Primaries and Conventions in Texas

The political world goes in cycles here in Texas. Our legislature meets every other year, in odd years. So that half year (plus special sessions) is a busy time. And just as you’re catching your breath, primary season is upon us. If you think the primary election is just a day, you’d be missing all that gets put into motion after that—the convention season. And that’s somewhat more involved during a presidential election year, which this one is. The information below is mostly local, down to my county and precinct. But the conference information may be informative for others as well. Different states have different specific procedures, but most will have levels similar to ours.

My Campaign Adventure

I’ve been a precinct chair since 2014. I never had to campaign; no one else sought the job. I signed up to do it when my previous precinct chair moved and have always been unopposed on the ballot. But this year someone decided to challenge me. She doesn’t seem to have any complaints about the job I’ve done; she just wants to do it instead of me.

Block walking my precinct last week,
just before rain and nightfall shut us down,

Anyway, this means, because I’m on the ballot, I can’t be an election worker for the primary. Neither can my husband, who is usually our presiding judge. Instead, I’m campaigning.

There are a number of us precinct chairs with challengers. I don’t know how frequently active and effective precinct chairs get challengers, but it seems to be more than usual this year. (For some, it may have to do with our successful efforts to flip the school board, although I don’t think my challenger has that motive, that I’m aware of.) Anyway, we’ve worked together. I’ve got a campaign website, business cards, and flyers—all because of skills my other precinct chair friends have. And we’ve block walked my entire precinct—every known Republican voter. Talked with many, left info for those who weren’t home. We’ll get back to those with phonecalls or another visit. I’ve helped block walk some of the other precincts too. We’re not leaving any voter’s door unknocked on.

It has been a lot of work to do an unpaid, volunteer, grassroots-level position. But so far it has been a good experience.

This may not be interesting beyond my precinct, but here’s my campaign website. There’s a lot of other information for voters there as well. My goal is always to give voters the information you need to be an informed voter—and to get ideas from you, the grassroots, to influence our government.

 

CANDIDATE FORUM

I’ve mostly made up my decisions about other campaigns. I plan to write about my reasons soon. But I’m interested in a candidate forum of the four Republican candidates for Sheriff, sponsored by Cypress Texas Tea Party, next Thursday. The four candidates are Glenn Cowan, Joe Danna, Paul Day and Mike Knox. (Personally, I am leaning toward Glenn Cowan. I have heard him speak in person a couple of times. But I’m open to hearing from all these candidates.)

When: Thursday, February 15th, 7PM.

Where: Spring Creek BBQ

Address: 25831 Northwest Fwy, Cypress, TX 77429

 

VOTING

Our Sample Ballot is now available.

Early Voting: February 20-March 1, 7:00 AM-7:00 PM (every day except Sunday, February 25, with hours Noon-7:00 PM)

Election Day: Tuesday, March 5, 7:00 AM-7:00 PM

You can vote at any voting location for both Early Voting and Election Day. You can find locations here; toggle between Early Voting and Election Day locations. Our usual location at Truitt Middle School will be available. My husband and I won’t be running the polling place, because I am on the ballot. But you might see me outside, beyond the 100-foot line, campaigning. Come by to say hi.

The Democrats will be sharing our voting location. Because of interpretations of law, we must share the election, which we have never done. That means that you declare your party at the sign-in table, and you will be assigned only the ballot you have requested, which will be available on any machine, the way it works during Early Voting. We may set up the room to be physically separate, but if one side has a long line, the voters can use the other side’s line.

 

CONVENTIONS

The way we get ideas from the grassroots up to the lawmakers is through conventions. In a convention, we elect delegates to the next level convention, and we put forth resolutions for the platform at the next level. If you want to participate in a next-level convention, you will need to have been chosen as a delegate at the previous level convention.

Precinct Convention

The basic level is the Precinct Convention. We used to hold these at the polling place after the polls closed. Because of the change to countywide voting, and the change in machines and the time it takes to close the polls, we have needed to change the meeting to another day. Starting in the last biennium, we now meet the Saturday following voting day. In Harris County, precincts will share locations with the other precincts in our Texas House District (we are in HD 138).

