The State Republican Executive Committee has elected former Texas Eagle Forum President Cathie Adams as new chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

Now the real questions emerge: what will she do with the position, and what will she be able to accomplish?

To judge from recent GOP history, Adams has challenging decisions to make in the days and weeks to come.

Election Day

First, it’s worth reciting a few facts about what happens next, taken from the Q and A with the press that occurred right after the Oct. 24 election.

Adams said recruiting good candidates and raising the money to fund them is her next top priority.

She noted also she intends to resign as Republican national committeewoman from Texas. (The party chairman is automatically a member of the Republican National Committee, so Adams will remain on the committee.)

 Adams said she will time her resignation so that the vacancy can be filled at a regular instead of a special meeting of the State Republican Executive Committee. (When a vacancy occurs, the election has to be called within 30 days.) Adams will also resign as president of the Texas Eagle Forum.

The election and the coalitions are hard to characterize briefly. This was not an ideological battle and – since the SREC electorate consists of 63 individuals – isn’t won or lost based on mailers, commercials, money, or TV ads. All candidates are conservative, on both fiscal and social issues. This was about friendships and discussions of party strategy.

One thing that won’t change, Adams stated, is the party’s commitment to the values in the GOP platform. Socially conservative Republicans have controlled the Republican Party operation since 1994, and this election continues that trend.

The challenge at RPT

In states with campaign finance reform, the state parties are often rich and have some power, because donations to candidates are strictly limited, whereas donations to parties have either no limit or a higher limit.

In Texas – where state race campaign spending is unlimited – most of the big donors prefer the freedom to make their contributions to candidates individually or though issue or trade association PACs, rather than through the party organization.

In fact, former Gov. George W. Bush’s political strategist, Karl Rove, encouraged such behavior, and the party still hasn’t completely recovered.

Delegates to the 1994 Republican Party of Texas Convention elected conservative stalwart Tom Pauken as chairman. The last thing either Bush or Rove wanted was an independent voice for conservative values. They wanted a party organization that was totally loyal to Bush and Rove, rather than to any set of principles.

As a result, funding has always been a challenge for the party. Oh, the GOP has always had sufficient funds to keep the doors open. But the state party organization does not – and probably will not – have the financial resources to compete with the likes of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Texans for Insurance Reform, Speaker candidates, the Governor, or the other major financial players in state legislative campaigns.

All elected officials, especially the statewides, would like the party to serve their interests. Though neither group will admit it for attribution, there is often tension in the relations between many Republican legislators and state party leaders.

When asked how she’d get along with House Speaker Joe Straus, who has often disagreed with social conservatives, Adams replied, “Honorably and with all respect. I look forward to working with each and every member.”

Another disconnect: the people who elect the party leaders are interested in pushing conservative ideas and keeping more moderate Republicans accountable, whereas the party structure, method, and apparatus are more about winning elections. Still, the party and its chairman do have a tremendous bully-pulpit.

Is the GOP an ideological organization or a campaign organization? Although the two modes are not necessarily contradictory, there’s often some tension there.

One critical decision for Adams: where does she fall on that spectrum? Recruitment and support of candidates are her publicly stated top priorities, but the 2006 and 2008 elections showed that when Republicans abandon conservatism, conservatives abandon them.

Will Adams be a lightning rod?

Press reaction to Adams’s election was surprisingly muted. As president of Texas Eagle Forum, Adams represents hard-core conservative values. Yet papers largely avoided phrases like “right wing” or “controversial” in describing her election.

One exception is The Dallas Observer, which quoted Dallas County Republican Chairman Jonathan Neerman as saying Adams’ victory will set the party back five years. Neerman was not immediately available for comment.

The Texas Freedom Network — an organization seeking to reduce the influence of the so-called religious right over public policy – has already compiled a list of Adams statements it sees as outside the mainstream. The network was founded by Cecile Richards, current president of the pro-abortion Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

As party chairman, Adams must energize the conservative base and give that base reasons to show up at the polls in November. She must also do so without becoming a liability in swing districts.

What happens going forward?

At the post-election Q and A, Adams carefully avoided answering questions about the internal organization of the party – staff changes or other such matters – noting that she hasn’t had much time to survey the party.

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