County elections in 2008 and 2012.
3) The only way to get the endorsement of the Hotze/Lowry/Polland triumverate is to bring a stack of cash to the table (or three stacks of cash to three tables).
4) Anyone involved in the party must also oppose Jared Woodfill.
Can I point to statistics that negate these statements? Sure.
Best swing Dr. Hotze can point to is 17{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}. That is what his choice for the 164th got against Martha Hill Jamison the first time she ran for judge. His pick for sheriff last year? 13{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986}.
Every year there are instances of people that spend money to advertise with Terry Lowry and don’t get his endorsement, as well as those who don’t spend money and do get his endorsement.
There was a major shift in Harris County demographics between the 2004 election and the 2008 race. Hurricane Katrina washed thousands of New Orleanians to our shores, and Hurricane Ike washed many from Galveston to Houston immediately beforehand. Both groups reliably voted straight democrat, except in the County Judge race, where Ed Emmett was the face of efficiency in hurricane relief.
As for 2010, I know that I worked my precinct with data I got from the HCRP on a regular basis. I had just moved to Channelview, and didn’t know the people there from things like scouts, PTO and swim team like I had in Spring. My democrat counterpart, who had grown up there and inherited the post from her father-in-law was shocked when I started talking to one of the locals about her elderly mom voting and I mentioned that I had spoken to her on the phone the day before. That wasn’t a Tea Party database. We met my (some thought outlandish) goal of more votes for Rick Perry in early voting than he had gotten in the election four years earlier.
The party chair race will not be just “will Jared Woodfill be the party chair?” but also “who will replace him if he isn’t?” Ed Hubbard was the choice of many in 2010. I backed Ed Hubbard in his primary race and the general election in 2008 when he ran for the First Court of Appeals. He managed to be the only Republican to lose a court of appeals seat to a democrat without the words “re-elect” in front of his or her name since 1992. What good does it do to win the primary and lose the general election?
I happen to like Jared. I’ve known him and his family for over 30 years. If he gets beat, I will work with whoever beats him, just like I have worked with dozens of candidates who have beaten my first choice in the last two decades.
There’s a famous saying that if someone agrees with you 80{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the time, you should support them. There’s a corollary to that, which is that if there’s someone else who agrees with you 90{997ab4c1e65fa660c64e6dfea23d436a73c89d6254ad3ae72f887cf583448986} of the time, you back them instead. That is what primaries are all about.
I’ve never hesitated to tilt at windmills. In 2008, I was the only precinct chair in Harris County to endorse Allen Keyes in the primary on the party website. Mine was one of two votes he got in my precinct (I think my kids voted for Huckabee).
But the best way to deal with perceived inaction on the part of the local party is not to take your marbles and go home (I’ve heard some people say we shouldn’t donate money to the Harris County GOP as long as Jared is chair) but to figure out what needs to be done and put it into action. That is why I am part of the Lone Star Republicans. That is why Lone Star Republicans will be in Galena Park next week handing out school supplies. That is why I work on Downtown Pachyderms each week. That is why I work my neighborhood. That is why I vote.
Again, we’ll agree to disagree about Jared. But I think we can see victory in 2014 if people will work for it.
PS to Paul Simpson: I think Munisteri is doing a great job as state chair. I’m glad I backed him. But it is up to each party leader to decide if they should publicly back candidates they think will do the best job in their respective positions. As a precinct chair and a lawyer, I let people know who I support in all the judicial races.
Tom,
(1) I’ve never said that. Ever.
(2) Fact is that Jared was chair when we lost in 2008, 2010, and 2012. You can’t escape that. Yes, I do think that a better strategy would have prevented local losses in those elections. Bad me.
(3) I’ve never said that is it the “only” way. But it is “a” way and in my opinion, the prevalent way.
(4) I think that people can have different opinions about Woodfill. Objective evidence supports my contention that he has not developed the party in his now 12 years of control and in fact, as the numbers clearly show, he has weakened the influence of the party in statewide primary elections.
It is almost laughable that you use New Orleans evacuees as an example of why the HCRP is going backwards. Do you have ANY proof that these people actually vote?
As for the rest of your thought, interesting, but again, who “hates” Jared? That was your claim.
David I am again running for a judge position as Judge Lawrence is not seeking re election in Precinct Four position two (court in Humble) I will probably not have any slate backing. As a municipal judge in Tomball has already got David Riddle to run her campaign and Valoree Swanson is endorsing her. lets see what can be done without a high paid consultant & the party hierarchy backing me. I plan to knock a lot of doors and call a lot of folks & Attend the usual Republicsn Functions lets see how it works out!, I appreciate your bravery in taking on the current system something obviously has to be done. I of course would covet any advice you can give me Thanks Ken Shortreed
When the Jared's only achievement is losing Harris County three times; the only Q is what will HCDP give him as a Thank You gift? Do not worry, BGT will show you how to canvass and GOTV. They are active 7 days a week, with zero 'breakfasts'!
The number and diversity of variables related to general election losses is so mind boggling, it may not be possible to ID the all of the prominent causes of the HCRP slowly loosing their grip on the county. Is Jared a non-biased leader? No. Could a better/less biased/more neutral chair have slowed or reversed the trend? My best guess is maybe, but probably not.
My personal opinion is that there is a strong correlation between primary participation levels, the production/selection of quality candidates, and success in general elections.
Disclaimer: I used to be a republican.