***OFFICIAL Texas Senate District Convention Thread***

[truthspeaker]

To consolidate all of the Texas SD reports, please post your news here. This should be the last weekend for Texas SD Conventions. :)

Most conventions should start Saturday morning.

For those of you outside of the Lone Star State, we're having an unusual election year. :toady: First off, we have 4 new representative districts. Secondly, because of our redistricting debacle, we have had to have our primaries postponed until after our SD delegates are chosen. Third, a new TX rule frees up our national delegates after the first vote. Traditionally, we have a second place winner. (I think we still get our 2nd place delegates), the primaries determine who they are pledged for. Fourth, some senate districts are split between counties. The local GOP decided to split their conventions as well. For example, SD 11 will have delegates selected at different conventions in Brazoria, Harris, and Galveston counties.

On another note, the Tea Party here adds a new layer. Many were Santorum supporters. With Romney refusing to attend our state debate, I'm hoping that it may hit a cord. Huckabee's had a good chunk of the vote last time, it is up to us to attract similar supporters to nominate our people. At many of these conventions, delegates are running as themselves, not for a candidate. This isn't true all of the time. Rumor has it that the Tea Party has a bone to pick with GOP of Harris County (Houston). I hope it's not going to be an issue that will end up in hours of time wasted. Actually, we in Harris are expecting a clean and balanced convention. I hope that does happen.

Now, some of you here on the forums believe that RP HAS to win Texas. This is not true. We need to win Texas delegates first. THEN it would be good to try to get 2nd, and not let Gringrich snatch it away. Texas has many neo-conservatives. We have consitutionalists, but they are not the core of the GOP establishment across the state. This is the state of Bush and Perry, afterall.

God Bless our Texan delegate nominees. Please pray for a fair convention and that our people are given a chance. Amen.

[Tyler_Durden]

Reserved. Ill be in the trenches tomorrow ;)

[truthspeaker]

Texas-sized bump!

It's early in the morning and I'm a bit nervous. I'll check back in later. My convention may be as long as 12 hours.

I just got contacted by a YA for RP, however, I hadn't seen 1 of them at any Meetups, nor with our official coordinators. I sincerely hope they went to the Northside meetings I couldn't make. However, the more the merrier.

Now in Harris County (Houston), they gave attendees two times. One was the official one. 10:00. The other was those who talked to the GOP establishment (8:00) who recommended folks get there early. All I know that was done since we're going to have several conventions located at the same place with limited parking. It may become first come, first served. I think I may bring a lunch.

[rp713]

when ron came to a&m, i gave them my info so they could call me up to be a delegate. never got a call, email or anything. i was ready and willing but i never heard from anyone.

[Bern]

rp713 - don't let that stop you. Go. Now.

Details: http://www.ronpaulforums.com/showthread.php?372897-Email-from-campaign-about-Texas-conventions-this-Saturday-April-21st

[neverseen]

when ron came to a&m, i gave them my info so they could call me up to be a delegate. never got a call, email or anything. i was ready and willing but i never heard from anyone.

Just like a job interview... never wait for a call. CALL THEM. It's on you to do your due diligence. Get there asap! TONS of posts on the forum over the past week for info about this...

[Bastiat's The Law]

when ron came to a&m, i gave them my info so they could call me up to be a delegate. never got a call, email or anything. i was ready and willing but i never heard from anyone.
80% of success is showing up...so show up :)

[kathy88]

RP713 GO GO GO.

[Skywalker75]

SD 11, Harris County reporting:

Small convention, no shenanigans at all (some honest mistakes on delegate names that were easily corrected), and from what I saw and to whom I spoke, our contingent did very well. All of our precinct alternates were bumped up to at-large delegates, and even after that we had more delegate slots than people who could go to state. My precinct was allotted 1 delegate and 1 alternate, and since I am unable to attend state (I will be on the East Coast at a family event), the only other person who showed from my precinct, one of ours, will be going to state.

I think it would be a very good idea to organize mock conventions for state (I attended the one here in Houston on Thursday and it was immensely helpful) so that the state delegates can be well-coordinated and knowledgeable about the proceedings.

For liberty!

[Bern]

SD 11 Galveston County reporting:

Our SD was allotted 139 delegates. Everyone who showed up and filled out the application was duly elected for state delegate to Ft. Worth. We (the SD) only had 103 delegates approved after the committee had finished processing the applications. Several amendments were added for people who weren't present. We (the SD) only had 1 alternate selected.

