Latest news with #StateRepublicanExecutiveCommittee
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas megadonor Alex Fairly to fund legal bid to keep GOP lawmakers on the primary ballot
A new Texas GOP megadonor says he plans to fund a legal challenge against the Republican Party of Texas and its governing executive committee if they move forward with plans to censure Republican state lawmakers and block them from the March primary ballot. Amarillo businessman Alex Fairly said in a statement Friday that he would tap into the $20 million political action committee he launched last year to challenge the censures in court if the State Republican Executive Committee goes ahead with plans to formally admonish dozens of GOP lawmakers in October. 'The discussions taking place by the State Republican Executive Committee to block candidates from appearing on the primary ballot is not only unlawful, it's disastrous for the Republican Party of Texas,' Fairly said in a statement, in which he vowed to 'fully fund' a legal opposition effort. Fairly's announcement comes hours before the executive committee will meet to finalize a review of the 2025 legislative session. That report could become the basis for blocking GOP lawmakers from the ballot. 'People just hate accountability,' Texas GOP Chair Abraham George said in response to Fairly's news. The state Republican Party created the new rule last year as a way to hold GOP lawmakers accountable for votes that don't strictly align with the state party's legislative priorities and party principles. In order to draft a censure that could lead the Texas GOP to ban someone from the primary ballot, the offending lawmaker must have committed at least three censurable offenses in their most recent term. Such acts are defined as those contrary to the party's legislative priorities and its core principles laid out in the preamble of the party platform. If the Texas GOP executive committee moves forward, Fairly said, he would fund a full legal challenge, arguing that the decision belongs to voters. 'Letting a handful of insiders dictate who can run in our primaries undermines both our party's core principles and the First Amendment,' Fairly added, referring to the delegates, chosen by local precinct chairs, who make up the GOP executive committee. As of mid-July, the Amarillo businessman had not spent any of the $20 million he put in the Texas Republican Leadership Fund since he created the PAC last December. One Senate Republican and 41 of 88 House Republicans committed at least three censurable offenses, according to the draft report to be taken up Friday. When adding the election of Rep. Dustin Burrows as House speaker, that number increases to 45 House members, a majority of the caucus. Before the legislative session started, the state GOP opposed Burrows for House speaker and ran attack ads in his district. Some SREC members have pushed to consider a vote for Burrows as a censurable act, arguing it was the culmination of a conspiracy to give Democrats more power. However, the party will not unilaterally try to remove everyone eligible for a censure. Local party officials must initiate the censure and ask the SREC for permission to bar them from the ballot. State Rep. Caroline Fairly, the daughter of the Amarillo businessman serving in her first term, announced her support for Burrows on the final day of the speaker's race in January and racked up enough censurable offenses to be barred from the ballot. 'The death penalty' State party delegates, many of whom are among the party's most conservative activists, approved the censure rule at the Texas GOP's 2024 convention. The Fairly-backed legal challenge could mark the first test of the new rule, which critics say is illegal and goes against democratic principles. In the past week, the Republican Party of Texas's executive committee delayed its report and sought input from Republican lawmakers, knowing a legal fight was looming. 'I want the right people censured if they deserve a censure,' George told SREC members. 'I do not want anyone getting censured by county parties or districts if they don't deserve a censure. This is a serious matter for the party as a state party, so we want to do the right thing.' At Saturday's SREC meeting, Texas GOP general counsel Rachel Hooper said she supported the enhanced Rule 44 — the policy approved at the 2024 convention that lays the groundwork to bar ballot access — in part because she was upset the Texas House impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton the year before. 