With relatively few lapel pins, campaign buttons and stickers staking out positions on various hot topics, it was instantly clear at the Republican state convention that this was not the year of platform debates or issue-based campaigns.

Rather, the chairman’s race — with growing donor dissatisfaction and about $500,000 in party debt — became the highlight of this year’s convention, as well as its most time-consuming element.

With a decisive margin of 1,344 votes (out of about 6,000 delegates), Steve Munisteri emerged as the victor of a three-way chairman’s race. Munisteri won over incumbent longtime conservative activist Cathie Adams, who took the helm after Tina Benkiser resigned, and West Texas party chairman Tom Mechler. Mechler came very close to playing the role of kingmaker in the election while Munisteri and Adams were running neck and neck.

With Munisteri now at the helm of the party and an energetic, young base of support, this election could represent a fundamental shift in how the Texas GOP raises funds, recruits candidates, disciplines officeholders, and promotes its agenda.

We look at the anatomy of Munisteri’s victory, and the rare focus on party mechanics over platform issues, below.

Mechanics of the win

On Saturday morning, the Nominations Committee of the convention needed several hours to collect the votes from all 31 senatorial districts, four of them closely divided between Munisteri and Adams.

The first ballot had Munisteri ahead by one vote — 13-12, and Mechler with six districts. Party rules call for voting until there is a clear majority, so as soon as Mechler’s name was dropped, his support went toward Munisteri, whose support jumped to 22 districts — a strong lead.

Munisteri’s win in committee meant a formal nomination to the convention floor, but the rules allow for a minority report, and Adams was quickly nominated, making for a two-way race.

After a floor vote, Munisteri garnered 4,294 delegate votes to Adam’s 2,950. Convention rules also call for a male-female ticket, so incumbent Vice Chairman Robin Armstrong was dropped from the running. Nominee Melinda Fredericks won a voice vote on the convention floor. Denise MacNamara, also a candidate, came within three districts of Fredericks in committee. MacNamara declined to take it to the floor.

An attempt to nominate Adams as a vice chairman candidate was ruled out of order.

‘Pro-family’ not much of a factor this time

Adams and Armstrong (Armstrong ascended to the vice chairmanship on a ticket with Benkiser in ’06) gave many nods to religious conservatives throughout their speeches.

Armstrong said the battle between Adams and her two opponents for chairman is a battle of “moderation over principle.” In his stump speech for his running mate, Armstrong made reference to the time he first professed faith in Jesus Christ and took a moment to address abortion as a great evil.

Adams’ speech focused on reducing the United Nation’s role in United States affairs, opposing the Kyoto Protocol (the 1997 pact, unratified by the United States, purporting to reduce carbon emissions), and continuing to affirm that marriage is between one woman and one man.

“This is a Judeo-Christian nation, and we have no apologies to make to the world,” Adams said in her speech, meeting raucous applause.

In recent years, strong championing of moral conservative issues has contributed to victory in the race for RPT chairmanship. Case in point: In 2008, mailers and convention leaflets went out hailing Benkiser/Armstrong as the “Pro-Life, Pro-Family” choice over the more Libertarian-friendly Paul Perry/Debra Medina ticket. Such socially conservative leaflets were absent this convention, save for a handful of senatorial district caucuses.

Adams, Munisteri, and Mechler each had advertisements in the convention program guide highlighting experience rather than issue advocacy. “Proven, experienced grassroots leadership” was Adams’ slogan; Munisteri touted “38 years of solid commitment to conservative activism.”

Munisteri, who in his campaign speech noted his opposition to abortion (he claimed to have been ejected from a Texas legislative hearing in the ’70s for having strong anti-abortion views) and the ill-fated Equal Rights Amendment, did not make that the focus of his campaign. For the most part, Munisteri called for greater unity in the Texas GOP.

“This is more important than just one person,” said Munisteri, “and our differences are insignificant compared to our duty to this country.”

Whether Adams’ defeat represents a lessening of the influence of the religious right among Texas Republicans only a future convention can resolve. A distinctively higher number of Libertarian-leaning delegates may have contributed to the diminishment of social conservative dominance in the chairman’s race, but the social conservative eclipse may also be due to the way each candidate campaigned. Munisteri and Mechler worked the phones — Munisteri’s campaign claimed the candidate personally attempted to call each delegate prior to convention — and seemed to make many more public appearances.

Organizational changes on the way

Munisteri’s campaign flyers promised he would be a full-time chairman, now that he’s retired from his law practice. And addressing the Texas GOP’s financial woes might prove to be a 9-5 job.

Munisteri, who said he has worked on 57 campaigns since his first GOP convention in 1976, said the state GOP is spending too much on vendors for what it’s drawing in financially. Seventy-two cents of every dollar brought in during 2009 (about $1.4 million) went toward fund raising and marketing vendors, he said at the Austin Republican Club in May (LSR, 05/07/10).

“… There’s a fundamental problem,” he said, “with the telemarketing and direct mail. We need to move to a different system. I propose we go to the membership and use a more direct solicitation system.”

He said, the party carried $71,000 in debt in 2002 and peaked at $624,000 at the onset of Adams’ chairmanship. Adams said she had made some progress in reducing the debt, but Munisteri charged that the executive director’s position salary was upped from $92,000 per year to $150,000, among other expenses, not to mention a convention that cost an estimated $600,000 to $700,000.

In terms of organization, Munisteri made general comments about including more young Republicans in outreach and to include party auxiliaries in formulating strategy, as well as to reach out to members of minority groups.

Youth on the ground

As one of the founders of the Young Conservatives of Texas, Munisteri attracted much support from the group’s members and alumni — many of whom served as delegates, held up signs, and passed out leaflets. The group’s chairman, Elizabeth Young, introduced Munisteri prior to his campaign speech.

A grateful Munisteri invited YCT members on stage following his victory. In fact, the YCTers shared the stage with the newly elected members of the State Republican Executive Committee.

“I don’t think anyone who came to the convention,” Young told LSR, “missed the enthusiastic young people who came as delegates or to help campaign. As a matter of fact, I don’t know one young person who didn’t vote for him, who I spoke to. Steve did a really good job of connecting with young people and reaching out to younger voters, and what you saw on the floor was a perfect example of that.”

Mending fences

Mechler, in a convention speech supportive of Munisteri, expressed hopes that Munisteri could help reunify the “fragmented team” of the Texas GOP. He attributed Republican losses in recent election years to the alleged division.

Mechler said he had not previously decided which candidate he would support should he arrive at third place, but expressed doubt that Adams could have instilled confidence in party leadership.

“Would you give money to a non-profit if 60 percent of the money went into the fund-raising pot? Forget it!” Mechler said during his Austin campaign stop in May. “It’s a fundamental problem to those who have lost confidence in this party. We’ve got to get it back …”

Munisteri, upon winning, said he looked forward to getting to work and addressing whatever fault lines there may be in the Texas GOP, such as the growing Libertarian wing, or (now) disaffected Adams supporters.

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