From talking to some people, it appears that attendance at the convention was down around 50% of normal - perhaps because people either didn't know about it or got notification too late to make plans.

In short - if you had the opportunity to go, you should have.

Turns out that my current precinct has one of the largest voting strengths of all the precincts in our current SD. We (me and my +1) were joined by 3 others and had some pretty significant voting strength, not that we needed it for anything that really mattered today. It was very interesting for me to see who some of the other 3 were (not posting publicly).

~~~

Skywalker75 - I was at the mock convention on Thu too. Cheers.

[kathy88]

Kinda got a chuckle. Some lady on Twitter is all over with "Romney won't do the Texas debate because he is scared of Newt."

ROFL

[sailingaway]

SD 11, Harris County reporting:

Small convention, no shenanigans at all (some honest mistakes on delegate names that were easily corrected), and from what I saw and to whom I spoke, our contingent did very well. All of our precinct alternates were bumped up to at-large delegates, and even after that we had more delegate slots than people who could go to state. My precinct was allotted 1 delegate and 1 alternate, and since I am unable to attend state (I will be on the East Coast at a family event), the only other person who showed from my precinct, one of ours, will be going to state.

I think it would be a very good idea to organize mock conventions for state (I attended the one here in Houston on Thursday and it was immensely helpful) so that the state delegates can be well-coordinated and knowledgeable about the proceedings.

For liberty!

oh wow, I wish we'd had more people there!!

[sailingaway]

SD 11 Galveston County reporting:

Our SD was allotted 139 delegates. Everyone who showed up and filled out the application was duly elected for state delegate to Ft. Worth. We (the SD) only had 103 delegates approved after the committee had finished processing the applications. Several amendments were added for people who weren't present. We (the SD) only had 1 alternate selected.

From talking to some people, it appears that attendance at the convention was down around 50% of normal - perhaps because people either didn't know about it or got notification too late to make plans.

In short - if you had the opportunity to go, you should have.

Turns out that my current precinct has one of the largest voting strengths of all the precincts in our current SD. We (me and my +1) were joined by 3 others and had some pretty significant voting strength, not that we needed it for anything that really mattered today. It was very interesting for me to see who some of the other 3 were (not posting publicly).

~~~

Skywalker75 - I was at the mock convention on Thu too. Cheers.

Yea!! And we really need to show up because if the party fills the empty seats (and I expect they will try) that is more votes against us.

[eleganz]

SD 11 Galveston County reporting:

Our SD was allotted 139 delegates. Everyone who showed up and filled out the application was duly elected for state delegate to Ft. Worth. We (the SD) only had 103 delegates approved after the committee had finished processing the applications. Several amendments were added for people who weren't present. We (the SD) only had 1 alternate selected.

From talking to some people, it appears that attendance at the convention was down around 50% of normal - perhaps because people either didn't know about it or got notification too late to make plans.

In short - if you had the opportunity to go, you should have.

