precinct chair – Carol A. Spencer

Thin Skinned

Politics is not for the faint-of-heart. Anyone who has run for office, or served in office, knows that. We’re all very opinionated and most of us, passionately so. Those who don’t agree with their representatives often come out with guns blazing (not literally, just verbally). It’s just the way it is. The elected official can engage in the gun-fire with nasty retorts, or step back and invite discussion. What the elected official cannot be is thin-skinned and defensive.

Sadly, our current House member, Stan Gerdes, has demonstrated that he is both thin-skinned and defensive. In 2022, he was asked at multiple GOP meetings whether he supported Dems as committee chairs in the Texas House. Notwithstanding Republicans being strongly in the majority, he supported Dem chairs (video at 6:13). Those of us who worked hard to get Republicans elected felt betrayed. And, we told him so.

In 2024, we’ve again said “No Dem Chairs” and once again, he is supporting a House Speaker who lost the Republican Caucus vote and who will appoint Dem chairs.

Republican committee chairs are critical to passing TexasGOP legislative priority bills. This is important enough that the TexasGOP sent a mailer to Bastrop County Republicans asking them to call Gerdes’ office and “tell him to oppose Dustin Burrows and support the Texas House GOP Caucus Nominee David Cook!”

Then, the Bastrop County GOP passed a resolution calling “on Representative Stan Gerdes to publicly commit to supporting the Texas House Republican Caucus nominee in accordance with the Caucus vote and with the Republican Party of Texas Platform”. Seems reasonable.

That resolution also explained that:

“A vote against the Texas House Republican Caucus nominee shall be considered a censurable act”; and
“subversive tactics such as denying a quorum or participating (sic) in absenteeism that causes a quorum to come into question […] shall be considered a censurable act”; and
“a vote for a House Speaker secret floor ballot vote, will be interpreted as an attempt to hide a vote with Democrats who want Democrat Chairs […] and shall be considered a censurable act”; and
“a vote […] for any other candidate who has not pledged publicly, prior to the floor vote, to comply with the Legislative Priorities of “No Democrat Chairs” shall constitute a censurable act.”

Stan Gerdes was not censured. The elected Republican precinct chairs simply expressed their opinions and what they expected from their Republican House member.

Precinct chairs are elected to be the voice of the Republican Party. Gerdes was elected to represent House District 17. These are very different constituencies.

Gerdes can stick to his position supporting Democrat chairs and do what he believes is in the best interest of his constituents. But, as with every decision an elected official makes, there are consequences to those decisions. And, the Bastrop County Republican Party has made clear what those consequences will be. Seems reasonable.

Rather than throw verbal bombs on Facebook at Republican Party leadership, a mature, seasoned elected official would either invite precinct chairs to a meeting or personally call each one, building bridges. He would not whine because he wasn’t invited to the meeting where the resolution was passed. He would not call candidates who ran against him three years ago “vengeful”. He wouldn’t worry about a candidate that spent under $20,000 in a campaign cycle when he, himself, spent over half a million. He would not call the Republican Chair a liar. He would not send threatening texts. He would not make unfounded accusations and name-call publicly on social media.

I sure as heck hope this isn’t the way he treats his fellow legislators when they disagree with him. And, if, as I hear repeatedly, Stan Gerdes wants to run for Congress or some other higher office, he needs to get thicker skin. He needs to immediately start building bridges not burning them down.

Do Your Job

To quote Bill Belichick, NE Patriots coach, for a team to win, players must “do your job”. The same applies to precinct chairs.

Precinct chairs are elected by the Republicans in their precincts. Do voting Republicans elect precinct chairs to do their job or just hold the title?

Having been a precinct chair, I know that rarely do they get the opportunity to choose our Republican candidate. They have that opportunity on Saturday.

There are four candidates for the position of Republican candidate for State Board of Ed in District 5, Bastrop County’s district: David Doman of Travis County, Robert Westbrook of Guadalupe County, Perla Hopkins of Travis County, James Dickey of Travis County. Yet, only two (out of 26) Bastrop County precinct chairs were named as participants on the Zoom candidate forum Wednesday night. (The GOP chair also attended.) Two out of 26!

