I am proud to release the first round of endorsements for my campaign. This list, and the names to follow, demonstrates the broad, wide support I have received and I am very honored to have the idividuals behind our efforts.
Betsy Lake
Former Chair of the Harris County Republican Party;
Former President of the Bay Area Republican Women;
Former President of the Greater Houston Council of Federated Republican Women;
Founder of United Republicans
Robert Shults
Precinct Chair—258
President of United Republicans,
Former President of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club
Kay Waghorne
Precinct Chair—642
Former President of the Cy-Fair Republican Women
Larry Tobin
Current Precinct Chair—90
Former President of the Clear Lake Republican Club
Former City Councilman--Taylor Lake Village
Kay Shillock
Former and New Precinct Chair—513
Former President of the Northwest Forest Republican Women;
Former President of the Greater Houston Council of Federated Republican Women
Justin Jordan
Former Precinct Chair—630
New Precinct Chair—76
Former President of the Texas chapter of College Republicans
Atemio Muniz, Jr.
New Precinct Chair—591
Founder of Conservador Alliance;
Statewide director of the Latino National Republican Coalition
Barbara Buxton
Precinct Chair—668
Matt Hefferman
Precinct Chair—127
Eric Walligura
Current Precinct Chair—265
New Precinct Chair—439
Eric Smith
Precinct Chair—460
Joe Spence
Precinct Chair—732
Becky Flowers
Precinct Chair—771
Carmen Cuneo
New Precinct Chair—210
Tom Hodges
Former Precinct Chair—440
Rita Huggler
Former Precinct Chair
Lo Wallace
Former Precinct Chair
Former President of Village Republican Women;
Board member of the Greater Houston Council of Federated Republican Women;
Board member of United Republicans
Sandie Myers
Houston Community College Board member;
Immediate Past President of the Daughters of Liberty Republican Women
Susan Kellner
Immediate Past President of the Spring Branch ISD School Board
Theresa Kosmoski
Member of the Spring Branch ISD School Board;
Immediate Past President of the Memorial West Republican Women
Lilian Norman Keeney
Mayor Pro Tem of Taylor Lake Village;
Currently 2nd Vice President, Greater Houston Council
District Director for Senate District 11 for the Texas Federation of Republican Women;
Former President of the Bay Area Republican Women
John Faulk
Candidate for U.S. Congress, District 18
Jon Keeney
Former candidate for the state legislature
Bill Moore
Former candidate for the Criminal District Court
Toni Anne Dashiell
Immediate Past President of the Texas Federation of Republican Women
Rebecca Williamson
Current Vice President of Programs for the Texas Federation of Republican Women;
Immediate Past First Vice President of the Texas Federation of Republican Women
Jo Konen
Immediate Past Vice President of Bylaws for the Texas Federation of Republican Women;
Former President of the Northwest Forest Republican Women;
Former President of the Greater Houston Council of Federated Republican Women
Jan Ott
Currently 2nd Vice President of the Texas Federation of Republican Women;
Director Greater Houston Pachyderm;
Immediate Past Treasurer of the Texas Federation of Republican Women;
Immediate past First VP of the Greater Houston Council of Federated Republican Women;
Founding President of the Cy-Fair Republican Women
Carolyn Hodges
Current 1st Vice President of the Texas Federation of Republican Women;
Director Greater Houston Pachyderm;
Immediate Past Regional Deputy President, Region II, of the Texas Federation of Republican Women;
Former President of the Greater Houston Council of Federated Republican Women;
Former President of the Village Republican Women
Carol Prince
Immediate Past President of the Village Republican Women
Gaye Neeley Wylie
immediate past president of the Bay Area Republican Women
Gail Shubot
Immediate Past President of the Houston Professional Republican Women
Sue Ann Lurcott
Immediate Past President of the Northwest Forest Republican Women
Patricia McCall
Former President of the Magic Circle Republican Women;
Former President of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club
Sue Kikis
Former President of the Northwest Forest Republican Women;
Former President of the Greater Houston Council of Federated Republican Women
Claudette Martin
Former President of the Northwest Forest Republican Women
Deborah Guitian Roan
Former President of the Bay Area Republican Women
Ruby Cubley
