SE Texas Times

Last week, the Republican Party of Texas announced its decision to hold the state convention online, which was predicated by a lawsuit against the City of Houston for canceling the contract. 

In a news release from the Texas GOP, Republican Party of Texas Chairman James Dickey said that the GOP's State Convention was off to a "wonderful start," and that the party "looks forward to continuing their important work in an online convention."

Judy Nichols, chairwoman for the Jefferson County Republican Party, said an in-person convention would have been preferable. She said candidates could not properly campaign in an online convention. She added that mandatory masks would not have had any substantial effects on a successful in-person convention, but that the very purpose of the convention is at stake. 

"The purpose of the convention is to elect officers and national delegates," Nichols said. "It is not possible to execute an effective campaign online, so the purpose of the convention has been completely undermined."

In the legal documents of the Republican Party of Texas v. the City of Houston, the GOP accused Mayor Sylvester Turner of "ignoring the stringent safety measures put in place by the RPT while allowing other public events that were conducted unsafely."

"Mayor Turner’s crocodile tears reek of ideological viewpoint discrimination," the lawsuit claimed. 

“We thank our incredible team of attorneys for their valiant work exhausting all legal remedies fighting the partisan Democrat shutdown of our in-person convention over the last several days," Dickey said.