Fellow Texas Republicans,

Once again, our hearts are full of sorrow at the loss of precious life in Santa Fe, TX. My prayers have been with the families, students, and teachers who are grieving.

While we cannot stop evil from existing in this world, I appreciate the leadership of Republicans such as Governor Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick who are taking seriously their responsibilities to ensure parents and teachers are able to protect the children in their care against those with violent intent who will continue to pose a threat. I pledge to work with our elected officials to seek solutions that result in the restored ability of law-abiding citizens — including willing parents, teachers, coaches, and school staff — to exercise their rights to own and carry personal arms without government interference or regulation.

People & Places

Once again I’ve had the pleasure of visiting with many more Republicans, from grassroots level all the way up to statewide elected officials. Please be sure to check out my schedule at the end of this email for upcoming travel dates and locations — I’d be delighted to meet you when I’m in your area!

While in the San Antonio area last week I saw Bexar County Chair and SREC SD-25 Committeeman Mark Dorazio, SREC SD-19 Committeewoman Terri DuBose, SREC SD-21 Committeewoman Naomi Narvaiz, SREC SD-25 Committeewoman Linda Kinney, SREC SD-26 Committee members Marian Stanko and Fred Rangel, and Atascosa County Chair Marian Knowlton. They’re excited to be hosting many of you in their area of Texas for State Convention.

In Travis County, I visited with Jan Duncan (SREC, SD-14); Sandy Cox, the new Republican mayor of Lakeway; and Jessica Putonti, a newly-elected Republican member of the Lake Travis School Board. They’re a great reminder of the importance of building our bench for Republican candidates in the local and “non-partisan” elections. Local government is responsible for enacting up to half of your local tax burden, so it’s critical to elect conservatives who are committed to letting you keep more of your own money in your pockets.

In Northeast Texas, I was happy to be able to see SREC SD-1 Committeewoman Sue Evenwell, and in Tarrant county I was pleased to see SREC SD-9 Committeeman Steve Atwell, SREC SD-12 Committeeman David Halvorson, and SREC SD-30 Committeeman Paul Braswell.

Last week I also visited with Land Commissioner George P. Bush, who is excited about hosting nighttime VIP tours at the Alamo during convention. If your company would like to be able to help devise or participate in a great convention experience, please see our sponsorship packets here.

Report from the Field

Stephen Wong, RPT’s Deputy Political Director, continues to do an outstanding job not only of overseeing our field staff’s many engagement efforts throughout the State but also of continuing to implement outreach to Texas’ significant Asian-American community. He was quoted this past week in an NBC article:

“So many conservative values are reflected in the conservative values of Asian and Pacific Islander voters — those values of entrepreneurship, of hard work, and some of that kind of bootstraps mentality,” Wong said.

Outreach, he said, includes walking people through the process of being involved politically and civically. The Republican Leadership Initiative, Wong added, also plays a role.

“We provide this RLI training that focuses on the nitty-gritty and very basics of political organizing — this is how you hold a meeting, this is how you turn that meeting into a productive output of talking to voters, going door-to-door,” Wong said.

Other significant field team accomplishments from this past week that help lead us to Victory in November:

  • The RPT jointed the Rockwall County Republican Party for a booth on Rockwell Founder’s Day
  • Field Organizer Matthew Dunn presented a Republican Leadership Initiative training in the DFW area
  • The field team participated in a National Day of Action on May 12 and a National Week of Action concluding on May 17

Party News

Run-off Election:
Don’t forget – tomorrow (Tuesday, May 22) is Election Day! If you have any Primary Runoff races in your county this is your last chance to vote. Click Hereto look up your voter registration, see if you have any runoff races, and learn where to vote. (You may be redirected to your County Voter Registrar.) You do not have to have voted in the Primary in order to vote in the Primary Runoff (you just can’t have participated in any other Party’s primary or convention) – so ask all your Republican friends and neighbors to join you in voting tomorrow!

If you observe any voting irregularities or problems at a polling location, please bring it to the attention of the Election Judge onsite. If you are not satisfied with their answer, please email us at elections@texasgop.org. I take very seriously my responsibility to ensure that our primary elections are administered fairly so that each duly cast vote is counted correctly.

Convention Announcement:
I’m thrilled to be able to announce that our Convention gala speaker is Dr. Ben Carson! I know you already know plenty about Dr. Carson from his campaign to become President and then his support for President Trump — but you can learn more about him here!

There are only a limited number of spots available for this event — make certain you register right away to hear from pediatric neurosurgeon, author, and former Republican Presidential Candidate Dr. Ben Carson! See “Convention Registration,” below, for info on how to purchase tickets.

Convention Delegate Training:
We’ve prepared a series of training videos to help you most effectively advance your ideas at the state convention. Here are the links, along with the slides and the transcripts, in case that better suits your learning style. Please feel free to use and share all of these items as much as you’d like!

If you are a delegate or alternate, I hope you’re making plans to be in San Antonio as many days as possible during June 11-16 so you can fully participate in the convention process. Our temporary committees meet Monday thru Wednesday to develop the recommendations on platform, rules, legislative priorities, and they’re making room for ample delegate testimony. If you can’t join in, please plan to listen or watch online in our committee livestreams.

Throughout convention, you’ll be able to find the most updated committee schedules, livestream links, working Google docs, and more at our delegate page: www.texasgop.org/delegates

If you’re a delegate or alternate, I hope that you received my email yesterday — if not, click here to view it. It contains detailed information on the convention schedule and what to expect in the Platform & Resolutions committee — including the 9 subcommittee titles, a link to the resolutions that will be considered, and which days to testify in front of which subcommittee. Be on the lookout for this week’s delegate informational email also.

Convention Registration:

  • If you have not yet pre-registered, CLICK HERE to do so and avoid the long registration lines!
  • Already registered but need to add event tickets, convention T-shirt or polo? Use the link you received in your confirmation email to login and add tickets, etc.
  • Can’t find your confirmation email? If you registered before May 4, login here. If you registered after May 4, login here.

Have questions about registration or anything else convention-related? Check our State Convention page, or email delegates@texasgop.org for the quickest response.

In Case You Missed It . . .

Press: ​

Coming Up Next

May 21: State Convention Delegate Training in Pleasanton – Chairman Dickey will be speaking (more info)
May 21: Officials committee telephone meeting
May 22: Run-off election day (more info)
May 23: San Antonio Republican Club – Chairman Dickey will be speaking
May 24: State Convention Delegate Training in Lockhart (more info – email delegates@texasgop.org)
May 26: Events with Chairman Dickey in Hidalgo County & Laredo (more info – calendar@texasgop.org)

Also, please join our facebook group for the RPT State convention if you will be attending! CLICK HERE.

Sincerely,

James Dickey

P.S. If you received this weekly update email as a forward, be sure to sign up for your own subscription right here!