Our Leadership Team: Fundraising

One of the promises I have made since I began running for HCRP Chair, is that I would run to lead an experienced and diverse team of local Republicans to rebuild the party quickly in order to win the 2010 elections. I know that there is too much to accomplish in too short of a period of time for one person to take-on all of the responsibility alone.

Over the last few months, I have been meeting with, and continue to meet with leaders of every faction, every age group and every community within the party. Many have already agreed to serve on the leadership team if we win, and I will be announcing several of them for key positions before the March primary. We will go into the election presenting ourselves as a team, and I will run as the leader of that team.

Consistent with my promise, I want to announce the first member of that team today.

Of the many issues facing the party, one issue that impacts every other issue is the financial condition of the HCRP. Last year, after deducting the money that flowed through the party between the state and the county party and from the incumbent judges’ campaign accounts for the joint judicial campaign, the party actually spent $416,427 on the operations of the party. Meanwhile, its independent fundraising base of 306 individuals, 13 entities and PACs and 4 local clubs, raised only $243,297 (in fact, $84,500 of that amount came from contributions from only two individuals). What kept the lights on at Richmond Avenue for the Republican Party in the most Republican-leaning metropolitan county in the country last year were continual infusions of cash from elected officials and candidates in a year when they needed the money for their own fall campaigns. That situation was pathetic.

But it’s gotten worse. As of June 30, 2009, after the party’s biggest fundraiser of the year, the party was left with a little over $11,000—not enough to continue paying its rent or its staff during May and June, and not enough to pay debts owed from the 2008 campaign cycle. Moreover, much of the money that was raised came from those same elected officials and candidates who desperately need the party to help them, not the other way around.

We plan to change this dynamic by creating a new fundraising initiative under the guidance of a new Vice Chair of Finance (who I will appoint as a Director until we amend the Bylaws). The Vice Chair will work with the Treasurer on creating and implementing the budget, and will supervise a fundraising team. We intend to simultaneously implement a Capital Campaign to raise funds to modernize the party to prepare for the 2010 and 2012 election cycles, while working to with the Vice Chair's team and the current finance committee of the Executive Committee to build on current ideas, and generate and implement additional ideas, for creating a sustaining contributor base.

To help me turn this around, I am proud to announce that long-time Republican activist and community volunteer, Robert “Bob” Shults, has agreed to serve as the Vice Chair of Finance. Professionally, Bob is a name shareholder with the law firm of McFall Breitbeil & Shults, P.C., is a former Assistant District Attorney for Harris County, a member of the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel and Defense Research Institute, and was chair of a subcommittee on insurance coverage for environmental claims of the American Bar Association. His community work includes his service on the board of Child Advocates, Inc., and his appointment in May, 2008 by Governor Perry to serve on the Texas Juvenile Probation Commission. Bob is a long-time member and former President of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club, is the current President of United Republicans, and has campaigned and fundraised tirelessly for Republican candidates over the years.

I welcome Bob to our team.