Texas Republicans say their No. 1 focus now is to re-elect President Donald Trump
Vince Puente is ready for November, when he gets to cast his vote to keep President Donald J. Trump in the White House.
First, though, the Fort Worth man is ready for the Aug. 24-27 Republican National Convention — where he will serve as a delegate, and his wife, Mona, an alternate — so he can support nominating Trump for a second term in office.
“To be there representing ... Donald J. Trump is going to be an honor of our lives,” Puente said.
On Monday, as he and other delegates were wrapping up work at their technologically challenged online Texas Republican state convention, he said he firmly believes Trump can win his re-election bid. And Republicans up and down the ballot can win as well.
Now, though, he said it’s time for Republicans to start touting Trump’s record to show why voters should support him in November.
“The actions of this president have been phenomenal,” Puente said. “He brought the economy back until the pandemic hit.
“And he’s the one we need to stay in place to bring us back out of this situation,” he said. “He’s (trying) to do the best thing possible for this country.”
The general election will be Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Convention problems
Texas Republicans planned to hold their state convention July 16-18 in Houston, but officials with Houston First, which oversees the convention center, canceled the in-person event citing health concerns because of the rising cases of coronavirus. The state party appealed the decision and court rulings swayed back and forth for several days.
The convention eventually began online July 16 but technical troubles caused delays, pushing the end of the convention days past when it was scheduled to wrap up Saturday.
Late Sunday night, party officials also said they experienced a cyber attack, which caused more delays.
In the early morning hours on Monday, delegates voted to switch party chairmen, ousting current Chair James Dickey in favor of firebrand Allen West, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and former Florida congressman who moved to Texas several years ago.
“I just want to say how truly humbled I am by this honor, and that I will work hard for Texas and Texans,” West tweeted. “I would like to thank my amazing and dedicated team, as well as an incredible number of supporters. Thank you all! Now the work begins...”
“West is going to be very different than Dickey,” Tarrant Republican Party Chairman Rick Barnes said. “He brings energy to the party and he will bring new energy to the election.”
He also will work to keep elected officials in check, former state Rep. Matt Rinaldi, R-Irving, tweeted.
“They elected someone in @AllenWest who they hope will be a high profile voice against government overreach, even when it comes from their own officials,” he said.
The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has called West a “certified wacko,” sent out a statement a few hours after he was elected.
“Bravo, Texas Republicans. At one of the most crucial points in this election cycle, you’ve shown why Democrats are on offense across the Lone Star State in one fell swoop,” DCCC spokesman Avery Jaffe said. “Disgraced one-term Florida congressman Allen West is the chairman Texas Republicans deserve after embracing an extreme agenda that’s leading the effort to repeal health care in a pandemic and pushing away the diverse communities that are putting seats across Texas in play.”
GOP delegates resumed their online work at the convention at noon Monday.
Texas Democrats held their state convention online during the first week of June.
Looking ahead
Barnes said he and other Texas Republicans are ready to put the state convention behind them and “move forward.”
Now it’s time to focus on November, agreed Mona Bailey, a delegate from North Richland Hills.
To get Trump re-elected, she said, the party must present a united front.
“We need to get out in the neighborhoods and talk about Trump’s positives — the things he’s gotten done,” said Bailey, who is finance chair of the Tarrant County Republican Party and a member of the Candidate Resource Committee for the Texas Republican Party. “Whether we like his tweets or not, we are all impressed with the work he’s done. He’s done a lot of work behind the scenes.”
Whether it’s knocking on doors, phone banking, registering new voters or sending out mailers, Bailey said the message Republicans share should be the same — pointing out differences between Trump and presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
“We need to make sure we elect Donald Trump again,” she said. “We are energized now to move forward.”