Date: Saturday, March 9

Time: Registration begins 8:00 AM; Convention begins 9:00 AM

Our Location: Trini Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Rd, Houston, TX 77055

Here is the full list House District locations:

·        HD 126 - Glorious Way Church, 11611 Champion Forest Dr, Houston, TX 77066

·        HD 127 - Kingwood Middle School, 2407 Pine Terrace Dr., Kingwood Area, TX 77339

·        HD 130 - Spillane Middle School, 13403 Woods-Spillane Blvd, Cypress, TX 77429

·        HD 132 - Autumn Creek Baptist Church, 6735 Barker Cypress Rd, Houston, TX, 77084

·        HD 133 - Hilton Garden Inn Energy Corridor, 12245 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77079

·        HD 135 - Autumn Creek Baptist Church, 6735 Barker Cypress Rd, Houston, TX, 77084

·        HD 138 - Trini Mendenhall Community Center, 1414 Wirt Rd, Houston, TX 77055

·        HD 148 - Glorious Way Church, 11611 Champion Forest Dr, Houston, TX 77066

·        HD 149 - Hilton Garden Inn Energy Corridor, 12245 Katy Fwy, Houston, TX 77079

·        HD 150 - Spring First Church, 1851 Spring Cypress Rd, Spring, TX 77388

The convention should be over easily by noon, or as soon as business is completed. Plan on attending this meeting. Bring written resolutions with you, or come and simply give input on the resolutions others have brought. We will vote on our resolutions (this includes the ability to amend them).

And we will elect delegates for the Senatorial District Convention. We are given a generous number of delegate slots; according to party rule, each precinct is allowed to have 1 delegate for each 25 votes cast in the Precinct for Governor Abbot in the 2022 November election. If you want to be a delegate at that convention, most of the time that simply entails saying you want to be one. (If you want to be a delegate but simply can’t make the Precinct Convention, there is a procedure to try to make that happen. Please contact your precinct chair.)

 

Senatorial District Convention

Senatorial District Conventions will be held Saturday, March 23. The SDs will meet at locations in or close to their district. We are in SD 7.

Date: Saturday, March 23

Time: (probably) 8:00 AM registration; 9:00 AM Convention begins

Location for SD7: Glorious Way Church, 11611 Champion Forest Dr, Houston, TX 77066

Here is the full list of SD convention locations for Harris County:

·        SD 4:   Kingwood Community Center, 4102 Rustic Woods Dr, Kingwood, TX, 77345

·        SD 6:  Gulf Meadows Church, 8012 Fuqua St, Houston, TX, 77075

·        SD 7:  Glorious Way Church, 11611 Champion Forest Dr, Houston, TX, 77066

·        SD 11:  Gulf Meadows church, 8012 Fuqua St, Houston, TX, 77075

·        SD 13:  Norris Conference Center, 816 Town & Country Blvd., Houston, TX, 77024

·        SD 15:  Norris Conference Center, 816 Town & Country Blvd., Houston, TX, 77024

·        SD 17:  St. Basil the Great Orthodox Church, 1100 Eldridge Pkwy, Houston, TX 77077

·        SD 18:  Glorious Way Church, 11611 Champion Forest Dr, Houston, TX 77066

Many parts of Texas do these conventions by county, or sometimes multiple counties together. It depends on number of voters. We do it by SD in Harris County, because we’re such a large county. So, if you don’t know when yours is, contact your county Republican Party Chair.

There will be a Temporary Committee (a committee invited by our SD Chair) that works on the resolutions between the Precinct Convention and the SD Convention. I have worked on this committee every biennium since 2014. Many hours go into preparing our SD 7 Platform. We, as well as a few other SDs in the state, do an entire platform. It’s based on the previous biennium’s platform, but we address every plank, whether to keep, delete, or amend, and then add planks based on the hundreds of resolutions that come in from the precinct conventions. Most SD or County Conventions simply go through the resolutions that have come up to that level, combine similar ideas for the best wording, and then submit those resolutions for the State level convention. Any way it’s done, this is the path up for ideas from the grassroots.

There are also a lot of speeches at a convention. Allen West spoke
at our SD 7 Convention in 2020.

At the SD Convention, we elect Permanent Committee members—this will be for Platform, Rules, Legislative Priorities, Credentials, and maybe other committees I’m not thinking of. In Platform Committee we work on additional resolutions that are brought in that day. Then we bring to the floor our Committee Report—our version of the SD 7 Platform. That’s the version we bring to the floor for amendments and final vote. And then that final platform will be submitted to the State’s platform committee.

We will also elect delegates to attend the State Convention (the RPT Convention). Usually we are allowed to elect 2 delegates and 2 alternates (in my experience, there is always room for alternates to be seated as delegates at the state convention; however, that isn’t a guarantee). If you want to be a delegate at the State Convention, you must be chosen as a delegate (or alternate) at the SD Convention. Sometimes there are at-large positions available, which you can apply for. Most people who want to be delegates to State can do so. You can, of course, attend the State Convention as a guest, but you cannot vote on anything.

