Texas Winner Take All to Be Voted on at GOP State Convention, not Emergency SREC Meeting

The recent controversy of whether or not the Republican Party of Texas will go back “Winner Take All” will not be decided in an Emergency Texas GOP SREC Meeting. The question will be tackled at the June 2012 Texas Republican State Convention in Fort Worth, TX.

The Texas GOP will not be calling an Emergency SREC meeting after many SREC members (including members in favor of Winner Take All) expressed interest in holding off on making the decision until the State Convention. Instead of an Emergency Meeting, the issue of going back to Winner Take All will be given to the Convention Rules Committee and then voted on by the thousands of Republican Delegates and the Texas Republican State Convention.

I, along with the current and former Texas GOP Chairmen, am for Winner Take All. Texas has always been Winner Take All and it is something that has been voted on by the thousands of grassroots Republican delegates at the Last State Convention and past State Conventions. It is a system that allows Texas to have a bigger voice in the Presidential Race instead of being irrelevant in the Presidential Race, like we are this year. The only reason Texas went to proportional from Winner Take All was because the SREC was forced by the RNC to go to proportional because we were having a pre April Primary Election. Now that our Primary will be well after April, we should go back to Winner Take all because that is what the Delegates at the State Convention voted on. Who are we (62 SREC members) to defy the decision of Texas Republicans?

To make things easy and less confusing, I am not advocating for any drastic changes. I just want to go back to our old Texas Winner Take All system that Texas Republicans know and have voted to have. Our old Texas Winner Take All was not a true Winner Take All. It is a very good “modified” Winner Take All that is based on local level Congressional Districts. Basically, if you win a Congressional District you get the Republican Presidential delegates from that Congressional District. So it is a “winner take all” system because a candidate can win all the delegates in Texas, but it is actually fair and better than proportional because it allows the local Congressional Districts the ability to have a voice.

I would have liked the SREC to go ahead and have the emergency meeting to go back to our old Winner Take All system. We have the 15 members needed to call the meeting and we probably have the votes needed to change back. We already know Winner Take All is what the Republican Delegates in Texas want because that is what they voted on at the last convention. I guess I am one of those “remember the Alamo”

Although I would like to go back to Winner Take All NOW in an Emergency Meeting while there is still time to work out any kinks, I am satisfied with holding off and bringing the issue at the State Convention for the Republican Delegates to vote on.

My push to go back to Winner Take All instead of being bullied into proportional does not end here now that there will not be a meeting. My push for Winner Take All will continue until the State Convention. I hope the Texas Delegates at the State Convention will not cave to the threats from the RNC. Texas is known for standing our ground, not for backing down.

Texas Republican Presidential Debate May 24th, 2012 in Houston – Nationally Televised!

Texas GOP will warn candidates that if they do not show up, they will be considered as not caring for Texas and should not get our vote

A Major Presidential Debate in Texas? This is pretty much unheard of!

Nothing is set in stone yet, but the Republican Party of Texas is close to finalizing a deal that will bring a nationally televised Republican Presidential Debate to Houston, TX on May 24^th, 2012. The debate will be only 5 days before the Texas Primary Election and there are 155 Presidential Delegates at stake. A candidate needs 1144 delegates to win the Republican nomination.

Texas GOP Chairman Steve Munisteri has been working hard behind the scenes to get this debate together. He has received a commitment from a major television network to televise the debate if there is enough candidate participation. So far, two of the four Republican candidates have responded and agreed to the debate.

Texas needs more than 2 candidates to commit to the debate in order to pull the debate off. This Saturday, March 31^st, 2012, the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) will present, and likely pass, a resolution calling on all four candidates to show they have concern for our state by committing to be at the debate, and under no uncertain terms to make it known that the state party leadership would consider it a major slight to the state party and to Texas Republicans for them not to show up. 

This resolution should put enough heat on the candidates to get all 4 of them to show up.

The Republican Presidential Nomination Race is being split 4 ways (Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney, Ron Paul) with no signs of anyone backing out. This means that there will likely not be a winner yet by the time Texas gets a chance to vote in the May 29^th, 2012 Texas Primary Elections.

This sets up Texas to be something it has not been in a while, a Battleground State.

Texas Should Go Back to Winner Take All

Texas has gone from winner take all to proportional because the RNC forced us to make the change because we were originally going to have our Primary Election before April. This means that Texas will have less of an impact in the Presidential Race because the 155 delegates that Texas has will be split up between 4 candidates instead of the 155 delegates all going to the candidate who wins Texas. This is not good for Texas because it significantly lowers the impact that Texas will have in the Presidential race. I have advocated for Texas to go back to winner take all to reclaim our state sovereignty and give Texas a bigger say in the Presidential Race. Proportional dilutes the voice of Texas because our delegates are all split up, whereas other states get to put all their delegates behind the one candidate who wins their state. This puts Texas at a disadvantage. With winner take all, Texas could significantly change the Presidential Race because the