Reflections on the last full week of this Campaign

What a week! As early voting has ended, I look back on this week with amazement.

Financially, we started the week at a draw with the incumbent with money raised since the last TEC report filing, and we ended the week with a draw when counting money received and pledged. That second draw was due to the infusion of cash from Bob Perry into both campaigns. Mr. Perry is a great benefactor of our party, whose money has and will allow both sides to take their message to Republican voters through Election Day—allowing the best message and messenger to prevail. My thanks and admiration go to Mr. Perry for his underwriting of the final stage of this race for our party’s future.

Turnout-wise, the turnout so far is surpassing most pundit's expectations. As I stood out at the early-voting poll in Kingwood on Friday, I was impressed by the steady stream of voters and of the education they had gone through to prepare for their votes. We will probably exceed 30,000 voters when the votes are counted on Tuesday night, and that is a great statement about the interest in our party and its future.

Politically, I have seen the breathless support and criticism from friend and “foe” (though we are all family) alike in this race as the week has proceeded, and with continuing questions raised about my history, my beliefs, my judgment, and my commitment to the Republican Party. One of the bright spots was when an old friend of high school not only found me on Facebook, but came to my defense and posted about my conservative activism even as a high school student--thanks, Jim, and good to hear from you after all these years.

In response to the criticism, let’s just say that I have never claimed to be perfect (nor my judgment to be infallible), but my commitment to this party, and to its unity and growth, is total. As I have reiterated often during this campaign, I will support the party if this race ends with the incumbent’s victory, and I have already started that process by committing to the RNC that I would help—win or lose—with the creation and implementation of a pilot program here in Harris County to grow the party into Latino, Asian-American and African-American neighborhoods and precincts, and to recruit Republicans to run for city and school board races.

I also hear and see the last-minute rallying around the incumbent, and the statements that I, and my supporters, are dividing the party at the wrong time, and are distorting the record of the incumbent. With that final criticism in mind, here is the question I pose to you as we enter this last weekend of the race: if everything that the current team at Richmond Avenue has done is so great, why am I essentially running even in fundraising with the incumbent since the last reporting period, and why do I have the support of so many party leaders, civic leaders, and conservative organizations in this race against a 4-term incumbent? This level of support for a challenger in a Republican primary is unprecedented—and it is unprecedented for a reason: the current team has been organizationally and financially floundering for years, and all the insiders know it, and all the activists can see it. The Obama Wave simply unearthed this truth for all to see.

Therefore, let me leave you with a paraphrase of Reagan’s immortal question: Are you Harris County Republicans better off now than you were in 2002?

If your answer is “No”, my candidacy has, at long last, given you a choice on April 13th for a different future.