Turns out that my current precinct has one of the largest voting strengths of all the precincts in our current SD. We (me and my +1) were joined by 3 others and had some pretty significant voting strength, not that we needed it for anything that really mattered today. It was very interesting for me to see who some of the other 3 were (not posting publicly).

~~~

Skywalker75 - I was at the mock convention on Thu too. Cheers.

So does that mean we took SD11?

[truthspeaker]

No, but the Tea Party had a strong presence at the SD 11 Harris County Convention (Houston). But what a bummer--1 of our RP people left thinking she couldn't get on the delegate list then EVERYBODY got on.

Some YA for Liberty got ID'ed as Paul people by the Tea Party. Overheard them talking.

Talked to some from other districts. Sounds like all of ours running in SD 13 got in. Tea Party strong there too.

Met the Religious Right--SCARY!!! THEY (I didn't bring up Paul's name--I promise), started ranting about how Paul was for Prostitution. Or drugs. Then they mentioned Jeffersonian ideals in the same speech.

Met some people from forum at my SD convention.

Oh--and thank you all for your prayers--we DID have a very peaceful convention.

Harris County GOP demographics--majority were 65+.

Any word from Brazoria or Matagoria--RP's home district?

[sailingaway]

So far everything I've seen on Texas is in this thread.

[RPit]

There doesn't seem to be any hard numbers on how many for each candidate.. Did no one have to announce their candidate of choice to become delegate? And it seems like all of them went uncontested or something ?

[sailingaway]

this is an early stage.

[truthspeaker]

There doesn't seem to be any hard numbers on how many for each candidate.. Did no one have to announce their candidate of choice to become delegate? And it seems like all of them went uncontested or something ?

No, we don't go by candidates at this stage. We just run as ourselves.

[MikeStanart]

Meet you guys in Ft. Worth.

Houston went well, smaller showing than I hoped for from our end. Everyone who wanted to be delegates became one in SD-15.

[truthspeaker]

Any word on Travis County--Austin has a lot of RP support--are y'all still in convention?????

[samsung1]

updates?

[Number19]

Update from SD17 - RP's home turf:

SD17 represents south Brazoria County - we had mixed results. One positive - we had the advantage in actual turnout. The negative? In precinct voting strength - we lost in a close count. The result of this is that we failed in placing our candidate for convention chair. The second positive - the old guard actually treated us fairly in the state delegation. This is not surprising because the old guard is actually that - old. The Paul faction has the youth and represents the future of the Republican Party. SD17 is sending 45 delegates to State and of that number, 19 are Paul supporters. However, we also have alternates seated high on the list. Come the first week in June up in Ft Worth, it will likely end up closely even. We knew they were going to fight hard to keep control for another 2 years and they pulled this one out. And it will continue to be a hard fight all the way to Ft Worth - but it looks good from South Brazoria County.

[Lmata]

decided not to share too much info online. Sorry!

It was good. we got some in but not a majority.

[Lmata]

Just another note: Stay active! My first time doing all this was in '08. I returned in '10 and went again. That time I volunteered for committees and served on the resolutions at the county level. Then they let me be on the rules committee at the State convention. They have a hard time finding someone to commit to the time commitment of being on a committee. Today after we were done I went and reassured the Chair that I am still willing to serve if they need me on a State committee I am willing to go and put in the time. We'll see what happens.

It gets easier when you are helping at least a little bit at the local level! Don't give up and think it is a lost cause.

[ATXRevolutionary]

The Ron Paul folk in SD 14 definitely came prepared: https://twitter.com/#!/LizLeeWhite/status/193716843750498304/photo/1

SD 14 is the largest Senate District in Travis County. Their convention started at 10:30 this morning and is still going on. I have a friend there and it sounds like it's been an epic battle between the Ron Paul folk and the Establishment folk that could go into the wee hours of the night. They've even out stayed how long they rented the venue for and had to move out into the parking garage to continue: https://twitter.com/#!/LizLeeWhite/status/193864487231692800/photo/1

[Bern]

So does that mean we took SD11?

"took"? No. ~120 delegates were elected to go to the state convention for SD-11. I'd estimate (hard to say for sure) that maybe 20 were Ron Paul supporters. Hard to say for sure. There were a lot of people there that I didn't talk to, so I have no idea how they lean.

[undergroundrr]

Amazing showdowns in SD10 and SD14. Actually, staredown might be more like it. I'm surprised they've kept a quorum both places.

[Skywalker75]

Something else I forgot to add:

I'm not sure of the title of the person I asked about this, but he was checking us in (again, SD 11 Harris County) and was friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable, so I don't think he was putting me on. I was inquiring about alternates, and if I was sure I could not go, and sure my delegate COULD go, should I list list myself as an alternate to fill the spot or just leave it blank. He told me that alternates could be seated as a delegate for precincts other than their own --meaning, if PCT 001's delegate doesn't show, but PCT 002's does, PCT 002's alternate could be seated as PCT 001's delegate. He seemed to be saying that the SD's want to go to state at full strength and be able to represent to their full capacity.

I would assume that the full SD 11 (all the counties together) could "pool" their alternates to fill all of the delegate spots on the floor at state. (This is mere conjecture, s don't go saying "I read somewhere on the internet that blah blah blah.")

I also had a lot of positive interactions with non-Ron Paul people as well. The old guard seemed happy to have some youth present, regardless of our beliefs. We were very careful to begin with, asking our questions and trying to figure out who stood where. Once we figured out almost everyone seated around us were RP supporters, we were a little more open. I had a conversation with the man seated next to me in another precinct (he was the only one who showed for his) and while he wasn't a Ron Paul guy ("I like him except on foreign policy"), he did say he'd not only vote for him if he got the nomination, but vote for him enthusiastically. I didn't run across anyone who was vehemently anti-Paul.

Also, I get some street cred with the establishment types when I tell them I teach public school. It's very hard to hate a teacher, or tell a teacher she doesn't know what's going on in the real world.

To finish, I felt wonderful leaving the convention, like I'd actually accomplished something and done some good. Since my precinct chair was vacant, I filed to run for the position. I'd been debating with myself over it for a few months now and ended up saying, "Oh, what the hell? This convention process wasn't terribly complicated, I could manage getting my precinct more organized." I think I finally fully bought in to what I tell my students -- politics isn't actually all that complicated or difficult to understand. You just have to start reading, listening, and then get yourself involved.

[Skywalker75]

"took"? No. ~120 delegates were elected to go to the state convention for SD-11. I'd estimate (hard to say for sure) that maybe 20 were Ron Paul supporters. Hard to say for sure. There were a lot of people there that I didn't talk to, so I have no idea how they lean.

Yeah, PLUS, ~120 only accounts for Galveston's SD-11. Harris County's was ... whatever I posted before. Plus the other counties who haven't check in yet.

[undergroundrr]

Exciting SD10 updates from KMX -

13m Kory Watkins ‏ @KoryWatkins Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
We are now moving people up Thayer left of list. We have majority we #Rule
16m Kory Watkins ‏ @KoryWatkins Reply Retweet Favorite · Open
We now have majority , time to play. #RonPaul

[PRIEST]

I attended the Burnet County convention.

All together, there were only 59 people at the convention and the county was allotted 27 delegates and 27 alternates. Only 32 people decided to apply to be delegates/alternates. I would estimate that 3 to 5 delegates were Ron Paul supporters. I didn't encounter any neocons and everyone was kind except for a creepy local politician who was yelling that he was being attacked on the campaign trail and that we shouldn't listen to any of that noise.

I think these old folks could be swayed if they had more information. A few of the resolutions were not your average fare like auditing the Fed and rejecting the UN's agenda 21. From what I could tell, the old guard was happy to find out about those issues and gladly said "aye" to move the resolution to be submitted to the state platform.

No fighting at all at this convention. It was a pleasant experience. I'd estimate there were only 2 people under the age of 50, though.

[ATXRevolutionary]

SD 14 in Travis County is a wrap! https://twitter.com/#!/Aloha_Analytics/status/193908848657039360

Still waiting to hear results.

[sailingaway]

decided not to share too much info online. Sorry!

It was good. we got some in but not a majority.

Better to give fewer details if you are not in the majority.

[undergroundrr]

More SD10 -

Kory Watkins ‏ @KoryWatkins Close
We are getting all the #RonPaul supporter on who were left off & all alternates. Majority!
11:00 PM - 21 Apr 12 via txt · Details

[RileyE104]

80% of success is showing up...so show up :)

It was 100% this morning... I showed up, was initially picked as an alternate and then later switched to an at-large delegate, which they did with everyone since a bunch of other precincts had no one show up.

[sailingaway]

majority is bliss!

[rp4prez]

SD 14 in Travis County is a wrap! https://twitter.com/#!/Aloha_Analytics/status/193908848657039360

Still waiting to hear results.

Wow I was there in `08 for Travis County but this seems to be nuts!!! I CAN'T WAIT To read the results!!! :)

[sailingaway]

SD7 in Harris county, http://www.dailypaul.com/228153/just-returned-from-harris-county-convention-in-houston-sd-7

also

*report From Texas * Sd 12/30 * The Largest District Combo In The Nation! http://www.dailypaul.com/228167/report-from-texas-sd-12-30-the-largest-district-combo-in-the-nation

[KMX]

What a day!

Lot's of good news from Texas

[truthspeaker]

Something else I forgot to add:

I'm not sure of the title of the person I asked about this, but he was checking us in (again, SD 11 Harris County) and was friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable, so I don't think he was putting me on. I was inquiring about alternates, and if I was sure I could not go, and sure my delegate COULD go, should I list list myself as an alternate to fill the spot or just leave it blank. He told me that alternates could be seated as a delegate for precincts other than their own --meaning, if PCT 001's delegate doesn't show, but PCT 002's does, PCT 002's alternate could be seated as PCT 001's delegate. He seemed to be saying that the SD's want to go to state at full strength and be able to represent to their full capacity.

I would assume that the full SD 11 (all the counties together) could "pool" their alternates to fill all of the delegate spots on the floor at state. (This is mere conjecture, s don't go saying "I read somewhere on the internet that blah blah blah.")

I also had a lot of positive interactions with non-Ron Paul people as well. The old guard seemed happy to have some youth present, regardless of our beliefs. We were very careful to begin with, asking our questions and trying to figure out who stood where. Once we figured out almost everyone seated around us were RP supporters, we were a little more open. I had a conversation with the man seated next to me in another precinct (he was the only one who showed for his) and while he wasn't a Ron Paul guy ("I like him except on foreign policy"), he did say he'd not only vote for him if he got the nomination, but vote for him enthusiastically. I didn't run across anyone who was vehemently anti-Paul.

Also, I get some street cred with the establishment types when I tell them I teach public school. It's very hard to hate a teacher, or tell a teacher she doesn't know what's going on in the real world.

To finish, I felt wonderful leaving the convention, like I'd actually accomplished something and done some good. Since my precinct chair was vacant, I filed to run for the position. I'd been debating with myself over it for a few months now and ended up saying, "Oh, what the hell? This convention process wasn't terribly complicated, I could manage getting my precinct more organized." I think I finally fully bought in to what I tell my students -- politics isn't actually all that complicated or difficult to understand. You just have to start reading, listening, and then get yourself involved.

Where you one of the RP folks who left early??? If you were an alternate, you got moved up to a delegate slot. If you didn't get alternate but were on the at-large list--you were granted to be an at large delegate. If you didn't do either---then you can't go to Ft. Worth. Did you get in?

[Skywalker75]

Where you one of the RP folks who left early??? If you were an alternate, you got moved up to a delegate slot. If you didn't get alternate but were on the at-large list--you were granted to be an at large delegate. If you didn't do either---then you can't go to Ft. Worth. Did you get in?

No, I did not leave early. I left only after we voted to adjourn the convention. I have a family commitment which precludes me from being able to go to Ft. Worth.

[Number19]

This is just a second hand report for SD11, which represents the north end of Brazoria County. Four years ago the chair railroaded the convention process and totally shut out the Paul faction. This year, all who submitted the paperwork became delegates. I was informed that approximately 20% are known to be Paul supporters.

[w2992]

sd11 hemp resolution failed so left.

it was tried again.
Your motion on resolutions may not have gotten many votes. The way you stated it was like holding up a cross to a bunch of vampires, but some guy got up after you left and worded it differently. He purposed that RESEARCH be done to see if Hemp would be a viable crop for Texas. It failed but the votes were 379 to 566. Yes, it failed but it approach leaves room for people to change their minds.

I was third in line to cast the vote and the way I phrased it was 2 votes FOR RESEARCH and 1 vote against; I think my wording pissed some off, but it is what is. This is something I can support without hesitation and I was able to get LaDaune to vote with me, the other lady will always be afraid of the sunlight.

[Bern]

Nice. It's looking like we got somewhere between 20 and 30% from SD-11 Galveston County.

[lynnf]

we adjourned about 10:15-10:30pm in the parking garage.

action earlier in the day - the establishment (est) was going to set the delegate list from the nominations committee. the rules were changed (proposed by a liberty faction) to have some delegates selected by precinct caucus (in the convention). this was facilitated by two lengthy roll call votes.

as previously reported, time in the facility ran out (6pm) and we reassembled in the parking garage across the street. hours of waiting, waiting, waiting. suspect that the est faction had access to the original venues rest rooms, etc. without accommodation for us, but don't know for certain. we held out while the est numbers appeared to dwindle although some of ours left, too.

then at 10pm the delegate list from the nominations committee was read out. suddenly the est numbers swelled (from hiding in the original venue building?) and voted to approve the list that was read. don't know the numbers but they didn't throw all of us off and it remains to be seen what the ratio of Paul to est delegates is but it wasn't what we would have picked. nice little bit of skulduggery. have heard that only about 13 delegate slots would be worthy of changing in our favor but I don't know about that. perhaps more to be revealed later.