'Sometimes there's acts that are so bad that you need the death penalty,' Hooper said. So far, county parties have initiated censures against at least eight state representatives: Angie Chen Button of Garland, Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake, Charlie Geren of Fort Worth, Cody Harris of Palestine, Stan Lambert of Abilene, John McQueeney of Fort Worth, Morgan Meyer of University Park, Angelia Orr of Itasca. But while the party moves forward with the censure process, George has been publicly celebratory of Burrows. George and SREC members met with the Lubbock Republican, Gov. Greg Abbott and other state representatives at the Governor's Mansion on Saturday before the SREC meeting, marking Burrows' first audience with Texas GOP officials since his election as speaker in January. They did not discuss the censures, instead talking about conservative victories from the recent legislative session, Republicans' mid-decade congressional redistricting and House Democrats' quorum break, which has united Texas Republicans. 'We have an open line with the speaker,' George told the Tribune later that day. 'You don't have to agree all the time. We probably are still going to have some disagreements. That's part of the process.' Fairly's fight Fairly is new to Texas Republican politics, splashing onto the scene during the 2024 Republican primaries to become the 10th biggest donor in that year's state legislative races. He launched the PAC last year in the midst of a bruising fight for Texas House speaker. Originally, he seemed in lockstep with Republican Party of Texas leadership, declaring that he would use the money to target Republican lawmakers who did not come together to support Rep. David Cook of Mansfield, Burrows' rival who had the backing of the GOP caucus. But he has slowly shifted his position since, continuing to distance himself from the state's Republican Party leadership, which has received support from West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks in recent years. Dunn and Wilks have spent tens of millions of dollars supporting hardline conservative primary challengers, incrementally pulling the Texas GOP and Legislature toward their socially conservative stances. After initially declaring he would primary Republican House members who did not support Cook's speaker bid, Fairly quickly walked back that sentiment, issuing a new missive a few weeks later clarifying that he would not use the money to primary lawmakers who voted for Burrows. 'The vote for Speaker belongs to the members,' Fairly wrote in his follow-up statement. A few months later, Fairly distanced himself from Texas GOP leadership again when he criticized them for threatening to run primary opponents against members unless they passed all remaining bills related to their legislative priorities. In an interview, Fairly told the Tribune he called George, the GOP chair, and told him he felt his threats on social media were unproductive. 'I'm weary of this method of trying to get what we want,' Fairly said he told George. 'If this is how we're going to manage people … I may use my money to help balance this out.' This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Alex Fairly will fund legal bid to keep Texas GOP lawmakers on ballot
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas megadonor Alex Fairly will fund legal bid to keep GOP lawmakers on the primary ballot
A new Texas GOP megadonor says he plans to fund a legal challenge against the Republican Party of Texas and its governing executive committee if they move forward with plans to censure Republican state lawmakers and block them from the March primary ballot. Amarillo businessman Alex Fairly said in a statement Friday that he would tap into the $20 million political action committee he launched last year to challenge the censures in court if the State Republican Executive Committee goes ahead with plans to formally admonish dozens of GOP lawmakers in October. 'Any potential attempt by the State Republican Executive Committee to block candidates from appearing on the primary ballot is not only unlawful, it's disastrous for the Republican Party of Texas,' Fairly said in a statement. Fairly's announcement comes hours before the executive committee will meet to finalize a review of the 2025 legislative session. That report could become the basis for blocking GOP lawmakers from the ballot. The state Republican Party created the new rule last year as a way to hold GOP lawmakers accountable for votes that don't strictly align with the state party's legislative priorities and party principles. In order to draft a censure that could lead the Texas GOP to ban someone from the primary ballot, the offending lawmaker must have committed at least three censurable offenses in their most recent term. Such acts are defined as those contrary to the party's legislative priorities and its core principles laid out in the preamble of the party platform. If the Texas GOP executive committee moves forward, Fairly said, he would fund a full legal challenge, arguing that the decision belongs to voters. 