A group of Republican county chairs has published an open letter to Republican Party of Texas State Chairman Abraham George and members of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) raising serious concerns about the financial condition of the state party and the state party’s unpreparedness for the upcoming general election.
Organized by Travis County Republican Party Chairman Matt Mackowiak, the letter has been signed by 26 county chairs as of the publication of this article. In their letter, the signatories describe the Party’s financial situation as “grave and deteriorating” and make four requests for information concerning the Texas GOP’s finances and activities related to general election efforts.
The Texas Voice recently reported that the Republican Party of Texas has fallen far short of fundraising and operational goals set by State Chairman Abraham George when he was campaigning for election to that office and that the Party’s state convention earlier this year lost $382,614.
At a candidate forum in May, George stated his belief that the Party needed a monthly budget of $1.5 million and “100-plus” staff during election season. The Party’s most recent campaign finance report on file with the Federal Election Commission reflected operating expenditures of $222,504.74 during the month of July- less than 15% of the $1.5 million budget goal set by George.
That same campaign finance report showed that the Party has approximately seven employees, a far cry from the over 100 staffers George said he hoped the Party would have for elections. The Party’s campaign finance report from the same period during the 2020 Presidential election cycle reflected a staff of approximately 60 employees at that time.
Additionally, the Republican Party of Texas has yet to open any field offices despite comments made by George at a meeting of the State Republican Executive Committee on August 2. At that meeting, George indicated his desire to open “maybe 2 or 3” field offices in South Texas. However, those offices have yet to materialize.
As the Texas GOP struggles to build infrastructure for the 2024 election and beyond, prominent Democratic donors are investing heavily in Texas. George Soros and members of his family have spent over $10.5 million in Texas so far this election cycle and far-left groups such as the Texas Organizing Project have been on a hiring spree.
Many members of the State Republican Executive Committee seem unconcerned with the State Party’s ability to help propel candidates to victory at the ballot box, focusing instead on self-adulation and resolutions.
State Republican Executive Committee members Ralph Fite and Deborah Kelting Fite, a married couple who represent State Senate District 7 on the SREC, recently published an update about the SREC’s meeting last month. Although the update was over 1,200 words long, the Fites’ update did not include any information about what the Texas GOP was doing to defeat Democrats in November. Instead, it centered around the “great honor” that had been “bestowed upon” them by George as well as information about resolutions passed by the SREC.
“I, Ralph Fite, your SD 7 SREC Committeeman, in my freshman term, was bestowed a great honor by Republican Party of Texas Chairman, Abraham George, in being named as Chairman of the Local Government Committee,” wrote Ralph Fite. Deborah Fite was recently re-elected to the SREC’s officials committee, which is tasked with conducting Party business between SREC meetings, preparing the Party’s budget, and ratifying certain contracts. When seeking re-election to the SREC, Deborah Fite indicated that the Republican Party of Texas was in a healthy financial situation.
A copy of the open letter signed by the county chairs is posted below:
September 12, 2024
OPEN LETTER TO TEXAS GOP CHAIR ABRAHAM GEORGE AND THE SREC
Chairman George and Members of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC):
Thank you for your service to our Party and to our State.
We know RPT is working hard on election integrity efforts and to prepare to make the upcoming legislative session as effective as possible to advance our platform and we appreciate those efforts.
We were relieved that after 116 days, on September 9, 2024 RPT made an excellent appointment of Congresswoman Beth Van Duyne as Victory Chair to manage the coordinated campaign and help the party raise money, which is desperately needed. For the first time in our modern history, our Victory Chair quit on May 16th and the position has been vacant since. We all wish Beth well in this important job!
We write this letter with roughly 55 days to go until the most consequential presidential election in our lifetimes.
The current reality is that Texas is too close for comfort at the presidential level (as a recent UH poll showed Trump up only 5% and Cruz up only 2%), and it is time to re-dedicate ourselves with urgency, strategy, and teamwork for the days that remain.
