http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ToniAnne/7630  (taken from the Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5818595.html) Sued Texas GOP ordered to follow convention rules Republican activists' Houston case warned state leaders will try to shut out grass-roots opposition at meeting next week By ALAN BERNSTEIN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle A Harris County judge on Wednesday ordered the Texas Republican Party to comply with state election law at its state convention in Houston next week after Republican activists alleged that the party illegally uses procedures to minimize grass-root dissent. Visiting Judge Tom Sullivan issued the temporary restraining order on Wednesday, a few hours after it was requested in a lawsuit filed by activists across the state. Represented by lawyer Gary Polland, a former Harris County Republican Party chairman, the group alleges that party leaders violated procedural laws at past conventions and plan to do so again. The next hearing on the case is scheduled for Monday. Texas law says a political party's state convention must choose a permanent chairman before doing most official business. Polland and Wharton County GOP Chairwoman Debra Medina said the party instead elects a permanent chairman late in the convention, shutting off dissent beforehand about the selection of convention delegates and new state party leaders, the adoption of a platform and other actions. "If they want to exclude the grass roots and control the process it's not right," Polland said. Medina worked in the primary re-election campaign of her congressman, Ron Paul. The activists she heads call themselves "Goldwater Conservatives, Reagan Republicans, Robertson Crowd, Ron Paul Republicans, and, well, real Conservatives" on their Web site, www.fairconvention.org. Texas Republican Party spokesman Hans Klingler said the party follows the rules and is willing to address complaints about how the convention is conducted. "We are a rule-of-law party," he said. The state convention at the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center will select delegates to the Republican National Convention and hear speeches by top GOP elected officials. Some Republicans in Galveston, Nueces and Parker counties want the convention to block the seating of delegates from those areas on grounds that they were selected in violation of party rules. Without changing the way the convention is run, Polland said, the party risks alienating some of its grassroots supporters, "and 10 or 15 percent disaffected Republican voters means (Democrat) Barack Obama wins Texas." Polland and Medina are convention delegates. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Texas GOP Grassroots has made landmark moves in the past days. I have called and emailed the media outlets in Victoria, and even though this directly affects us, nothing was printed or broadcasted.   This is embarrassing and disappointing. Republicans take up a large part of Victoria and the surrounding area and I thought this a newsworthy piece.  (taken from the Houston Chronicle: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5818595.html) Sued Texas GOP ordered to follow convention rules Republican activists' Houston case warned state leaders will try to shut out grass-roots opposition at meeting next week By ALAN BERNSTEIN Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle A Harris County judge on Wednesday ordered the Texas Republican Party to comply with state election law at its state convention in Houston next week after Republican activists alleged that the party illegally uses procedures to minimize grass-root dissent. Visiting Judge Tom Sullivan issued the temporary restraining order on Wednesday, a few hours after it was requested in a lawsuit filed by activists across the state. Represented by lawyer Gary Polland, a former Harris County Republican Party chairman, the group alleges that party leaders violated procedural laws at past conventions and plan to do so again. The next hearing on the case is scheduled for Monday. Texas law says a political party's state convention must choose a permanent chairman before doing most official business. Polland and Wharton County GOP Chairwoman Debra Medina said the party instead elects a permanent chairman late in the convention, shutting off dissent beforehand about the selection of convention delegates and new state party leaders, the adoption of a platform and other actions. "If they want to exclude the grass roots and control the process it's not right," Polland said. Medina worked in the primary re-election campaign of her congressman, Ron Paul. The activists she heads call themselves "Goldwater Conservatives, Reagan Republicans, Robertson Crowd, Ron Paul Republicans, and, well, real Conservatives" on their Web site, www.fairconvention.org. Texas Republican Party spokesman Hans Klingler said the party follows the rules and is willing to address complaints about how the convention is conducted. "We are a rule-of-law party," he said. The state convention at the downtown George R. Brown Convention Center will select delegates to the Republican National Convention and hear speeches by top GOP elected officials. Some Republicans in Galveston, Nueces and Parker counties want the convention to block the seating of delegates from those areas on grounds that they were selected in violation of party rules. Without changing the way the convention is run, Polland said, the party risks alienating some of its grassroots supporters, "and 10 or 15 percent disaffected Republican voters means (Democrat) Barack Obama wins Texas." Polland and Medina are convention delegates. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Texas GOP Grassroots has made landmark moves in the past days. I have called and emailed the media outlets in Victoria, and even though this directly affects us, nothing was printed or broadcasted.   This is embarrassing and disappointing. Republicans take up a large part of Victoria and the surrounding area and I thought this a newsworthy piece. en-us Victoria media has not been Republican, and/or mainly conservative friendly for several years now. Saw it changing long time ago.   Kind of like I saw the Democrat Party change decades ago.     http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ToniAnne/7630/#c_52577 http://community.victoriaadvocate.com/home/Blog/ToniAnne/7630/#c_52577 Victoria media has not been Republican, and/or mainly conservative friendly for several years now. Saw it changing long time ago.   Kind of like I saw the Democrat Party change decades ago.