The vote to replace Mark Loewe, who unfortunately passed away after winning the primary, is tomorrow, Saturday August 6 from noon to 3 p.m. at Pinballz Lake Creek, 13729 Research Blvd., Austin.

If Bastrop County precinct chairs don’t show up, they’ll have abrogated their role in choosing our Republican candidate for STATE Board of Education…. the people who set curriculum, who determine text books, who constitutionally are required to manage the Permanent School Fund.

(update 2:45) I’m excited to hear that the County Chair is calling all of them letting them know how important this is. That’s great. Hopefully, our Bastrop County precinct chairs will do their job!

What’s the Score?

The score is 14 – 7. We’re losing.

I’m not talking about football. I’m talking about social media and digital communication. The Bastrop County Democrat Party in December (so far) has posted twice as much as the Bastrop County Republican Party. And, they’re on both Instagram and Twitter.

Social media is the preferred communication method for all age groups. Entities must be in these spaces to connect with the public.

The Republican Party website is out of date. The Election Information page showed Nov 4 ballot info as recently as Saturday, December 7. The cutoff date for filing to run for office was December 9. Until mid-day December 8, not one word was on the website about how to do so.

Silence about the new precinct created in Bastrop County last month even though it affects more than 2,000 voters. Nothing about how to register to vote, yet that’s the top priority for TexasGOP. And, the news page’s last article is from June 2, 2018! Its subject? A joint event with the Democrats.

Twitter? The last tweet from the Bastrop County Republican Party was April 25. The Democrats? December 3.

Instagram? (70% of 18 – 29 year olds use Instagram)
The Republican Party doesn’t even have an account. The Democrats last post? November 25.

YouTube? (90% of 18 – 49 year olds use YouTube)
The Republican Party doesn’t even have an account.

“You’re a digital communications expert and a precinct chair. Why don’t you volunteer to fix this,” you might ask. I have. The chair refused my offer. It’s one thing to lose a football game because of poor communication. It’s quite another to lose elections for that reason.

Leave ALL signs alone. Don’t trespass. Don’t steal.

A few days ago, some Democrat signs in Tahitian Village were apparently destroyed by someone driving through the neighborhood. This prompted a post on the Republican Party’s Facebook page condemning the action and forcefully stating that when the perpetrators are found, they’ll be turned over to the authorities. Because the signs were on Democrat properties, the Bastrop County Young Republicans went so far as to blame the Alt-Right for this wrong-doing.

It’s interesting to me that these two Republican organizations have been silent in the face of trespass and sign theft of Republican signs. Not a peep out of either organization as Cruz signs have been stolen from private property in more than a few cases. Perhaps they didn’t know, you say. Well, maybe, but that’s really hard to believe in the face of property owner reactions, some like the one at left.

It is inappropriate to point fingers at anyone, call out any group without proof, laser focus on only one instance of this type of behavior when it’s happening across the county to all sides.

No one should trespass on private property to remove or destroy anything, including political signs. It doesn’t matter what candidate from what party a person is supporting, they have a right to display signs supporting that individual or party. TXDOT regulations require signs to be on private property so anyone taking or damaging a sign is violating trespass and destruction of personal property laws.

Business Continuity or Outright Coup

I ask you: do you know one successful corporation that is lead by a steering committee without a powerful executive at the helm? (And let’s face it, political parties ARE corporations.)

Think GE under Jack Welsh, a company that now, under weak leadership, has lost its place on the Dow. Think JP Morgan Chase under Jamie Dimon. Study the difference in IBM under Lou Gerstner and Jack Akers. Remember Chrysler under Lee Iococca? Apple – Steve Jobs. Microsoft – Bill Gates. I could go on naming recognizable corporate names.

Yet, in Republican political organizations the recent push seems to be to overthrow strong, successful leaders, allegedly to “empower the grassroots”, to change a top-down organization to a bottom-up organization, implementing a weaker committee leadership style instead of a strong chief executive.