Former President of the Bay Area Republican Women
Carole Ragland
Former President of the Bay Area Republican Women
Joan Buschor
Officer of the Magic Circle Republican Women
Cathie Nenninger
Current officer of the Clear Creek Republican Women;
Past officer of the Bay Area Republican Women
J.D. Joyce
President of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club;
Board member of United Republicans
Alex Montgomery
President of the Pachyderm Club of North Houston
Claver Kamau-Imani
Founder of Raging Elephants.org;
Host of "The Christian Politician" Radio Show and blog;
Former director of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club
Jackelyn Viera Iloff
Candidate for Precinct Chair—499;
Founder and President of “Magdalena’s Table”;
Former Chair of the HCRP Finance Committee;
Creator and Former Chair of the HCRP “First Friday” Program;
Former aide to the Repbulican National Committee;
Former aide to Governor George Allen of Virginia
Rajada Fleming
Former officer of the Village Republican Women;
Officer of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club
John Fedorko
Former officer of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club
Nelson Fisher
Former President of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club
Robert Stevenson
Officer of the Greater Houston Pachyderm Club
David Norman
Former candidate for the state legislature
Barbara Jordan
Kingwood Republican Women
Joe Slovacek
Alvin Walker
Itze Soliz-Mathews
Don McFall
Lloyd Lake
Dr. Mark Fleming
Harold Wallace
Robyn Joyce
Hermann Buschor
Suzanne Testa
George Hrdlicka
Judy Hrdlicka
Kirk Whitehouse
John Manley
Larry Buxton
Bill Ott
Jim Prince
Steve Shaffer
Dr. Rekha Ramesh
Dr. G.S. Ramesh
Phillis Shults
Penny Uselton
Roxie Hefferman
Ilana M. Blomquist
John C. Blomquist
Mickie Comiskey
Charles Comiskey
Chuck Konen
Steve Liljeberg
Ed McCool
Debbie Lindeman
Brian Bayne
Cecil Bishop, Jr.
Tom Whitson
Vanessa Sudeth-Muse
Cindy Hemminger
David Hemminger
Joan Alford
Sally Stricklett
Roxanne Moore
Cindy Kueneke
David Kueneke
Gina Halle
Richard Halle
Kathleen Kearns
Phillip D. Sharp
Raymond G. Hofker
Fred Y. O. Ho
Joy Gregory
Ford Bankston
Patience Myers
Betty Howell
Lucy Forbes
Gienna Adovasio
Gianpaolo Garrone
Ruth Palmer
Robert Palmer
Karen Plante
Dawn Shull
Aaron Simpson
Terence Abrams
Donald K. Eckhardt
Debra Eldridge
Bonnie Norman
Liz Norman
Jeffrey Norman
Wallie Womack
Kevin Yankowsky
To be added to this list when we release future names, please click here, or emails us at HubbardForHCRP@gmail.com.
Showing posts with label precinct chairs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label precinct chairs. Show all posts
Friday, January 8, 2010
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
A Final Update on the Precinct Chair Filings
Well, the filing deadline for the Republican Primary has passed, and the campaign season is upon us. Soon I will be out on the campaign trail, but my focus for the last two weeks has been on our precinct chair predicament—we don’t have enough precinct chairs now, and not enough incumbent chairs were re-filing for their seats. As some of you may know, I’ve been posting updates about this issue on this website and on the Big Jolly Politics website.
When we started the year, we had about 450 precincts filled out of 874 precincts in the county. As of last night at 9:50 p.m., the HCRP posted that we had filings in about 454 precincts out of 885 precincts (11 new precincts were created last year). On the surface, one could say that we had not lost ground, but that really isn’t the whole story.
Through the remarkable efforts of many people and several organizations (especially those people connected with the local Tea Party movement), who recruited precinct chairs by focusing on filling vacant seats in order to expand the reach of the party, and who conducted training seminars for prospective chairs, 181 new people filed to become precinct chairs in Harris County. Again, this was a phenomenal effort and result. The net result meant that about 70 previously vacant precincts would now have GOP precinct chairs.
So what happened? Well, about 27% of the existing precinct chairs—more than 120—chose not to re-file. Therefore, many of our new recruits filed in occupied precincts just to maintain our presence in that precinct. The net result is that at least 60 occupied precincts will have new chairs, while 64 occupied precincts will become vacant.