'Letting a handful of insiders dictate who can run in our primaries undermines both our party's core principles and the First Amendment,' Fairly added, referring to the delegates, chosen by local precinct chairs, who make up the GOP executive committee. As of mid-July, the Amarillo businessman had not spent any of the $20 million he put in the Texas Republican Leadership Fund since he created the PAC last December. One Senate Republican and 41 of 88 House Republicans committed at least three censurable offenses, according to the draft report to be taken up Friday. When adding the election of Rep. Dustin Burrows as House speaker, that number increases to 45 House members, a majority of the caucus. Before the legislative session started, the state GOP opposed Burrows for House speaker and ran attack ads in his district. Some SREC members have pushed to consider a vote for Burrows as a censurable act, arguing it was the culmination of a conspiracy to give Democrats more power. However, the party will not unilaterally try to remove everyone eligible for a censure. Local party officials must initiate the censure and ask the SREC for permission to bar them from the ballot. State Rep. Caroline Fairly, the daughter of the Amarillo businessman serving in her first term, announced her support for Burrows on the final day of the speaker's race in January and racked up enough censurable offenses to be barred from the ballot. 'The death penalty' State party delegates, many of whom are among the party's most conservative activists, approved the censure rule at the Texas GOP's 2024 convention. The Fairly-backed legal challenge could mark the first test of the new rule, which critics say is illegal and goes against democratic principles. In the past week, the Republican Party of Texas's executive committee delayed its report and sought input from Republican lawmakers, knowing a legal fight was looming. 'I want the right people censured if they deserve a censure,' Texas GOP Chair Abraham George told SREC members. 'I do not want anyone getting censured by county parties or districts if they don't deserve a censure. This is a serious matter for the party as a state party, so we want to do the right thing.' At Saturday's SREC meeting, Texas GOP general counsel Rachel Hooper said she supported the enhanced Rule 44 — the policy approved at the 2024 convention that lays the groundwork to bar ballot access — in part because she was upset the Texas House impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton the year before. 'Sometimes there's acts that are so bad that you need the death penalty,' Hooper said. So far, county parties have initiated censures against at least eight state representatives: Angie Chen Button of Garland, Giovanni Capriglione of Southlake, Charlie Geren of Fort Worth, Cody Harris of Palestine, Stan Lambert of Abilene, John McQueeney of Fort Worth, Morgan Meyer of University Park, Angelia Orr of Itasca. But while the party moves forward with the censure process, George has been publicly celebratory of Burrows. George and SREC members met with the Lubbock Republican, Gov. Greg Abbott and other state representatives at the Governor's Mansion on Saturday before the SREC meeting, marking Burrows' first audience with Texas GOP officials since his election as speaker in January. They did not discuss the censures, instead talking about conservative victories from the recent legislative session, Republicans' mid-decade congressional redistricting and House Democrats' quorum break, which has united Texas Republicans. 'We have an open line with the speaker,' George told the Tribune later that day. 'You don't have to agree all the time. We probably are still going to have some disagreements. That's part of the process.' Fairly's fight Fairly is new to Texas Republican politics, splashing onto the scene during the 2024 Republican primaries to become the 10th biggest donor in that year's state legislative races. He launched the PAC last year in the midst of a bruising fight for Texas House speaker. Originally, he seemed in lockstep with Republican Party of Texas leadership, declaring that he would use the money to target Republican lawmakers who did not come together to support Rep. David Cook of Mansfield, Burrows' rival who had the backing of the GOP caucus. But he has slowly shifted his position since, continuing to distance himself from the state's Republican Party leadership, which has received support from West Texas oil billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks in recent years. Dunn and Wilks have spent tens of millions of dollars supporting hardline conservative primary challengers, incrementally pulling the Texas GOP and Legislature toward their socially conservative stances. After initially declaring he would primary Republican House members who did not support Cook's speaker bid, Fairly quickly walked back that sentiment, issuing a new missive a few weeks later clarifying that he would not use the money to primary lawmakers who voted for Burrows. 'The vote for Speaker belongs to the members,' Fairly wrote in his follow-up statement. A few months later, Fairly distanced himself from Texas GOP leadership again when he criticized them for threatening to run primary opponents against members unless they passed all remaining bills related to their legislative priorities. In an interview, Fairly told the Tribune he called George, the GOP chair, and told him he felt his threats on social media were unproductive. 