The Rules Committee of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) passed Rule 46 in a 26-4 vote last night to close the Republican Primary in Texas. It will now be included in the Rules report for all the Delegates at the RPT Convention to vote for on Friday.

Multiple states have closed their primary elections through Party rule, and have successfully defended that position in federal court.

Chairman Rinaldi made it clear that he desired to abide by the will of grassroots voters who overwhelmingly approved ballot proposition 9 in March of 2024 to close Republican primary elections.

Chairman Matt Rinaldi said “The time is now for Republicans to choose our own nominees without Democrat interference. Republicans saw multiple primaries this cycle that would have turned out differently if Democrats were not allowed to interfere. For example, nearly 9% of the voters in the March primary for Dade Phelan’s re-election were known Democrats. I’m confident the delegates will pass Rule 46 and elect a new chairman who will defend our rules.”