October 23, 2017

Dear Texas Republicans,

 

A Republican form of government depends on citizens making their voices heard in order to shape policy and process. Starting today, you have the chance make your voice heard at the ballot box during early voting for the November 7th General Election. Seven Constitutional Amendments are on the ballot, and we’ve put together a voting guide so you can see how they line up with the RPT platform. Check your county election website for local polling locations.

 

People & Places

Last week, I traveled to Dallas along with several team members for the Texas Federation of Republican Women biennial convention. It is well-known that they are the backbone of the party, and we should all give a Texas-sized “thank you” to the talented and hardworking Republican Women of the Lone Star State! It was a delight to visit with club members and convention delegates from all across Texas who imbue our party with strength and vibrance.

 

We were glad that two of our RPT Field Team members – Cassie Luevano and Bianca Gracia – attended as convention delegates. RNC State Director and RPT Political Director Kristy Wilkinson attended the Dallas convention as a sign of support for all the work that Republican women do to keep Texas red.

 

Congratulations to TFRW president-elect Karen Newton and to all the incoming members of the Board of Directors. I celebrate with TFRW on their successful convention and look forward to working with them to #LeadRight for a better Texas.

 

Here are a few snapshots from the Convention:

 

 

 

In addition to these, I also visited with Jan Duncan (SREC, SD 14) and 10 elected officials who were honored at the iVoterGuide awards banquet: Congressman Louie Gohmert, Attorney General Ken Paxton, Senator Bob Hall, Senator Donna Campbell, and State Representatives Briscoe Cain, Matt Krause, Matt Rinaldi, Matt Shaheen, Tony Tinderholt, and Bill Zedler.

Report from the Field

The RPT field team had a series of important and impactful events in Houston and the Rio Grande Valley. Bianca Gracia planned roundtables discussing Hispanic engagement, which included pastors and clergy, community leaders, small business owners, and concerned citizens, including (pictured left) Rick Figueroa and Chris Carmona. Several meetings were held entirely in Spanish.

 

Other field team members — Jesse Grady, Joel James, and Mark Irey — finalized plans to hold important trainings across the state on university campuses in addition to their regular goals. Stephen Wong was in Dallas to meet with College Republicans where he emphasized that there is no better time to be a Texas College Republican!

Party News

The Republican Party of Texas is blessed to benefit from the dedicated volunteer service of incredible people from across this great state. One of these areas of service is RPT Chaplain.

 

Jeremy Story was appointed Chaplain in June and provided much-needed spiritual leadership for the RPT through the trials of Hurricane Harvey. Jeremy offered to resign once he felt led to run for the Texas House of Representatives. We thank him for the grace, humility, and compassion with which he served.

 

Corey Tabor, the Founder and Lead Pastor of Full Life Community Church in Pflugerville, TX, has been appointed to succeed Jeremy in this crucial role. He is also the Program Director of Austin LifeGuard, the sexual risk avoidance education program of Austin LifeCare Pregnancy Resource Center, as well as a member of the Board of Texas Alliance for Life. He and his wife April have one daughter.

I am delighted that Corey has agreed to serve and lead as our Chaplain.

 

Several of our SREC committees meet by telephone in between our quarterly meetings. The Officials Committee did so on Wednesday and approved contracts for a broker to research relocation options for Headquarters and for vendors related to the state convention in June 2018. The Advancement Committee will meet this Friday evening to continue a discussion on gathering ideas from the grassroots and in creating a more efficient convention process and communicating it to the delegates. Guests are welcome to join and offer comment — please register here.

 

In anticipation of primary candidate filing beginning November 11, we made a webpage outlining all the steps potential candidates need to take to officially run for office.

In Case You Missed It . . .

News Articles:

 

Press releases:

 

Interviews:

 

Posts:

Coming Up Next

Oct. 23-Nov. 3: Early voting and blockwalking – join the facebook event page!

Oct 23: Caldwell — Chairman Dickey at Fall Festival

Oct 24: Washington, D.C. — Reception with Senator John Cornyn benefiting RPT

Oct. 27: Advancement Committee telephone meeting — guests welcome; register here

Oct. 30: Leadership call for SREC members and county chairs

Nov. 1: San Antonio — Chairman Dickey at Greater San Antonio Council of Republican Women (to attend contact Cheri Creekmore, rccreekmore@sbcglobal.net)

 

Also, remember our next SREC meeting is Dec. 1-2 — join the facebook event page!

 

Sincerely,

James Dickey