The Texas GOP Does Not Need A Gatekeeper

Notice the title?  Gatekeeper as defined by Wikipedia is this:  "A gatekeeper is a person who controls access to something."   There are gatekeepers for all kinds of activities and clubs and even churches, for that matter, but since I'm involved in the political world, I'm thinking of the GOP.  I can think of a gatekeeper of the Republican party; actually I can think of a few of them.  Someone who thinks that the Republican party is an arm of the Baptist Church; where religiosity and exclusion meet.

You know the kind of person I'm talking about.  The kind of person who uses their Christianity and 'holier than thou' attitude as a weapon.  Who invokes the name of Jesus to instill fear in those who would oppose them.  Who ALWAYS paint their opponents as less than Christian or as not conservative enough.   Let me tell you something, I have a personal relationship with Jesus, and that's not the Jesus I know.

There's a saying that goes something like this, "Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary, use words."  Funny, it doesn't say anything about shouting others down and shoving the Bible down people's throats.  As I've said, I'm a Christian, and that's not the Jesus I know.  The Jesus I know is about love and compassion and grace and mercy.  "Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance, and patience, not realizing that God's kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?"-Romans 2:4

This is MY blog and this is MY opinion.  So, take it or leave it.  However, it is my feeling that Jared Woodfill along with Steven Hotze are religious gatekeepers for the Republican party.  Or at least, they try to be.  They want to keep the 'riff-raff' from joining in the ranks of the Republican party, and I'm not even talking about elected officials.  I'm talking about activists, precinct chairs, you name it.  Anybody who doesn't agree with their opinion lock stock and barrel are sinners, and not to be included in the Republican
 process.

I've got news for you folks, we are ALL sinners, saved by grace, and while we're talking about sinners, let's remind ourselves who Jesus was often found in fellowship with.  Jesus didn't eat with the religious elite, remember? He didn't rub elbows with the Pharisees or with Pontius Pilate.   He ate with the sinners and tax collectors and the broken and the sick.   He was ALL inclusive.

Funny thing is that Jesus wasn't and still isn't about passing a purity test.  If you came with a desire to be changed, to accept his forgiveness and mercy and grace, you could and you still can.  If we elect Jared Woodfill as State Party Chair, there will be rules and purity tests for the activist who want to become involved.  Information will not be disseminated to all activists, but only to  a select 'worthy' few.  He will turn this party into a top down tool for his power the same way he treated the Harris County Republican Party.

No, the Texas GOP does not need a gatekeeper.  What it needs is a leader.

Jared Woodfill: Tenet vs Track Record

In Proverbs 22:1, it says, "A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold."

What are some of the qualities that are important to you when considering a candidate for public office?  Do you consider their past voting history?  How about their stance on gay marriage?  Maybe their willingness to regulate and spend the taxpayers money without regard for the future generations?  What about their stance on abortion?

Whichever one or two qualities that you may have picked that are important to you, whether I listed them above or not, do these qualities, or lack thereof, impact their ability to carry out the duties of the office they seek?  For example, would you hire a tax cheat to run the U.S. Treasury?  Would you vote for someone to be the Sheriff if they had a criminal record?  I would think that those kind of things would be important when considering a vote for someone to represent me.

What if I told you that someone who continually lost elections for a county party was hoping to be put in charge of a state party?  What if I told you that same someone had problems raising money and maintaining the trust of the donors once he actually received the donations?  What if I also added that he squelched the grassroots by ignoring them and putting his own cronies in place to benefit himself and his buddies?  How about if I told you he couldn't then and still can't even manage his own personal finances, what would you say to that?

Enough with the ambiguity, I'll tell you who I'm talking about, if you haven't already figured it out: Jared Woodfill.  Jared is a nice enough person, but no amount of pleasantries and good personality is going to change my mind about his qualities and abilities to hold any kind of elected position.  EVER.  Unfortunately, he still has a following of sorts and those that support him seem to be completely blind to his inability to manage people and finances and win elections simply because of one thing; he's Pro-life.

Great, he's pro-life, and yes, it's a good, Biblical quality to have.  The Bible tells us we should not murder and in my opinion, abortion IS murder.  I'm going to let you in on a little secret, though.  The Bible also talks about paying debts, too.  Now, I know that generally speaking, we all have some debts; mortgages, credit cards, student loans, car notes, etc. and I'm not saying that having debt is evil or wrong.  There are, however, consequences for not paying those debts.