Attendance is at the delegate’s own expense. This is usually a moderate attendance fee (toward facilities, etc.), plus hotel, meals, etc. You may also want to plan on bringing spending money; there are booths, pop-up stores, swag sales, and such convention things. Note that the Republican Party of Texas Convention is the largest political gathering in the nation, larger than the National Republican Convention. More about the RPT Convention below.

 

The State RPT Convention

The 2024 Texas State Republican Convention will be held in late May, earlier in presidential election years than in midterm election years, because it will be followed by a national convention.

Date: May 23 – 25

Time: begins 9:00 AM Thursday, May 23

Location: Henry B. Gonzales Convention Center, 900 E Market St, San Antonio, TX 78205.

A Temporary Committee will handle Platform and other committee work between the SD conventions and the State Convention. These committees are comprised of a single appointed representative from each SD. The higher the level, the more formal the process. Plan to see Roberts Rules of Order in all meetings, with committee members addressing the Chair rather than each other. At precinct and SD/County levels, these conversations are likely to be much more informal.

Platform Committee taking testimony, June 2022, view from the table;
I was managing the file, sitting next to the Chair.

These committees do a lot of work before the convention, and will take testimony in the three days prior to the State Convention, to prepare their Temporary Committee Report (their version of the State Platform). Then, when the convention gets underway, Permanent Committee members are elected in their SD Caucus; these are often the same representatives as in the Temporary Committee, but not always. The Permanent Committee has one day to take testimony and prepare the document for print. Their final report (their version of the platform) is presented for the body to amend and vote on, which happens some part of Friday or Saturday, usually near the end of business at the State Convention.

In presidential election years, at the State Convention we also elect delegates to the National Convention. This usually requires some brief campaigning and speech making to convince people. I think this vote takes place in your Congressional District Caucus at the convention. (We are in CD 38.) Travel, etc., is done at the delegate’s own expense, and is likely to be over $1000, so you need to really want to do it.

This year’s National Republican Convention is scheduled to be held July 15 to 18, 2024, at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The national party platform is developed in a similar way to the lower levels, taking input from the various states. The national platform may be considered the official party platform. But at the state level, we keep our full platform and use it to advise the legislature here in the state, as well as guidance for our Senators and Congressmen.

The big purpose of the national convention is to decide on the party’s presidential candidate. Sometimes, by the time of the convention, this is something of a formality, because the choice is already known, following the various state primaries. It looks like that will be the case this year, with Donald Trump eclipsing any other candidate. I’ve seen my sample ballot, but I didn’t even notice the names of the several other presidential candidates.

Once this decision is finalized, there’s a lot of celebrating. Sometimes the candidate will announce a running mate. I don’t have any idea who that will be this year, so that’s news to anticipate.

After this convention, then the campaign season is fully on, from mid-July until the first Tuesday of November.

 

So that’s the summary of this year’s Primary/Convention season. The more you know about the process, the more effective you’ll be at getting your grassroots ideas up through the ranks to the elected officials.

Grassroots Power—Texas Style

Remember this foundational principle from our Declaration of Independence?

Governments are instituted among men,

deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.

That is literally true in our constitutional republic—if we can keep it. Tuesday is Primary Election Day here in Texas, after two weeks already of early voting. It’s the midterm year, not the presidential election year, so there’s lower turnout. That means those who participate have more say in who our candidates will be—for Congress, for Governor, Lt. Governor, judges, and all the rest.

We have the longest ballot in the country here in Harris County. It took three posts a week or so ago to cover all the contested races.

But having a voice, as the governed, is more than electing leaders—and holding them accountable. It is also about expressing our ideas, to let the elected officials know how we want our state and country to be governed. There’s a process for letting them know, and we’re about to go through that today.

 

The Two-Year Cycle

Let’s start with the two-year cycle. A lot of people think of the four-year presidential election cycle. But, at least here in Texas, we go through a whole process every two years.

from a presentation developed by Bill Ely
for the HCRP Training and Development Committee,
which I used and adapted for the Cypress Texas Tea Party on February 19

In odd-numbered years we have our legislative session: mid-January through the end of May. There may be special sessions called (three in a row this past year, and still there was business left undone). But mainly we just have that 4 ½ months every other year. Which is good, since our freedoms are at risk whenever the legislature is in session. It takes constant vigilance to keep government in check, at every level.