'I'm weary of this method of trying to get what we want,' Fairly said he told George. 'If this is how we're going to manage people … I may use my money to help balance this out.' More all-star speakers confirmed for The Texas Tribune Festival, Nov. 13–15! This year's lineup just got even more exciting with the addition of State Rep. Caroline Fairly, R-Amarillo; former United States Attorney General Eric Holder; Abby Phillip, anchor of 'CNN NewsNight'; Aaron Reitz, 2026 Republican candidate for Texas Attorney General; and State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin. Get your tickets today! TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
Yahoo
01-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Cornyn wins over Texas GOP leadership, after being censured and boo'd for his gun safety bill
WASHINGTON — In 2022, Abraham George was coming after John Cornyn. Texas' senior senator had just played a central role in passing the first gun safety bill in a generation — a move that the party's right wing denounced as capitulating to Democrats. Members of the state party viciously booed him during their summer meeting that year. George, then leading the Collin County Republican Party in a censure motion against Cornyn, said the senator had crossed over with the Democrats too much and needed to be ousted from office. "The censure calls for his immediate resignation, and also calls for the state party to take actions on it," George said of Cornyn at the time, echoing a sentiment across the right wing within the party that George represented. When George was elected to lead the state party last year on a hard-right platform, he had the support of some of the most vocal Cornyn nay-sayers in the state, including Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. But as chair of the Republican Party of Texas and an influential spokesperson for the ultra-conservative faction of the party loyal to Donald Trump and skeptical of any wavering, George is not joining the anti-Cornyn chorus. Quite the opposite. 'Ever since I was elected, Senator Cornyn has been an ally to the party,' George said in a statement for this story, in which he praised the senator for showing up before the State Republican Executive Committee. Cornyn 'promised to support President Trump's agenda and confirm his nominees. He has followed through on that promise. We will continue to work with all Republicans to advance a conservative agenda for our state and nation.' The pair met in Cornyn's Capitol Hill office last September to discuss election strategy — a meeting where George lauded Cornyn for 'all your efforts in what is such a pivotal election in our nation's history.' Cornyn hosted the Republican Party's December Christmas party, where in a stark contrast to the boos of the 2022 state party meeting, he got a standing ovation. They met again when Cornyn invited George to be his guest to President Donald Trump's address to a joint session of Congress and discussed ways to get the federal government to reimburse Texas for its border security efforts. That could neutralize a potential threat as Cornyn faces a challenging primary terrain. The right wing of the party has continued to blast him for his role in the gun safety bill, his doubts about Trump's electability in last year's elections and his support for the Ukrainian effort in its war against Russia. Paxton is openly considering a run against Cornyn, and George continues to organize and collaborate with the attorney general, including a statewide tour campaigning for state Rep. David Cook to be House speaker. Officially, the party is staying neutral in the primary. But its leadership has previously weighed in and gone after Republicans they did not perceive as sufficiently conservative. The party censured U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales in 2022 and then-state House Speaker Dade Phelan in 2024. Gonzales was censured for his votes for the same gun safety bill that sparked the backlash against Cornyn, and Phelan was censured for the impeachment of Attorney General Paxton and the appointment of Democratic committee chairs. Even before the censure against Phelan, the state party launched radio ads blasting him for continuing the tradition of allowing Democrats to serve as committee chairs. The move prompted criticism against then-party Chair Matt Rinaldi from other Republicans who did not think it productive to go after one of their own. Rinaldi did not seek reelection for the position during the state party convention last year. George has also expressed a willingness to call out members of his party in the past. He said at a news conference last November that there would be a 'bloody' Republican primary in 2026 if state House members continue to support Democratic committee chairs in the lower chamber. If they support a speaker who appoints Democrats to committee chairs, 'it's time for them to go,' George said at the time. 