That's such a shame--and a waste of a tremendous opportunity the HCRP had to expand its reach with all of this new energy. I know that Donna Boharich has worked very hard and deserves a lot of credit for getting the HCRP focused on the primary--this was not her problem to address, and the result is not her fault. Moreover, I have learned that an effort indeed was made in mid-December to finally contact the precinct chairs that had not already filed to find out what they were doing and to remind them to file, but that type of effort, just before the holidays, was too little too late.
I know that I seem like a broken record, but where was the incumbent Chair, our paid Executive Director, and the rest of the Richmond Avenue team on this issue all last year? Why weren't they canvassing the incumbents to determine who was going to run again, and then actively working to keep their seats filled? Why weren't they using their new-found attraction to the internet, and to Townhall audiences, to recruit precinct chairs? It isn't that hard. I was on the phone and using emails to make sure that a few of the precinct chairs who I knew had not re-filed were finding replacements, and that their replacements would file by the deadline yesterday--and that was just with a weekend's effort. Think of what could have been done with a concerted, focused effort by the current team over a period of months. While they were out performing to Townhall audiences and putting the incumbent's face on Voter Guides that were of no benefit to the party—and we were out recruiting new precinct chairs to fill the vacant seats—no one was minding the organization--and it failed once again. Another lost opportunity.
So why is any of this important? There are at least three reasons we should care about this predicament:
1. The precinct chairs are the "roots" of our grassroots organization. We can not grow the party without expanding our base into every neighborhood, and we will never permanently expand into every neighborhood unless we have a chair in every precinct where there are potential Republican voters. They form part of our farm team, and help find others to run for office in their communities to form the farm team; they help with ballot and election security; and they form the frontline that mobilizes our voters to vote and participate in our convention process.
2. The whole purpose of expanding the party is to elect Republicans, and there is a 7% average differential in turnout between those competitive precincts where we have a chair and those where we do not. Of the 64 currently-occupied precincts that we did not re-fill, we were competitive in all but a handful of them in the 2008 general election, and at least 27 of those precincts voted strongly Republican in that election. Of those 27 precincts, 11 had turnouts between 72% and 80%. A 7% drop in turnout in those precincts could spell disaster for our ticket this fall. It is clear that the presence of an effective precinct chair is key to our get-out-the-vote effort.
and
3. It is more difficult to recruit and approve precinct chairs outside the primary process. Because of the current Vacancy Committee process, coupled with the chronic failure to get a quorum of precinct chairs to attend the quarterly Executive Committee meetings, it is not unusual for a candidate to go a half year of more before he or she is approved to be a precinct chair. This drawn-out process is adding to our inability to put the "boots on the ground" we need to fight the Democrats.
I hope that the HCRP will place a priority on filling these 64 vacancies as soon as possible. To fill these chairs quickly, I propose that that the party immediately create a task force to focus on filling these seats as soon as possible, which must include creation of a “fast-track” process for expediting the candidates through the Vacancy Committee and approval process. We simply don't have the luxury to allow this process to drag-out for months, or even half a year or more, before these seats get filled.
In the meantime, I will continue working with the groups I have been working with to find precinct chair candidates for the remaining seats that the party historically has left vacant, and we will direct them to the Vacancy Committee.
To everyone who filed, and to everyone who worked so hard to bring new applicants into this process--thank you. Let's now get down to the hard work of rebuilding this party.
When we started the year, we had about 450 precincts filled out of 874 precincts in the county. As of last night at 9:50 p.m., the HCRP posted that we had filings in about 454 precincts out of 885 precincts (11 new precincts were created last year). On the surface, one could say that we had not lost ground, but that really isn’t the whole story.
Through the remarkable efforts of many people and several organizations (especially those people connected with the local Tea Party movement), who recruited precinct chairs by focusing on filling vacant seats in order to expand the reach of the party, and who conducted training seminars for prospective chairs, 181 new people filed to become precinct chairs in Harris County. Again, this was a phenomenal effort and result. The net result meant that about 70 previously vacant precincts would now have GOP precinct chairs.
So what happened? Well, about 27% of the existing precinct chairs—more than 120—chose not to re-file. Therefore, many of our new recruits filed in occupied precincts just to maintain our presence in that precinct. The net result is that at least 60 occupied precincts will have new chairs, while 64 occupied precincts will become vacant.