Let us not forget about Jared Woodfill’s $30 Million lawsuit gamble and tax problems.   Woodfill was sued in New York for defaulting on a nearly $30 million “questionably ethical” loan.  Not only that, but The Houston Business Journal and the Chronicle recently reported the IRS has placed a $40,000 lien on the Woodfill Law Firm for unpaid taxes.  If you're not a subscriber, you may not be able to read the link, but the information included is this:  
Name: Woodfill Law Firm PC, Address: 3131 Eastside St. Suite 450, City: Houston,State: TX, Zip: 77098, Amount: $40,214, Tax Type: (941), File Date: 2014-11-24, Rec Date: 2014-12-10, Rel Date: 0000-00-00.  You can Read the Chronicle article here.

In Romans 13:7 it says "Pay to all what is owed to them: taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed, honor to whom honor is owed." 

When you don't pay for your car, the bank repossesses it.  When you don't pay your house note, the bank kicks you out of your house.  So why shouldn't there be consequences for those seeking elected positions?  If you've proven yourself a failure in an area that your position needs you to excel in, why would anyone want to put you in that position, pro-life or no?

State Republican Executive Committee to Select New State GOP Chair March 7th

This just in: Texas remains a red state!  After the November 2014 election, Republicans see victories all over the state!  Okay, well, maybe it's not as recent as I made it sound, but it's still a fact worth celebrating.  Think about who we have to thank for that victory?  Well, lots of devoted volunteers from around the state, that's who.  GOP County Chairmen are the immediate leaders of each county in Texas and their boss is our State Republican Party Chairman, Steve Munisteri.  Without a clear plan in place, our state party and each county party might not have done nearly as well in this last election, and I almost hate to do this, (almost), but I need to bring your attention back to my ground zero; Harris County.

In March 2014, Harris County elected a new county party chairman.  Jared was the ousted 12 year incumbent,  from the spot..  Although you'd think that someone who had been in the position for that long and kept getting re-elected MUST have been doing a great job, right?  WRONG!

Sadly now Steve Munisteri is resigning as our State Party Chairman after five great years of service to us.  We will miss him, but know he's going on to bigger, better things.  That leaves the position open and since his resignation comes before the next state convention, the job of electing a new chairman falls to the State Republican Executive Committee or SREC for short.  There are four candidates in the field, Robin Armstrong, former State Vice Chairman, and current National Republican Committeeman for Texas, Wade Emmert, current chairman for Dallas County GOP, Tom Mechler, current State Party Treasurer and of course, Jared Woodfill, the recently unseated Harris County GOP Chairman.

Let's take a look back at some of the highlights from Jared's tenure as Harris County GOP Chairman:

Jared Woodfill Led the Decline of Harris County Republican Dominance

• The Harris County Republican Party delivered Harris County for the Republicans in every presidential election from 1968-2004 and Gubernatorial elections from 1994-2006.

• With no county party organization and a lack of leadership from Woodfill, Obama and the Democrats won Harris County in 2008, 2010 and 2012.

For 12 Years Jared Woodfill Failed to Grow the Grassroots
• Over 600 of Harris County’s 1,064 precincts did not have a Republican Precinct Chair.

• 20 years ago Harris County had over 700 Republican precinct chairs. When Woodfill left office there are fewer than 460.

Jared Woodfill Lost the Trust of Grassroots Donors
• A review of Texas Ethics Commission documents show that in 2012, under Jared Woodfill’s leadership, the county Party spent $.78 of every dollar raised on consultants and paid campaign
advertisements with only $.01 going to grassroots activities.

Jared also mismanaged his own personal finances and The Houston Business Journal recently reported the IRS has placed a $40,000 lien on theWoodfill Law Firm for unpaid taxes.  Hmm...

Now, let me ask you if you think that this resume that I've shared qualifies Jared to be the state party chair?  Jared dutifully ignored the development of the grassroots, and pandered to a select few he surrounded himself with at the peril of the party.  He spent more money on high dollar consultants and he let the pay-to-play slates take over Harris County which allowed candidates for any and all offices to be chosen by a few top paid endorsers!   