The financial circumstance at RPT is grave and deteriorating. The cash on hand situation has consistently worsened for several years, and the shocking recent news that our State Convention lost $382,000 must not be ignored. A $100,000 net profit was projected only weeks before State Convention. Between the last two State Conventions, RPT has lost nearly $500,000 at an event that should be one of our major fundraisers and has historically netted a significant profit.
RPT’s current cash on hand should allow it to financially survive through the Nov. 5 election, but it will not allow for much else. Fundraising has evaporated nearly entirely. The current chair appears to be either unwilling or unable to raise major funds, despite running on a promise to increase the budget significantly through fundraising.
The financial picture is radically different than several promises made by Abraham George when he was a candidate for RPT Chair. He suggested a goal of RPT needing “an $18M budget in election years” with “100+ employees” at a candidate forum in May. The current reality also is radically different from the comments he made at the August 2nd SREC meeting where he suggested opening new field offices, especially in South Texas. More than a month later, not one single new RPT-backed field office has been opened.
Meanwhile, the most recent SREC meeting barely discussed fundraising or GOTV efforts, and instead spent several hours on resolutions. There is currently no other SREC meeting scheduled before the election.
This predicament is unacceptable.
And while we realize the SREC has some new members who were just elected, this level of unpreparedness will harm our candidates and our party and we cannot sit back and let that continue.
We make the following FOUR requests in the best interest of the Texas GOP:
1. We are calling for the SREC to create a special subcommittee to probe the past convention through an independent financial audit. All contracts and payments must be examined. We are concerned that either incompetence or graft played a role, thought that must be proven. We must learn lessons from this catastrophic failure to ensure it NEVER happens again. That committee should report publicly and immediately after the Nov. 5 election.
2. We are calling for RPT Chair Abraham George to provide a comprehensive fundraising update detailing his performance from his May election to today, and to forecast what will be raised in new funds (not transfers from the RNC and other committees) between now and Nov. 5.
3. We are calling for RPT to release a detailed, thoughtful, comprehensive GOTV plan to be sent to all county parties and GOP campaigns by Sept. 15. This should have been done by Labor Day at the latest. Every day that passes is increasingly valuable and cannot be recovered.
4. We are calling on RPT to detail its Early Vote By Mail (EVBM) program to all County Chairs by September 15. Without a serious, well-funded, statewide EBVM mailer (as we do every cycle), we will get destroyed in mail ballots which will narrow Trump’s margin, threaten Cruz’s re-election, and harm all of our targeted down ballot races.
Sincerely,
1. Matt Mackowiak, Travis County GOP chair
2. James Beauchamp, Midland County GOP chair
3. Hunter Bonner, Marion County GOP chair
4. Carl Byers, Upshur County GOP chair
5. Kris Coons, Bexar County GOP chair
6. Chris DeCluitt, McLennan County GOP chair
7. Jody Deller, Kaufman County GOP chair
8. Roman Griffin, Sabine County GOP chair
9. Karen Hale, Guadalupe County GOP chair
10. Alan Haley, Loving County GOP chair
11. Linda Kinsey, Comanche County GOP chair
12. Carlette Lewis, Blanco County GOP chair
13. Rick Lifto, Wise County GOP chair
14. Michelle Lopez, Hays County GOP chair
15. David Luther, Waller County GOP chair
16. Michael Mars, Titus County GOP chair
17. Mark Montgomery, Comal County GOP chair
18. Elizabeth Nelson, Falls County GOP chair
19. Lance Phillips, Limestone County GOP chair
20. Stephanie Michelle Rushing, Irion County GOP chair
21. Sandy Sassano, Maverick County GOP chair
22. Janet Stanovich, Cherokee County GOP chair
23. Gary Stone, Motley County GOP chair
24. David Stein, Smith County GOP chair
25. Mike Wheeler, Kendall County GOP chair (and SREC member)
26. Jeri Johnson Willoughby, Schleicher County GOP chair
(County Chairs listed alphabetically)
