The Travis GOP sent out a media advisory on Thursday of a 10 a.m. Friday press conference to explain why Executive Vice Chairman David T. Duncan is now calling himself "Acting Chairman." This led to several media outlets reporting on this development around noon Thursday. The Republican Party of Texas released a press statement of their own following this development, and this is all became very public knowledge.
However, the Travis GOP at Friday's press conference had several reasons for rightfully assuming Robert had left a vacancy, which we include below in their press release.
RELATED STORY: How did Robert Morrow get elected in the first place?
RELATED STORY: How did Robert Morrow get elected in the first place?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Aug. 26, 2016
Contact: Andy Hogue, Communications Director
(512)298-9996 (cell)
andy.TCRP@gmail.com
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE HAVE A VACANCY!
Former Travis GOP Chair effectively resigned by running for president as independent write-in
AUSTIN, Texas -- By filing his paperwork to run as an independent write-in for President of the United States on Aug. 19, Robert Morrow has left the chairmanship of the Travis County Republican Party.
Travis GOP officials received a certified copy of Morrow's filing on Aug. 25 and are now operating under the assumption that the county chairman position is vacant.
Said David Duncan, Travis GOP Acting Chairman and Executive Vice Chairman:
"It was bad enough that Morrow has continually cast doubt on the viability of our local slate of candidates to win in November. And it was even worse when he made potentially libelous statements against the Republican nominee for president while Mr. Trump was our guest in Austin. But the straw that broke the camel's back was that he has filed to run for president himself as an independent. These actions make it very clear that he no longer has an interest in the Republican Party, legally or otherwise."
There are numerous statutes and party rules concerning when elected officials must resign to run for higher office. However the meaning of the following statute is quite clear:
Texas Election Code Sec. 161.005 -- "... To serve as a county or precinct chair of a political party, a person must ... not be a candidate for nomination or election to ... an elective office of the federal, state, or county government."
The unambiguous meaning of this statute is that in order to be qualified to serve as the county chairman, a person must not be a candidate for a federal office such as President. A person becomes a candidate and thus unqualified the moment that they file a declaration of write-in candidacy. (We have attached copies of Mr. Morrow's declaration and associated paperwork.)
The statute is backed up by several Attorney General opinions, including:
Texas Attorney General Opinion H-876 (1976) -- "When any such political party officer becomes a candidate for public office, he automatically vacates his party office." (Note: This opinion cites an earlier opinion from 1940, No. O-2487).
No date has been set for a county executive committee meeting to hold the replacement election, but party leaders hope to make that decision within the next few weeks. Please see our blog at http://www.traviscountygop.org/blog for updates.
Once a new chairman is selected, Travis GOP intends to keep the existing "Steering Committee" leadership model. It has been a longtime goal of grassroots activists to expand the base of power in the county party. To learn more about Travis GOP's 2016-18 bylaws reforms please visit http://www.traviscountygop.org/get-involved/bigger.html
The Travis GOP thanks the Republican Party of Texas for signaling its full support of this effort.
For more information please contact Communications Director Andy Hogue at (512) 302-1776.
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