State Republican execs: We're not done, yet!

Short of calling for a special Texas legislative session, the State Republican Executive Committee voted to send this letter to Gov. Greg Abbott at its meeting on Saturday.

The Tracker found this letter to be an excellent summation of the 2016 Legislative Priorities (a list approved by state GOP delegates in convention) and how much of it was approved by the 85th Legislature. The second portion of the letter requests Gov. Abbott place the the Legislative Priorities that were not passed on the "call" for any special session.

Congratulations to James (or the difference 1 year can make)

Though Travis County Republican Party Chairman James Dickey's election as state chairman was by a razor-thin margin (32-31 this morning at the State Republican Executive Committee meeting) he is receiving a ton of congratulatory remarks. We would like to join that chorus by providing a brief perspective on what this victory means.

ONE YEAR AGO ...

James Dickey was getting ready to preside over his final Executive Committee meeting on June 7, 2016. The new chairman term began on June 13, 2016. Party stalwarts were preparing to transfer assets and financial resources to a group "Friends of the Travis County Republican Party" and a steering committee to be headed by David Duncan was in formation to lead all operations of the party that were not given by law to the elected chairman. No one knew how this would play out, or that by the end of the summer Robert Morrow would be declared ineligible and removed. The mainstream media falsely predicted the "implosion" of the county party. Though undaunted, TCRP morale was at a low point.

Let's get a few things straight about the health of the Travis GOP

The proverbial bus.

Let's set a few things straight about the health of Travis GOP under recent leadership.

It has been inferred in the race for Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas that County Chairman James Dickey, one of two candidates vying for the position, led the Travis GOP into chaos.

All's fair in a race for state chairman, but let's not throw the hard work and dedication of some of the most passionate Republicans in the most liberal city in Texas under the proverbial bus. These hard-working conservatives who give of their time and treasure to fight against high odds in "the blueberry in the tomato soup" of Texas deserve better.

The Travis Tracker will not fire back at these individuals by naming names or quoting these persons verbatim. We have opted to focus on the accusations themselves.

1. Dickey lost seat to Robert Morrow (the "court jester") because Dickey did not campaign adequately or inspire enough volunteers to defend his incumbent status.

Bottom-line: Mr. Morrow had so awful a reputation among local conservatives that no one ever dreamed he would win the election. Out of an abundance of caution, Chairman Dickey commissioned a poll which showed Robert ahead by a comfortable margin -- a complete shock to anyone privy to this information. This gave Mr. Dickey a few weeks to campaign (sound familiar?). His campaign consisted of everything you would expect in a chairman's race, including lawn signs, plenty of TV and radio appearances, and lots of visits to clubs and various official meetings. Morrow, on the other hand, barely lifted a finger other than writing his personal email list.