When the session is over, we begin the primary season. Candidates begin their campaigns, which get fully underway by late fall filing deadlines. Here in Texas our usual Primary Election Day is the first Tuesday of March—this year that’s March 1. This ends the primary season—except for those races that had multiple candidates in which no one got over 50%; then there’s a runoff, this year set for May 26. And I expect there will be more runoff races than usual this year.

As soon as the Primary Election is over (excepting runoffs), the convention season is underway. There are multiple levels of conventions. The most local is the Precinct Convention, sometimes called a precinct caucus, or just precinct meeting. A few weeks later, the next level is the Senatorial District or County Convention. In areas like Harris County, there are multiple state senatorial districts in the county, so we don’t do it by county level. In less populous areas of the state, this level may be done by county. Then comes the State Republican Convention—this year held in Houston, in June. In presidential election years, there’s a national convention, but we’re not having one this year, so the state is this year’s top level.

Overlapping the convention season is the general election season, getting ready for that vote in November. Then, in January after that November election, the newly elected legislature is back in session.

 

Conventions—General Purpose

So what happens at a convention? The basic agenda is the same regardless of level:

·         We choose delegates to the next level up.

·         We put forth resolutions for the platform.        

There may be speeches and celebrations, and other necessary party business. But those are the two basic agenda items for every convention.

So, let’s look at each of the levels where grassroots people will be attending this year.

 

Precinct Convention

In past years, in this county, we’ve held our precinct convention on Primary Election Day, after the polls close, at the precinct polling location. A few years ago the county went to countywide voting. This is a great convenience for voters, but it hinders local politics. We don’t necessarily get to see our precinct voters at the polling location in our precinct—if there even is one within the precinct. And besides, many voted during the two weeks of early voting—which can be any of the polling locations in the county. So how do we let people know about the meetings?

Plus, since precinct chairs were often the election officials, how do we get the polls closed down, the materials delivered to the counting locations—and hold a meeting at the same time? Last year we got new voting equipment. The process kinks are still being ironed out. We got a practice run at the low-turnout election in November (ours was just school board races). We learned that closing down the polling location is more time-consuming than it had been before. And delivering materials to counting was an hours-long nightmare. (This time they have returned to multiple dropoff locations, so that may help shorten that part of the process.)

Anyway, doing the precinct meeting at the polling location on election night has become nigh unto impossible. So we’re doing our precinct conventions another day: this Saturday, March 5, if you’re local and interested in participating. Instead of at the polling location, the Harris County Republican Party has set up multiple locations according to state House districts. All the precincts belonging to that House district will meet at a location together and then break out into their separate precincts. (If you’re here in Harris County and want to know your location, the list is here.)

It used to be that the precinct chair would receive the packet of precinct convention materials when they picked up their voting materials. This year the packet will be handed to them at these House district locations. All of these meetings are open for registration at 8:00 AM, and meetings start at 9:00 AM—expect them to last about an hour.

Once the precincts get together, they follow a script that is in the packet. You identify all participants and make sure they are qualified to participate. To qualify you must have voted in the Republican Primary that just took place (and, of course, not voted this year in any other party’s primary); or, if you didn’t vote, you can take an oath of affiliation. In other words, only Republicans get to participate in Republican conventions.

Someone has to lead the meeting. So the setup is for someone, usually the Precinct Chair when available, to get things underway. This is the Temporary Precinct Convention Chair. She appoints a Temporary Secretary and any other needed officers (such as a sergeant-at-arms). Then the first order of business is to elect permanent officers. These are often the people who were temporary officers, who just continue on in official capacity, but they do not have to be. And these permanent positions are only for the business of this meeting. (The elected Precinct Chair—not to be confused with this Precinct Convention Chair—continues on with his/her duties beyond this meeting.) Elections—with brief campaign speeches, when necessary—can put in place any officers the precinct convention participants choose.

This is all done by Roberts Rules of Order. While it sounds official and somewhat intimidating, in practice it can be very simple and somewhat casual—as long as rules are followed. If two people show up, one ends up being the chair and the other the secretary, and they move forward with business. Most of the precinct conventions I’ve attended have had from 5-10 participants. Some less. One I attended had a couple dozen, but that was a rarity.