That's such a shame--and a waste of a tremendous opportunity the HCRP had to expand its reach with all of this new energy. I know that Donna Boharich has worked very hard and deserves a lot of credit for getting the HCRP focused on the primary--this was not her problem to address, and the result is not her fault. Moreover, I have learned that an effort indeed was made in mid-December to finally contact the precinct chairs that had not already filed to find out what they were doing and to remind them to file, but that type of effort, just before the holidays, was too little too late.
I know that I seem like a broken record, but where was the incumbent Chair, our paid Executive Director, and the rest of the Richmond Avenue team on this issue all last year? Why weren't they canvassing the incumbents to determine who was going to run again, and then actively working to keep their seats filled? Why weren't they using their new-found attraction to the internet, and to Townhall audiences, to recruit precinct chairs? It isn't that hard. I was on the phone and using emails to make sure that a few of the precinct chairs who I knew had not re-filed were finding replacements, and that their replacements would file by the deadline yesterday--and that was just with a weekend's effort. Think of what could have been done with a concerted, focused effort by the current team over a period of months. While they were out performing to Townhall audiences and putting the incumbent's face on Voter Guides that were of no benefit to the party—and we were out recruiting new precinct chairs to fill the vacant seats—no one was minding the organization--and it failed once again. Another lost opportunity.
So why is any of this important? There are at least three reasons we should care about this predicament:
1. The precinct chairs are the "roots" of our grassroots organization. We can not grow the party without expanding our base into every neighborhood, and we will never permanently expand into every neighborhood unless we have a chair in every precinct where there are potential Republican voters. They form part of our farm team, and help find others to run for office in their communities to form the farm team; they help with ballot and election security; and they form the frontline that mobilizes our voters to vote and participate in our convention process.
2. The whole purpose of expanding the party is to elect Republicans, and there is a 7% average differential in turnout between those competitive precincts where we have a chair and those where we do not. Of the 64 currently-occupied precincts that we did not re-fill, we were competitive in all but a handful of them in the 2008 general election, and at least 27 of those precincts voted strongly Republican in that election. Of those 27 precincts, 11 had turnouts between 72% and 80%. A 7% drop in turnout in those precincts could spell disaster for our ticket this fall. It is clear that the presence of an effective precinct chair is key to our get-out-the-vote effort.
and
3. It is more difficult to recruit and approve precinct chairs outside the primary process. Because of the current Vacancy Committee process, coupled with the chronic failure to get a quorum of precinct chairs to attend the quarterly Executive Committee meetings, it is not unusual for a candidate to go a half year of more before he or she is approved to be a precinct chair. This drawn-out process is adding to our inability to put the "boots on the ground" we need to fight the Democrats.
I hope that the HCRP will place a priority on filling these 64 vacancies as soon as possible. To fill these chairs quickly, I propose that that the party immediately create a task force to focus on filling these seats as soon as possible, which must include creation of a “fast-track” process for expediting the candidates through the Vacancy Committee and approval process. We simply don't have the luxury to allow this process to drag-out for months, or even half a year or more, before these seats get filled.
In the meantime, I will continue working with the groups I have been working with to find precinct chair candidates for the remaining seats that the party historically has left vacant, and we will direct them to the Vacancy Committee.
To everyone who filed, and to everyone who worked so hard to bring new applicants into this process--thank you. Let's now get down to the hard work of rebuilding this party.
Monday, December 28, 2009
Responses to David Jennings' Blog: Precinct Chair Filing Update 3
This morning, one week prior to the end of filing for office for candidates for various offices, including the office of precinct chairman, local columnist David Jennings posted this blog with some observations about the state of filings in Harris County. Throughout today I have posted two responses that I consider to be very important. I hope you'll take the time to look at the original post and then look at my two responses below.
****************************************
Dave:
I just went to the HCRP website and did a quick name count. Of the 874 precincts that currently exist, the party had filled about 470 precinct chair seats by October, 2009. Of the 885 precincts that will exist after January 1, 2010, there were only about 350 precincts with applicants as of December 23rd (and 15 of those precincts had more than one applicant). With 4 1/2 days left for filing, I am concerned that we won't even match the current number of precinct chairs coming out of the primary.
