Update from Chairman Dickey, June 2019

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Dear Fellow Republican,

The month of June started to steal the fireworks from July with some serious momentum! We announced exciting new initiatives to deliver Republican victories in 2020, saw Texas leading the nation (as usual) in support for the President, tallied up legislative victories, and so much more. We are wasting no time in picking up steam to defend Texas in 2020.

June 3, 2019 marked my two year anniversary leading RPT. I am truly blessed to serve as your Chairman and will continue to fight for a brighter future for all Texans. Our booming economy shows just how well the Republican principles we advance have worked. The Party’s solid financial results over the last two years – increased total fundraising, increased Victory spending, and increased cash on hand – has placed us in a position to do what we must in 2020 to defend Texas.

One of the best parts of being Chairman is travelling across our beautiful state to visit with y’all and share RPT plans, activities, and how we can work together to win in 2020! In June I was hosted by the Pflugerville Republican Club, Ellis County GOP, the Hill Country Republican Women’s Club, the Prayer Luncheon in Sugar Land, and more. In addition, I had the honor of speaking at the annual Texas Boys State in Austin. Seeing so many brilliant, driven young people with passion for public service fills me with immense pride and optimism for the next generation of Texans.

The second quarter State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) meeting occurred the first weekend of June. I reported the good news that RPT had a cash balance of over $800,000 in the bank – and as of my two-year anniversary as Chairman the RPT had grown our bank account balances by well over $200,000 during my tenure – in comparison to a drop in available cash of over $400,000 during the prior two years. We have new initiatives and partnerships that promise continued growing financial strength for 2020 and I am committed to making that growth happen. We set big goals for this year and continue to reach for them every month. They are paying off in that we are exceeding operating expenses and maintaining an excellent cash balance. Our team and I have been working with major donors, refining our telemarketing and direct mail programs and enhancing our digital marketing.  So we continue to prepare for 2020, bring on field staff, raise money, and build new partnerships for victory up and down the ballot next year.

At a special reception that same weekend, the new Volunteer Engagement Project (VEP) was announced. The initial resources to fund the effort have been raised and the effort is officially launched! The project focuses on volunteer recruitment, revitalizing Republican organizations, and engaging in nuts-and-bolts party building for the 2020 election cycle, such as voter registration. We must work harder to grow exponentially for success in 2020 and this committee is a big part of making big things happen to win in Texas in 2020.

Karl Rove has graciously donated his time to provide strategic advice to this project. The working group for the VEP will include Karen Newton, President of the Texas Federation of Republican Women, Jack Barcroft, President of the Texas Republican County Chairmen’s Association, Kathaleen Wall, Chair of the RPT Voter Registration working group, Karl Rove, and me. Going forward it is anticipated to include several additional prominent Republicans. Mitch Carney serves as VEP Executive Director and we have also brought him on as RPT Political Director. Steve Munisteri serves as Senior Adviser to the project and is the partner handling the account on behalf of FP1 Strategies to assist in the development of the overall strategic plan, strategies for implementation, and organization. We are very happy to have Chairman Munisteri involved again with the RPT and are excited to work with these esteemed Republicans to recruit volunteers and build an infrastructure to win victories in 2020.

The 86th Legislative Session saw a lot of positive activity for the Republican Party Platform. At least 61 bills passed that were related to Republican Party of Texas’ platform planks, plus nine bills passed related to the RPT Legislative Priorities as identified by State Convention Delegates in 2018: ending taxpayer funded lobbying, abolishing abortion, ensuring the right to unlicensed self-defense (commonly referred to as Constitutional Carry), swapping the maintenance and operation school property tax with a consumption tax, and prohibiting the violation of the rights and freedoms of individuals, organizations, and businesses to exercise their sincerely held religious beliefs. 

The Governor signed into law numerous important bills from the 86th Legislative Session such as Senate Bill 2 and House Bill 3 that bring greater property tax relief and reform than Texans have seen in the last 38 years. In addition to $5 billion in property tax relief allocated to the first biennium to ease the maintenance and operation property tax burden, these bills work in conjunction to establish a 3.5% cap on property tax growth and a 2.5% cap on property tax growth for school districts. This will make a tremendous, palpable impact on property taxes – and family budgets – over time. Senate Bill 2 also automatically requires voter approval should taxing units seek to increase taxes more than those caps. Also included is a major reduction in Recapture, the long despised “robin hood”, which has hurt school districts throughout the state. Other Legislative Priority progress includes the great news that no longer can state and local taxpayer money be used to support the abortion industry, you can now carry a handgun without a license for a short period of time after a declared emergency, your religious liberty as a business owner is further protected, and there is mandatory transparency and disclosure when tax collecting entities spend taxpayer money on lobbying. There were many more victories – and details about them are available here!

We know our priorities are significant goals and recognize that change takes either large majorities or an incremental approach. That is why we must look to 2020 to do everything we can to win back the seats we lost in 2018 and win new seats to increase our majorities and accomplish more during the 87th Legislative Session.

And winning in 2020 is exactly what we are focused on now. We’ve begun to lay the groundwork for electoral success across Texas. Our partnership with the Republican National Committee is back in full swing with the hiring of Taylor Mattox as RNC State Director for Texas. The RPT was the first in the country to hire ground staff for the upcoming campaign season which has already yielded great results. For example, President Trump’s re-election announcement occurred during the National Week of Action in mid-June and Texas was number one in turnout for MAGA Meetups and Watch Party attendance!

The Democrat candidates for the presidency are all racing to the extreme left and proving every day how out of touch they are with America. They are putting forward ridiculous proposals such as free healthcare for illegal immigrants, the Green New Deal, forcing Americans off their healthcare (over 200 million would lose their insurance), and decriminalizing illegal border crossings. This is the extreme platform that they are running on and exactly why it is so important that we win Texas in 2020!

Whether you can volunteer every day or for just a few hours on one weekend, we need you this election. The Republican Party of Texas is the party of the Grassroots! Without your enthusiasm and help, we won’t be able to accomplish the goals we have to defend our great state from another Democrat onslaught! Please sign up today to volunteer – we need your help to secure a Republican victory from the bottom of the ballot all the way to the top! Thank YOU!

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Sincerely,

James Dickey
Chairman, Republican Party of Texas

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