We've come so far as a state, we cannot afford to let Jared take the helm and repeat what he did in Harris County to the State GOP.  The election will take place on March 7, 2015 at the next quarterly meeting of the SREC.  Let me tout some of Steve's record: From his resignation announcement:  
"It has been my honor to serve as RPT Chairman since June 2010 and oversee our party’s efforts during the last three election cycles. I am proud that by working together, we have had a net increase of 1,182 Republican officeholders during my time in office, representing an increase from 45% of all state officeholders to 67%. We have also set the all-time record for most number of elected Republican Texas State Representatives and Republican Texas Congressmen, as well as tying the record for most number of Republican State Senators.
At the same time, we paid off the party’s debt to $0 for the first time in 18 years and have remained debt free since November 2010 while bringing in over $22 million in revenue. This would not have been possible without the support of literally tens of thousands of grassroots activists and donors, for which I will be forever grateful."

Debt paid off to $0.  A net increase in Republican officeholders and an all-time record for most number of elected Republicans in the State House and State Senate.  Texas can't afford to go backwards.  The vote is scheduled for March 7th.  Contact your SREC representatives and let them know who you support.  Just say 'no' to failed leadership!

The People Choose, Not the Party: Taking Back Harris County from the Slates

The people choose, not the party!  The people choose, not the party!  Remember that chant?  Oh, well, I guess you wouldn't unless you were at the Freedomworks Fly-In Bootcamp held in Washington, D.C.  back in 2011.  Myself along with fifty or so other activists from across the US gathered together for three days of intensive activist training.  We then spent the last day putting our training into practice.  See, we took a little field trip to protest the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC), headed then by Senator John Cornyn to protest their practice of supporting the incumbent before and during the primary.  Although we were protesting the use of those funds to promote incumbent Senator Orrin Hatch during the primary, the sentiment was that the NRSC should stay out of primary races and out the way of the voting populous.  Sound familiar?

My point in sharing that story with you is this: that scenario sounds awfully familiar to the situation the voters in Harris County and the greater Houston area face at election time.  You've seen them before; those fabulous little 'slate' mailers where a PAC or an individual recommends who to vote for.  We here call those "pay to play" or "pay for play" slates.  The candidates have money extorted from them by the PAC in the neighborhood of $5000 or more in order to 'win' their election bid.  The three most offensive are Texas Conservative Review author Gary Polland, Dr. Steven Hotze and his group Conservative Republicans of Texas and last but definitely not least is Terry Lowry and the Linkletter. 


Notice I said, 'extorted'.  Yes, it is a free country and the candidates don't have to pay, but these slate mailers have made the political climate in Harris County such that if you want to win, then you shell out the money.  I have a problem with that.  The other problem that I have is that the local GOP affiliate does nothing to stop it.  Not only do they do nothing to stop it, the current county chair, Jared Woodfill is in bed with these three mailers. 

Thankfully, I'm not the only one shedding light on these practices.  The Chronicle came out with an article titled, "In your mail: Examples of 'pay for play' politics".  I should also give kudos to Ed Hubbard who was one of the original 'whistle blowers' on this practice.  He writes for a local blog called  Big Jolly Politics and has been personally driving the narrative  to bring this seedy, underbelly of local politics to the surface so that we can put a stop to it and let the people choose who they want to put in office to represent them, not the ones who are lining the pockets of these slate mailers.


James Wilson, a candidate for Texas State Senate District 7 knows the plight of the unendorsed candidate.  His opponent is slate-endorsed Paul Bettencourt and although Bettencourt will probably win his bid for State Senator, it should ultimately be because of the decision of the voters, not at the hands of a few top paid endorsers.  Here is what Mr. Wilson had to say in response to these mailers, "You won't see my name in these mailers because I refuse to PAY FOR AN ENDORSEMENT. Your next state senator should represent our families, not the special interests of these powerbrokers. Whenever you see people with these mailers, explain to them how this corrupt system is simply un-American."


How do we end this practice?  In my opinion, it starts with you, the voter.  We have to continue to share the truth about these mailers and then we have to make them irrelevant.  How do we do that?  Simple; when you see those mailers in your mailbox, throw them out and do your own research on who is best suited to be elected.  Those mailers are counting on you not to do your own home work to decide who best represents you.  Prove them wrong!  I'll even help you get started.  If you need a sample ballot to see who and what you'll be voting on, head on over to Harris Votes.org.  On the home page you will see "Sample Ballot".  Click on that link and type in your information and you can take it from there and remember, the people choose, not the party!