First, it was Travis County which created the roadmap on how to emasculate a county chair. Using the same technique of bylaw modification, Bastrop County, Montgomery County, Galveston County followed suit. At a minimum, these four counties have seen controlling interests among Republican precinct chairs completely strip the duly elected county chairs of their power. Only time will tell how successful this move is in growing the Party, getting out the vote and Keeping Texas Red, but I have my doubts.

Business continuity planning or outright coup? What’s the best way to manage an organization, to successfully move it forward? In my opinion, these people would do better to recognize the accomplishments of their predessors, learn from them, get experience in all facets of life (including life outside the political world), determine the appropriate management style for success, and then make their mark on the future of the Republican Party by appropriately modifying bylaws. Doing so would ensure Texas’ red status for years to come. But a coup, just because the votes are there, is not the quick fix they anticipate it will be.

What a Difference One Vote Makes

This fall, Bastrop County voters have the privilege of voting for four Third Court of Appeals justices. A total of six justices make up the Third Court. Votes for the four Third Court of Appeals justices are likely the most important votes you will cast in November 2018.

We’re lucky in Texas to be able to vote for our judges and justices. Votes matter! Some justices are appointed, for example, US Supreme Court justices. Appointees matter! Appointing authorities matter!

US Supreme Court building

I recall answering one “what are your three most important issues” poll prior to the November 2016 presidential election with “Supreme Court. Supreme Court. Supreme Court.” I know many who felt that way. Prophetic.

Today, President Trump’s “Travel Ban” was upheld, by a 5-4 vote. It held “The President has lawfully exercised the broad discretion granted to him under 8 U. S. C. §1182(f) to suspend the entry of aliens into the United States; respondents have not demonstrated a likelihood of success on the merits of their claim that Presidential Proclamation No. 9645 violates the Establishment Clause.”

Yesterday, by a 5-4 vote, our Congressional District 27 map was upheld by the Supreme Court. It determined “The District Court disregarded the presumption of legislative good faith and improperly reversed the burden of proof when it required the State to show a lack of discriminatory intent in adopting new districting plans;[…].”

And, last Friday in another 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court determined that government needs a warrant to seize historical location data from cell phones. It ruled “The Government’s acquisition of Carpenter’s cell-site records from his wireless carriers was a Fourth Amendment search; and the Government did not obtain a warrant supported by probable cause before acquiring those records.”

In each case, Neil Gorsuch was among the five jurists in the majority. Would the majority have ruled the same way if a Barack Obama appointed liberal jurist were sitting in the seat occupied by Neil Gorsuch? I doubt it.

Your votes for the Third Court of Appeals will have similar impact. Don’t let this incredible opportunity to have an impact on your own day-to-day lives pass you by.

Political Activism or Community Activism

The current CD 27 Special Election is critical! Republicans need a 50%+1 win on June 30 to avoid a September runoff that will be costly to Texas voters, costly to our candidate, and potentially costly to the balance of the House of Representatives if not won by a Republican.

Political strategists would expect the Bastrop Republican County Executive Committee (BRCEC) as a whole to be working hard to get out the Republican vote for this election. Sadly, that’s not the case.

Community organizing is apparently more important. The Republican chair has asked for volunteers for an Elgin community event all day on Saturday, June 23, exactly one week before Election Day.

Elgin is not part of CD 27. In fact, Elgin sits at the most northwestern tip of Bastrop County, far away from CD 27. It’s in Congressional District 10, Mike McCaul’s district.

But getting known in the community is important, you say. Yes, it is. But when the balance of the U.S. House of Representatives is at stake, political activism trumps community activism every time.

For those in my precinct, look for this postcard in your mail this week. It has information about the Special Election, how to contact me, and where to find Bastrop County Republican information online. Even if you’re not in my precinct, but are in CD 27, please share with your friends, and be sure to early vote or vote on June 30!

Intro Postcard - Front with contact information