We need to send an SOS to everyone in the party, and to everyone who cares about the party and electing Republicans, to sign-up, or get their neighbors or club members to sign-up. Looking at the statistics from the 2008 General Election, on average there was a 7% greater turnout between the precincts where Republicans had a chair and where it did not have a chair. However, the stratification was even more pronounced: where we had a chair, we were 3 times more likely to have turnout of over 70%; where we did not have a chair, we were 4 times more likely to have turnout below 60%. Moreover, there were 156 precincts where Republicans do well, or are at least competitive, where we had no chair. If we had gained a 7% better turnout in those precincts on average, most of the down-ballot races that Republicans lost in 2008 would have been won.
We must fill these positions!
****************************************
UPDATE:
Ok...here's an update and an analysis as of the last posting by the HCRP for filings through today (as of 4:25 p.m.). Candidates have filed for 360 precints. Of the 8 who filed between the morning posting and the afternoon posting, 6 are incumbents, 1 challenger has filed where the incumbent has not yet filed, and 1 person has filed for a vacant seat.
For the 360 seats, here is how the filings breakdown so far: 273 are seats where the incumbents have filed and there is no challenger; 35 are occupied seats where a new person has filed, but the incumbent has not filed; 43 are currently vacant seats are where a new person has filed; and 15 seats are contested so far. Of those contested seats--3 of the races are between two newcomers for a vacant seat; 3 are between two newcomers for occupied seats where the incumbent has not yet filed; and 9 are contested between the incumbent and a challenger.
Here's the good news--55 newcomers have filed to run for precinct chair, with 49 of them seeking vacant seats, which would mean a gain of 49 precincts for the party if we keep the currently occupied chairs filled. And...we have 3 1/2 more days in which to try and fill more vacant seats.
Here's the bad news--only 282 out of about 470 incumbents have filed. If the current pace of filings continue, we will not match the current number of filled seats, even with the gains we are making in filling vacant seats.
We can't win elections without boots on the ground, and we currently only cover half the county. The goal was not to go backwards. We must fill these positions!
****************************************
Dave:
I just went to the HCRP website and did a quick name count. Of the 874 precincts that currently exist, the party had filled about 470 precinct chair seats by October, 2009. Of the 885 precincts that will exist after January 1, 2010, there were only about 350 precincts with applicants as of December 23rd (and 15 of those precincts had more than one applicant). With 4 1/2 days left for filing, I am concerned that we won't even match the current number of precinct chairs coming out of the primary.
We need to send an SOS to everyone in the party, and to everyone who cares about the party and electing Republicans, to sign-up, or get their neighbors or club members to sign-up. Looking at the statistics from the 2008 General Election, on average there was a 7% greater turnout between the precincts where Republicans had a chair and where it did not have a chair. However, the stratification was even more pronounced: where we had a chair, we were 3 times more likely to have turnout of over 70%; where we did not have a chair, we were 4 times more likely to have turnout below 60%. Moreover, there were 156 precincts where Republicans do well, or are at least competitive, where we had no chair. If we had gained a 7% better turnout in those precincts on average, most of the down-ballot races that Republicans lost in 2008 would have been won.
We must fill these positions!
****************************************
UPDATE:
Ok...here's an update and an analysis as of the last posting by the HCRP for filings through today (as of 4:25 p.m.). Candidates have filed for 360 precints. Of the 8 who filed between the morning posting and the afternoon posting, 6 are incumbents, 1 challenger has filed where the incumbent has not yet filed, and 1 person has filed for a vacant seat.
For the 360 seats, here is how the filings breakdown so far: 273 are seats where the incumbents have filed and there is no challenger; 35 are occupied seats where a new person has filed, but the incumbent has not filed; 43 are currently vacant seats are where a new person has filed; and 15 seats are contested so far. Of those contested seats--3 of the races are between two newcomers for a vacant seat; 3 are between two newcomers for occupied seats where the incumbent has not yet filed; and 9 are contested between the incumbent and a challenger.
Here's the good news--55 newcomers have filed to run for precinct chair, with 49 of them seeking vacant seats, which would mean a gain of 49 precincts for the party if we keep the currently occupied chairs filled. And...we have 3 1/2 more days in which to try and fill more vacant seats.
Here's the bad news--only 282 out of about 470 incumbents have filed. If the current pace of filings continue, we will not match the current number of filled seats, even with the gains we are making in filling vacant seats.
We can't win elections without boots on the ground, and we currently only cover half the county. The goal was not to go backwards. We must fill these positions!
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