lynn

[Number19]

we adjourned about 10:15-10:30pm in the parking garage.

action earlier in the day - the establishment (est) was going to set the delegate list from the nominations committee. the rules were changed (proposed by a liberty faction) to have some delegates selected by precinct caucus (in the convention). this was facilitated by two lengthy roll call votes.

as previously reported, time in the facility ran out (6pm) and we reassembled in the parking garage across the street. hours of waiting, waiting, waiting. suspect that the est faction had access to the original venues rest rooms, etc. without accommodation for us, but don't know for certain. we held out while the est numbers appeared to dwindle although some of ours left, too.

then at 10pm the delegate list from the nominations committee was read out. suddenly the est numbers swelled (from hiding in the original venue building?) and voted to approve the list that was read. don't know the numbers but they didn't throw all of us off and it remains to be seen what the ratio of Paul to est delegates is but it wasn't what we would have picked. nice little bit of skulduggery. have heard that only about 13 delegate slots would be worthy of changing in our favor but I don't know about that. perhaps more to be revealed later.

lynnWhat happened with the early vote to elect the permanent convention chair?

[wealeat]

SD 14 ended up with less Ron Paul delegates than we would have if Ron Paul supporters wouldn't have amended rule 4.

The contrarian attitudes got a lot of delegates thrown out that were RP delegates placed with the help of RLC.

A whole lot of my time was wasted this week due to the rule change and I got screwed out of being a delegate because of it. It was a shame.

[Atreidies]

Every single person in our group (SD7, SD11, SD17) made it to state. Several NON-Paul people I talked to said they were not going to state. At least 50% of the people in my SD(7) were over 60.

We will be running the Texas GOP in 2014!!

[Lmata]

Our county had open delegate seats and still refused to seat 5-7 people who want to go to the state convention. The excuse they gave for rejecting them was because they are new and haven't done anything for the local party. quick vote on it before any discussion was allowed and many who voted in favor of the delegate slate come up to me after asking what it was exactly they were voting for. Once they understood they could see how unfair it was to to block people willing to go when there were openings for them.

What happened to this being our RIGHT as registered voters and republicans to represent our neighbors who don't care to show up? :mad:

And we keep hearing they need new people and more help. This is why the local party can't grow - they keep running people off.

NO info on the county website on how to become a delegate or even an inkling that they would have to do something before they got to the convention to be "allowed" to go.

[lynnf]

What happened with the early vote to elect the permanent convention chair?

we decided to elect the temp chair as the perm chair, largely because of the bad vibes created by the RP takeover at the SD25 convention in 2008. plus, there wasn't anybody else that really wanted the job anyway. the first thing to come up for contention was the delegate caucusing issue in the setting of the standing rules. that decision did come back to bite us later.

lynn

[Professor8000]

The SD conventions in the DFW area could be best described as pitched battles. Railroading was common, tempers ran high, people were assaulted, others were arrested, and people were elected as delegates. I managed to piss off a bunch of the old guard, but they had to live with it because I was the Sergeant at Arms for my convention. I heard that one of the Tarrant County conventions ran until about Midnight. Mine only lasted an exhausting 12 hours. As far as my convention went, it was pretty tame compared to the stories I've heard. I was elected a delegate to the Texas State Convention from Senate District 23, along with 15-20 other Ron Paul people. We stacked the deck with alternates though. SD23 sends 74 delegates to the state convention. I doubt very seriously my Congressional District will elect Ron Paul people to the RNC, but one can always hope.

[GeorgiaAvenger]

This is just a second hand report for SD11, which represents the north end of Brazoria County. Four years ago the chair railroaded the convention process and totally shut out the Paul faction. This year, all who submitted the paperwork became delegates. I was informed that approximately 20% are known to be Paul supporters.

Are you still running for Paul's seat?

[drummergirl]

Yea!! And we really need to show up because if the party fills the empty seats (and I expect they will try) that is more votes against us.

That would be a rule violation.

Only the list of delegates and alternates approved at the convention can be used.

[drummergirl]

The fact that your SD breaks the state level delegates down to precincts is a local rule. As far as the state convention is concerned, a delegate from SD11 is a delegate from SD 11. Same with alternates.

[drummergirl]

And we keep hearing they need new people and more help. This is why the local party can't grow - they keep running people off.


