Newly elected Dallas GOP Chairman Kenn GeorgeKenn George's election this week as the new Dallas County Republican chairman guarantees a more colorful local leader for the GOP. George was named by the county executive committee to succeed Nate Crain, who stepped down before the end of his term. Crain was a successful chairman for the party but was pretty drab. George, by contrast, is a live wire – vibrant and interesting. He ought to be good at recruitment and fundraising. How well  his effusive personality wears with the grass roots remains to be seen, but the media will love him. And he has good political experience.

George was elected to the state Legislature in 1998, serving until 2001 when he opted to run for land commissioner. He represented the Park Cities district in the state House and was well liked, but he was also ambitious. He lost in the GOP primary in 2002 to Jerry Patterson, a state senator who was better known statewide, for the land commish spot. It’s no secret that he has been hankering to get back into politics since then. 

He dates his political roots to the Goldwater campaign in 1964 (as a volunteer in Midland County ). He then worked in George W. Bush’s unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 1978. He’s exhibited prowess as a fund raiser. In 1980, he was finance chairman for the Texas Republican Party. He’s also been Dallas County finance chair and chairman of Dallas County Victory 2000. He worked in the Reagan administration as assistant Commerce Secretary and was sergeant at arms of the 1984 Republican National Convention in Dallas. He's paid his dues.  George also is a successful businessman, having served as chairman of several large healthcare, petroleum and development communities.

All politics is local, and George told precinct chairman at the executive committee meeting that “Democracy starts at the precinct level.” He pledged to build on the successes of the local party going into the 2006 election – when Republicans may have more opposition from Democrats than they’ve had in the recent past elections.  The GOP will have greater challenges in 2006 -- because of changing demographics in the county and complications from George W. Bush's declining popularity -- even in one of his hometowns.

As for Crain, he’s keeping his future plans under wraps. One might reasonably expect that he’s looking around for his next political job. It's been reported that he was exploring other options, including a possible post in Washington.

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