GOP Chair Tina BenkiserWhile Glen Maxey and Boyd Ritchie battle it out for Party Chairman on the Democratic side, Texas Republicans are expected to have their own contest for State Chairman this June in San Antonio.

Incumbent Tina Benkiser is expected to run for re-election as Texas GOP Chairman and will be challenged again by lawyer and businesswoman Gina Parker. Former Dallas GOP Chairman Nate Crain also has been mentioned as a possible candidate for State Chairman. Crain has been a very vocal critic recently of the financial condition of the Texas GOP.

Chris Davis, a state committeewoman from Dallas County, waded into the debate over party finances with a newsletter she sent out to party activists after a recent State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) meeting. In her missive, Mrs. Davis was quite frank in discussing the problems with the state party. She quoted outgoing Vice Chairman David Barton as saying that the party had never been in better shape, that fund raising was right on target … "better than any time in his nine years with the party." She also quoted Barton as saying that recent articles in the Dallas Morning News and emails by Nate Crain critical of the Party’s finances were "completely unmitigated financial fabrications".

However, Mrs. Davis goes on to cite Federal Election Commission (FEC) filings as evidence that the State GOP is deeply in debt. She states that, as of February 16, 2006, the state party had "cash on hand that" less than $50,000 while the debt had "reached $484,654.38". Mrs. David stated in her mailing that "our state party debt now almost exceeds the net debt of the other 50 State Republican parties combined." Mrs. David also bemoaned the low turnout in the Republican primary in Texas this year.

There was more bad news for the state GOP this week as reports of out Austin say that the Texas Republican Party failed to file a financial disclosure report relating to its involvement in a special election in the Austin area. Apparently, the Party spent some money on behalf of the losing Republican candidate Ben Bertzin and failed to report it properly. The State party already is under an agreement with the Travis County Attorney’s office limiting its use of contributions because of what purportedly were improper uses of corporate money in previous campaigns. The County Attorney’s office is investigating the failure to report.

One thing is obvious. The vaunted conservative, grassroots organization built up during the Goldwater/Reagan eras and sustained throughout the 1990s (as Republicans took control of Congress and the state government) is gone. Former allies within the Republican Party of Texas are fighting among themselves just like our elected state officials can’t seem to get along with one another.

The best thing that Texas Republicans have going for them these days is the woeful state of the Texas Democratic Party, but that may not be enough for them come November if they don’t get their act together soon.

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