While I couldn't agree with you more, this is how the old guard works.

If they don't know who you are, they are suspicious; especially with open primaries and ten fold this year when all you had to do was make an oath not to vote in another party primary or convention. It's not even necessarily Ron Paul; it's kind of, "I've never seen you before, so unless you just moved here, you could be a democrat in elephant clothes trying to wrench up my buddies."

So, hopefully, they let you know how to get involved more. If Ron Paul doesn't get the nomination, look for other candidates you like and work for their campaigns in some way. Volunteer to help at republican headquarters when you can, or help put up signs, get out the vote calls, clerk on election day, whatever works for your schedule. And find the pachyderm club and TFRW local groups. These usually meet about once a month. If you go to even 4 or 5 of these in a year, you'll meet people. And you'll have the opportunity to talk about the value of a liberty agenda, issues, etc.

[Number19]

Are you still running for Paul's seat?Yes I am and the campaign is proceeding exactly as planned. The "front runners" are a lawyer from Beaumont who has raised something like $150,000; a state legislator who is the picked candidate of the establishment; and a woman lawyer who doesn't say anything but sounds good not saying it. I've dipped into my retirement to fund a newspaper advertizing blitz starting next week and will run continuously in every newspaper in the district (except one Hearst newspaper whose rates are outrageous) all the way up to the May 29th election. I've funded 50 4x8 signs to blanket the heart of the district which is Brazoria County; and I have my website which is the focal point of my campaign. This is where voters can truly see the one candidate who is not a clone. The three front runners - the newspapers all say there is no difference on issues to decide between the candidates. My website is generating 250-300 e-mails per week in support of my position on the issues and I need to have a small percentage of these to originate from the district. I'm expecting my support to mirror Ron's.

[Jeffster]

Yes I am and the campaign is proceeding exactly as planned. The "front runners" are a lawyer from Beaumont who has raised something like $150,000; a state legislator who is the picked candidate of the establishment; and a woman lawyer who doesn't say anything but sounds good not saying it. I've dipped into my retirement to fund a newspaper advertizing blitz starting next week and will run continuously in every newspaper in the district (except one Hearst newspaper whose rates are outrageous) all the way up to the May 29th election. I've funded 50 4x8 signs to blanket the heart of the district which is Brazoria County; and I have my website which is the focal point of my campaign. This is where voters can truly see the one candidate who is not a clone. The three front runners - the newspapers all say there is no difference on issues to decide between the candidates. My website is generating 250-300 e-mails per week in support of my position on the issues and I need to have a small percentage of these to originate from the district. I'm expecting my support to mirror Ron's.

All that and no link to your website? :p

[Bern]

That would be a rule violation.

Only the list of delegates and alternates approved at the convention can be used.

At SD-11 Galveston County, they announced (there wasn't a vote) that they would take applications to fill the vacant slots for delegates (maybe 10-20 went unfilled) and alternates (roughly 138 went unfilled) for one hour past the end of the convention. I was wondering at the time how exactly they could do that without having people vote on new submissions.


Yes I am and the campaign is proceeding exactly as planned. ...

I kept wondering if you were going to show up at SD-11 Galveston County to give a speech to people like most everyone else running for the position. :(

[Lmata]

While I couldn't agree with you more, this is how the old guard works.

If they don't know who you are, they are suspicious; especially with open primaries and ten fold this year when all you had to do was make an oath not to vote in another party primary or convention. It's not even necessarily Ron Paul; it's kind of, "I've never seen you before, so unless you just moved here, you could be a democrat in elephant clothes trying to wrench up my buddies."

So, hopefully, they let you know how to get involved more. If Ron Paul doesn't get the nomination, look for other candidates you like and work for their campaigns in some way. Volunteer to help at republican headquarters when you can, or help put up signs, get out the vote calls, clerk on election day, whatever works for your schedule. And find the pachyderm club and TFRW local groups. These usually meet about once a month. If you go to even 4 or 5 of these in a year, you'll meet people. And you'll have the opportunity to talk about the value of a liberty agenda, issues, etc.


I'm aware of this. I've been at this since '08. I just saw there were new people and tried to help them get on as delegates - didn't know them at all before the convention. Some of them are from the tea party I think. Tried to be friendly to them like I wish more of the old timers had done for me. We'll get them involved so they can be a part of state in the future.