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

[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.

 

[pmbug]

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

 

[lynnf]

SD 14 Travis County, Tx

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.

lynn

What 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?

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?

 

[pmbug]

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.