'We will definitely try our best to work with them, but we have primaries coming in a few months after this, after the session, and I can promise you, if I'm the chair, the party will be involved in those.' Cornyn and George both declined requests for interviews. They both declined to comment when asked about how their relationship has evolved from the 2022 censure motion to now. Rinaldi said George appeared to be taking the position he had taken as party chair — support Cornyn as part of the party's team, even if there are some policy disagreements along the way. 'Our goal in the Republican Party of Texas is to have a team that's striving to enact conservative policy, and Sen. Cornyn, as our senior senator right now, is a member of that team,' Rinaldi said. 'We had a relationship when I was chair, and Abraham George is continuing that relationship. There will be agreements and disagreements over policy but we have an open channel of communication.' Rinaldi didn't say whom he would support in next year's Senate primary, saying when he sees who will run, he will support 'the most conservative candidate that I think will serve Texas and the country best.' He has cast doubt that Cornyn would win in a primary, writing on social media last November that 'Cornyn needs to go.' Cornyn leads a formidable organizing and fundraising operation that benefits Texas Republicans down ballot. During the 2020 cycle when Cornyn was at the top of the ticket, he and the Republican Party of Texas worked together to send 40 million letters, texts and other messages to voters and register almost 320,000 new Republican voters. Voter contacts that year were important for the party as it was the first election after the state removed straight-ticket voting. He also raised $3.8 million for the Republican Party of Texas that year. 'Democrats should be running scared with my friend Abraham George at the helm of the Republican Party of Texas,' Cornyn said in a statement for this story. 'I've worked hand-in-glove with RPT every time I've been on the ballot, and raised money for RPT when I'm not on the ballot, to provide record-setting support for conservatives and turn out millions of Republican voters across Texas, and I'm looking forward to reprising our successful partnership this cycle.' There is still tension with Cornyn in some corners of the state party that feel his brand of conservatism is at odds with the MAGA movement. Many Republicans in Texas can't shake off his 2023 prediction that Trump's 'time has passed him by' and that Trump potentially would not be able to win in the 2024 general election (Cornyn later endorsed Trump after the New Hampshire primary). Kelly Perry, a member of the SREC, said Cornyn 'could do better at times and that leaves many of us questioning his intent when he votes on occasion.' 'He is a great politician but there seems to be times where he gets lost and loses sight of who puts him in office,' Perry said. 'I'd like to know that the Republicans' best interest is his first priority. We are all very clear where we stand, it's just we question at times where he stands. ' Perry said that SREC members gave Cornyn a standing ovation at last year's Christmas party only because he vowed to support Trump's nomination of Pete Hegseth to be Defense Secretary. Perry stressed she was giving her personal opinion and not speaking on behalf of the SREC or the Republican Party of Texas. Cornyn has been heavily emphasizing his support for Trump since the election. He vowed to support all of Trump's nominations this year. In his official campaign launch video, Cornyn leaned into his time as Republican whip, securing the votes for Trump's legislative agenda. He supported all of Trump's judicial and executive nominees during Trump's first term and voted with the president over 92% of the time. Paxton is the most vocal advocate for a primary challenge against Cornyn from the right and said an announcement on his own run could come in the next few months. 'I think it's just time,' Paxton told Punchbowl of a Cornyn challenge. 'He's had his chance. He hasn't performed well, and the voters know it. You can go a long time without people paying attention. And they're paying attention now.' Other potential candidates include U.S. Reps. Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, and Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, who have both made moves to increase their name-ID outside of their home districts. Neither has announced plans to run. We can't wait to welcome you to the 15th annual Texas Tribune Festival, Texas' breakout ideas and politics event happening Nov. 13–15 in downtown Austin. Step inside the conversations shaping the future of education, the economy, health care, energy, technology, public safety, culture, the arts and so much more. Hear from our CEO, Sonal Shah, on TribFest 2025. TribFest 2025 is presented by JPMorganChase.