 

Electing Delegates to the District Convention

First order of business, then, is to elect delegates to the District Convention. It is my experience that the number attending is far less than the number of delegates the precinct is allowed. This is determined by a formula based on the number of Republican votes for governor in the past election. It’s done according to state party rules, and the packet shows the number, so you don’t have to do the math. For example, if you’re allowed 20 delegates, and you have 5 people at your precinct convention, all of you can go as delegates. If by some oddity, you have more people at the convention than delegates allowed, you can send alternates as well. If you’re allowed 20 delegates, you’d also be allowed 20 alternates—which means 40 attendees at your Precinct Convention would be allowed to go to the District Convention. Alternates might not have voting power at that convention—unless a delegate doesn’t show up. Then they would be seated as a regular delegate. But they could participate, regardless, in any activities not requiring voting, such as platform discussions.

Can you be a delegate at the District Convention, if you didn’t attend the Precinct Convention? Good question. You must be elected as a delegate at that Precinct Convention. However, if you know ahead of time that you cannot attend the Precinct Convention, but you know you want to attend the District Convention, you can contact your Precinct Chair, or another person planning to attend your Precinct Convention, and let them know you would like to be a delegate, and they can nominate you. If there is opportunity and the attendees are agreeable, you can be elected in absentia. You’d need to make sure they had your ID information to turn in with their report.

 

Platform Resolutions

So, about those platform resolutions. Once you’ve settled your delegates, that’s the next order of business. Did anyone bring any resolutions they’d like to put forward? If yes, then they present what they have, and the convention participants vote on whether to approve each resolution or reject it. Records are kept of both accepted and rejected resolutions. In my experience, 3-5 resolutions is a typical number. Some people bring a stack of resolutions passed on to them from friends or activists in other precincts, but they had better be able to present and defend anything they bring or it’s a waste of time. Having an idea come from multiple places is intended to show that the idea has much grassroots support. But a good idea from one single person can strike a chord and work its way up to the state platform.

At a meet-and-greet with Mark Ramsey, whom I’m supporting in the new Congressional District 38 race, he talked about seeing an idea from his precinct work its way all the way up to the national platform.

It’s suggested that you bring three copies of your resolution: one for yourself to read from, one for the Precinct Convention Chair, and one for the Secretary. Resolutions can be amended by the participants, somewhat casually, as long as rules are followed. You can even come up with a new resolution on the spot—just write it on a piece of notebook paper.

That said, there is a format, which helps lay out ideas:

Whereas: This is one reason behind our idea;

Whereas: This is another reason behind our idea;

Be It Resolved: We want this to happen.

The essential part is the “be it resolved” part—even if you just say it straight out without any formality. That is the part that would be put in the platform if accepted at the higher levels. The “whereas” clauses are giving background reasoning. When you’re in your precinct, presenting a resolution, you can say why you think it’s important, or why it should be said in a particular way. But once it is passed up the chain, people working on the platform may want to know your reasoning. If it’s there in your original document, that’s helpful to their decision-making process. But, again, if you have an idea, just spit it out and get it in some written form your precinct convention agrees to. That’s all that’s necessary.

The election of delegates and approving of resolutions should take about an hour. Maybe less, maybe a bit more, depending on size and agreeableness of your group. Once adjourned, the Precinct Convention Chair and Secretary get all paperwork copied and turned in to the County party officials as instructed. And they may want to coordinate communications about the upcoming District Convention to those who were elected as delegates.

 

Senatorial District or County Conventions

The agenda at this convention will be the same: elect delegates to the next level convention, in this case to the state convention; and work on resolutions for the platform.

At this level on up, the temporary officers do a lot more work up front. There are people handling credentials, and setting up the bigger logistics of a larger convention. In some past years we’ve held our Senatorial District Conventions at separate locations. This year we’re going back to a central location at which we will meet in separate rooms for just our districts. This helps save money on location rentals, and facilitates candidates who want to address the multiple conventions—going room to room, instead of traveling all over the county. This year ours will be held on March 26 at the Norris Center, near Town & Country (scroll down to info here).

 

Electing Delegates to State

If you want to be a delegate to the State Convention, there’s a good chance you can make that happen, but there may be competition. Usually each precinct gets to send just 2-3 delegates and 2-3 alternates. If there are more who want to go, they can try to be appointed as at-large delegates. Once you get to the State Convention, most—maybe all—of the alternates will be seated as regular delegates. If they’re not, they can be paired with a delegate and, whenever that delegate cannot be on the floor (needs lunch, or needs to be doing business elsewhere), that alternate can be seated and vote in their place. So don’t feel like an alternate isn’t important; you’ll probably act function as a regular delegate, likely for the whole State Convention.

