The Harris County Republican Party condemns “pay-to-play” slates

Last night’s meeting of the Harris County Republican Party Executive Committee was very productive! I have several posts just from that one meeting. Can’t beat that!

This one is about a resolution from the party “condemning” the pay-to-play system that is destroying the party. Precinct Chair Greg Aydt, who started working on the resolution a couple of weeks ago and gathered six co-sponsors to help passage, deserves major kudos for making this happen. Greg also happens to be a prolific conservative blogger at RhymesWithRight (obviously a play on his last name for those of you in Pasadena), so rather than blockquote his resolution here, I’d urge you to click over and view it there. He deserves your support.

Here is the money quote:

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Harris County Republican Party condemns the practice of “pay to play” endorsements, in which supposedly independent individuals, groups, or organizations request, solicit or require any fee, payment, or contribution as a condition of making or publicizing said endorsement;

Whoa Nellie! The little fella didn’t like that at all! And neither did the supporters of this wretched system, particularly the “leaders” of Senate District 7. Way too much inside baseball to try and explain everything to those of you who are new to HCRP politics – let’s just say that SD7 is ruled by Sen. Dan Patrick and his supporters and they suffered a huge defeat last night.

However, you are familiar with a couple of the people that tried to thwart the effort. We last saw Clint Moore’s name in the chain of emails released by State Rep. Patricia Harless when Moore tried to get a woman fired for expressing her political opinion. Valoree Swanson was also in that email chain.

Near the end of a long evening, at around 10:00 pm, an effort was made by the SD7 “leaders” to adjourn the meeting before Aydt could read his proposal. The vote failed. Then a request for a quorum call was made (the third of the evening) – it too failed. As a desperate last attempt to block the resolution, Moore and Swanson tried to get people to walk out and break quorum. I know because I was sitting right in the line of sight and watched Moore and Swanson trying to get people to leave and laughing as they thought they had succeeded. I was sitting directly behind the SD6 contingent, watching the sad display.

But a funny thing happened. When the little fella asked for a fourth quorum call, Precinct Chair Jeff Larsen (also a candidate for HD129) raised his own point of order, noting that a quorum call had just been held and you can’t keep making quorum calls until you get the result you want. Chair Jared Woodfill had no option but to reject the little fella’s request for a quorum call and proceed with the vote.

The resolution passed overwhelmingly.

Full Resolution:

WHEREAS the Republican Party has long taken the lead in fighting for the integrity of the electoral process, and

WHEREAS the 2012 Republican Party of Texas platform opposes conflicts of interest in the form of attempting to influence votes by appointed or elected officials on behalf of paying clients, and

WHEREAS the 2012 Republican Party Platform calls upon “every citizen. . . to preserve the integrity of the vote”, and

WHEREAS we recognize that the appearance of impropriety is itself a form of impropriety, and such appearances in campaign and electoral practices undermine the confidence of voters in the integrity of our electoral system,

BE IT RESOLVED THAT the Harris County Republican Party condemns the practice of “pay to play” endorsements, in which supposedly independent individuals, groups, or organizations request, solicit or require any fee, payment, or contribution as a condition of making or publicizing said endorsement;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Harris County Republican Party opposes the practice of groups, clubs, or organizations requiring candidates for office to pay a sum of money as a condition of being placed on the ballot for any straw poll, whether this is called a fee, contribution, sponsorship, or any other name;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Harris County Republican Party urges all elected or appointed officials of the Harris County Republican Party, Republican Party of Texas, Republican National Committee and any affiliated or associated club or organization to refrain from offering endorsements of any primary candidate when the candidate is a paying client;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the Harris County Republican Party opposes the practice of providing money to “politiqueras” or other paid agents of campaigns so that they may provide money or any other thing of value to a voter in return for casting a ballot for a candidate;

AND BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED THAT the text of this resolution shall be posted under the “Voter Info” section of the Harris County Republican Party website within 48 hours of its adoption by the Executive Committee. Furthermore, within one week of its adoption a copy of this resolution shall be distributed to all candidates currently seeking a contested or uncontested nomination in the Republican primary and that it shall be distributed to all candidates at the time of filing for office in all future Republican primaries.

Greg Aydt — Precinct 333
Rudy Balciunas — Precinct 473
Cyndi Lawrence — Precinct 804
Dee Carroll — Precinct 728
Ed Sarlls — Precinct 644
Jeff Larson — Precinct 349
David Wilson — Precinct 923

I’ve talked to a couple of the SD7 precinct chairs in attendance who were embarrassed by the Moore/Swanson spectacle. Here’s what I have to say to them:

Find new “leaders”.

Clearly, there is a new day coming for the Harris County Republican Party. No longer will SD7 be allowed to rule the day. Just wait until all of the new precinct chairs are seated in June. Including me. ;-)

I have no idea how this plays out in the race for chair but I can say a couple of things about it:

Jared Woodfill did a great job running a very contentious meeting.
Woodfill’s allies hurt his candidacy last night with their attempts to foil transparency

That’s all for now. Rest assured, there will be more.

And let us all realize from this that we all can make a difference and if want to save America, not is the time for each of us to get involved and step up!! AM~

Technorati Tags: Harris County,Pay to Play,Legislation,GOP,Republicans,Get-Involved

About Ask Marion

I am a babyboomer and empty nester who savors every moment of my past and believes that it is the responsibility of each of us in my generation and Americans in general to make sure that America is as good or even a better place for future generations as it was for us. So far... we haven't done very well!! Favorite Quotes: "The first 50 years are to build and acquire; the second 50 are to leave your legacy"; "Do something that scares you every day!"; "The journey in between what you once were and who you are becoming is where the dance of life really takes place". At age 62 I find myself fighting inoperable uterine Cancer and thanks to the man upstairs and the prayers from so many people including many of my readers from AskMarion and JustOneMorePet... I'm beating it. After losing our business because of the economy and factors related to the re-election of President Obama in 2012 followed by 16-mos of job hunting, my architect-trained husband is working as a trucker and has only been home approximately 5-days a month since I was diagnosed, which has made everything more difficult and often lonely... plus funds are tight. Our family medical deductible is 12K per year for two of us; thank you ObamaCare. But thanks to donations from so many of you, we are making ends meet as I go through treatment while taking care of my father-in-law who is suffering from late stage Alzheimer's and my mother-in-law who suffers from RA and onset dementia as well as hearing loss, for which there are no caretaker funds, as I continue the fight here online to inform and help restore our amazing country. And finally I need to thank a core group of family, friends, and readers... all at a distance, who check in with me regularly. Plus, I must thank my furkids who have not left my side through this fight. You can see them at JustOneMorePet.

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