Six out of 21 Bastrop County Republican precinct chair positions are currently vacant and have been for months. In four of those six, Republicans were on the March 6 ballot to fill those positions. Having been elected last Tuesday, four of us are now precinct chairs-elect in precincts with no representation on the Republican County Executive Committee. In fact, Precinct 1003 (ours), the overwhelmingly largest precinct in Bastrop County, has no voice.
After the election, I emailed the chair of the vacancy committee, and when I received no response, all the current precinct chairs. I asked whether the four of us, having been elected by the voters of our precincts, could fill those vacancies now, prior June 11, the official start date.
This group prefers to deny those four precincts any representation at all for the next three months.
The overwhelming sentiment from current precinct chairs was NO, those elected would not be installed prior to the official date of June 11. There is still plenty of time for the Vacancy Committee to meet and recommend those positions be filled ASAP.
Oddly, one person said that would give us some unnamed advantage over others who won on Tuesday. Advantage? Over whom? We are allegedly all Republicans sharing a common goal of defeating Democrats.
And, even more importantly, in filling those vacancies now, they would be respecting the choice of the voters.