 

Platform/Resolutions Committee—Temporary and Permanent

Those resolutions you turned in at your Precinct Convention—there’s a temporary committee, appointed by the Senatorial District Chair (or County Chair in those more rural places), who gather them, categorize them into the part of the existing platform they would pertain to, and go through each one. They try to make sure each new idea is addressed and considered. There could be hundreds, maybe even thousands of resolutions. Many will be exact duplicates, or will be similar ideas. The Temporary Resolutions (or Platform) Committee will meet to do all this gathering and sorting, along with thinking and rewording.

In large districts like the one I’m in, the Temporary Resolutions Committee will do a complete version of the platform, showing changes to existing planks and the new planks added. Many other districts or counties will just put forth a number of resolutions, in the same way as at a Precinct Convention, rather than a full platform. Either way, all this work is done in the few weeks between Precinct Convention and District Convention.

At the actual District Convention, the body elects permanent officers, which will include permanent committee members, such as these platform people. People who didn’t work on the temporary committee may still be added by the convention delegates, or replace temporary members.

That's me, working on the Permanent Resolutions Committee
at our District Convention in 2020
photo from Pauline Ramsey's Facebook page

During this all-day convention, committees meet for their duties. Rules Committee, for example, might be doing similar early and convention-day work. My experience is with the platform. We meet in a separate room from the body of the convention—while they hear speeches and do other business. (We try to get our votes in as needed—including getting ourselves elected as delegates to the State Convention. It can be hectic.) We’ll have a set amount of time to hear testimony from people who want to support a proposed resolution already being considered, or who want to present a brand new resolution they’ve thought of since the Precinct Convention. The Permanent Resolutions (Platform) Committee hears testimony and then finalizes a version of the platform—which is their Permanent Committee Report. They bring that to the body, which looks at it, discusses it—sometimes at length, sometimes almost not at all—and then votes to accept the committee’s report, which then gets sent up to the state party.

 

State Convention

The same agenda applies—except that this year we won’t have a national convention, so there won’t be election of delegates. There is election of party leadership.

This is a six-day convention. Temporary committees—whose members again are appointed by the Senatorial District Chair (one committee representative per district for each committee)—meet and do the work on Rules, Platform, Legislative Priorities, etc., on Monday through Wednesday. They take testimony and try to come up with their final work product, called the Temporary Committee Report, which will be the starting point on Thursday, when most of the delegates arrive.

During those temporary committee hearings, people can come and testify on issues, to get ideas included that they want, or to get wording the way they want. You don’t have to be a delegate to testify. People can even, again, present an entirely new idea. They have opportunity to testify in separate subcommittee hearings as well as in the committee as a whole.

On Thursday, when most of the delegates arrive, permanent committee members will be chosen. Again, these are usually the ones who did the work on the Temporary Platform Report, but not always. There were some significant changeouts last time, when delegates decided their committee members didn’t hold the prevailing views of that Senatorial District.

The Permanent Committees will have only Thursday afternoon/evening to hear more testimony and finalize any changes to the Permanent Committee Report.

These reports are presented before the entire body of delegates, and are open to floor debate, which can be either very exciting or very boring, depending on issues that come up, and how much the rules of order are used to slow the process.

With Legislative Priorities, the final report comes up with something like 15-16 priorities, which they have narrowed down from around 40 earlier in the week. And then the body votes on their priorities, which narrows it down to a top eight. So that is very grassroots. And we think the innovation of providing legislative priorities is more apt to persuade legislators to do at least these few things.

Platform is usually the last thing to be discussed on the floor. That may be by design. People are tired and ready to go home, so they’re less likely to want an extended floor debate. But another innovation from a few years ago is to have an up-or-down vote on each platform plank. Any plank that doesn’t receive 50% support gets eliminated from the platform.

Other fun things go on at the State Convention. There’s a big exhibit hall, with booths and temporary stores set up. There’s entertainment. Speeches and more speeches, of course. And outside events, like breakfasts and banquets. And lots of new people to meet—just about all working toward greater freedom in our state and country, in other words good people you’d like to have as friends.

In 2018, our kids were also delegates, so we had our
grandkids with us at the State Convention.

Did I mention that the Texas State Convention is the biggest political convention in the country? Possibly in the world. We have up to 9,000 delegates, plus visitors. It’s a big and memorable fiesta—in addition to getting the voice of the grassroots to the people who need to hear us.

It starts at the Precinct Convention. So put that on your calendar, and get your voice heard at least for that hour. 

Whatever state you’re from, there’s some version of this process. Find out what it is, and get your voice heard.