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Today's stories
THE GOP, as anticipated, lost it's legal "fight" yesterday to keep the state convention in Houston.
As a result, last night, an emergency meeting of the SREC was convened, and the convention was moved from in-person to virtual. It's the outcome that power players in the party have been prepping for weeks without oversight.
SREC members and delegates alike know little to nothing about how the technology used to run the convention works because it’s been hidden from them.
Given the recent past behavior of Chairman James Dickey, including withholding information, shutting down debate, and operating with no accountability (including vote counting), the credibility of the convention is in question.
One bit of transparency published here yesterday launched two competing narratives on social media.
The honest one was a defense of Karl Rove and Steve Munisteri running the convention and Texas GOP from the shadows. The dishonest one boils down to futile spin, working to distance a vendor with close ties to Rove from Rove. Weird.
Having a shadow cabinet run the convention is okay with some and not with others. Transparency in the process, to the extent that it has not been provided, needs to be demanded or the base will continue to be demotivated and withdraw.
That last bit about the disaffected base is important because it’s the opposite impact of the reason given for parachuting in Rove and Munisteri in the first place.
RUNOFF ELECTION DAY is here, and to this point, participation has been mostly predictable.
The early voting period for this round was double that of previous cycles, and higher than usual turnout is reflected in that extra allotment of time.
There was massive confusion around mail-in balloting thanks to multiple lawsuits by Democrats seeking to circumvent the legislative process during the pandemic which should lead to higher than normal levels of balloting by mail.
Some mail-in ballots may be illicit.
While legal efforts have failed to-date, it's anticipated that additional last-ditch efforts at expansion before the 2020 November election will occur.
Contentions by cheerleaders like the Houston Chronicle's political opinionist that voter registrations and a higher turnout for Democrats in the primary runoff suggest November will be a gangbusters year are unfounded.
Coming up
7/15: FEC reports due
7/31: PFS filings due
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