Carter Fanning
Volunteer Staff
Good Evening,
As convention season approaches, and since we didn't have a February meeting, I figured I would give you all an update on staff's progress towards convention season. I want to start by ripping off a band-aid; here is the bad news:
We are losing approximately 25% of our counties due to failure to post notice for their precinct/county conventions:
What I do NOT want is a repeat of last convention where this is used as a tool to bash staff for something that they ultimately were not responsible for. People need to remember that these are volunteer roles that are hard enough to fill without bad-faith attempts to use them as internal political fodder.
Now, on to the good news. Pending any issues discovered by the credentials committee, it looks like many of our counties are doing what they are supposed to do. I would like to pass along my personal thanks to the following chairs and those within their counties who may have assisted with the process:
Our Legislative Action department is still hard at work writing legislation and building relationships needed to make the next legislative session a success.
Our Campaign Support Department gained two new members: Bola Kareem and David Fite. The department is focused on assistaing candidates with website and other visability tools.
Our Communications Department has been killing it on social media. Particularly, we have seen a huge spike in engagement on facebook.
Our IT Section, in conjunction with the Communications Department, is slowly getting a plan of action together to overhaul our website. Additionally, I would like to give a huge shout-out to Kyle Russell for his work in getting all of the convention notices on our website.
Our Development Department is utilizing a texting campaign within NationBuilder to try to bolster engagementat precinct and county conventions across the state. This will slowly transition into a campaign to promote our state convention and boost ticket sales.
I would like to welcome our new Events Director, Lawson "Gus" Stuart, to the team. He, and the rest of the events department, will be supplementing the efforts of the Convention Planning Committee. While Convention Planning Committee has the reins as far as the 2026 LPTexas convention goes, I believe Gus will be a great asset to help on the ground.
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask here or reach out via email/call/text. Thank you.
As convention season approaches, and since we didn't have a February meeting, I figured I would give you all an update on staff's progress towards convention season. I want to start by ripping off a band-aid; here is the bad news:
We are losing approximately 25% of our counties due to failure to post notice for their precinct/county conventions:
- Aransas County - Chair: Matt Wallace
- Bastrop County- Chair: Scott Howard
- Chambers County- Chair: James Primeaux
- Colorado County - Chair: Robert Raborn
- Ector County - Chair: Vacant
- Ellis County - Chair: Jeremy Schroppel
- Gillespie County - Chair: Kenneth Greer
- Hidalgo County - Chair: Tony Morales
- Hood County - Chair: Daniel Wilterding
- Howard County - Chair: Christopher Dylan Archer
- Jefferson County - Chair: Drew McClellan
- Llano County - Chair: Joe Burnes
- Navarro County - Chair: R. Edwin Adams
- Nueces County - Chair: Daniel Thornton
- Wharton County - Chair: Tara Kelley
- John E. Foddrill - U.S. House – District 28 - (Hidalgo County) - $3,125 filing fee lost
- Brian Holk - State Representative – District 53 - (Llano County) - $750 filing fee lost
What I do NOT want is a repeat of last convention where this is used as a tool to bash staff for something that they ultimately were not responsible for. People need to remember that these are volunteer roles that are hard enough to fill without bad-faith attempts to use them as internal political fodder.
Now, on to the good news. Pending any issues discovered by the credentials committee, it looks like many of our counties are doing what they are supposed to do. I would like to pass along my personal thanks to the following chairs and those within their counties who may have assisted with the process:
- Austin County - Chair: Candice Landry
- Bexar County- Chair: JR Hasselhoff
- Bell County- Chair: Caleb Ferrell
- Blanco County - Chair: Susan Barney
- Brazoria County - Chair: Michelle Xie
- Brazos County - Chair: Jeff Miller
- Burnet County - Chair: Mary Ruwart
- Cameron County - Chair: Isaac Barrientos
- Collin County - Chair: Kenneth Feagins
- Comal County - Chair: Randy Simbro
- Dallas County - Chair: Joe Roberts
- Denton County - Chair: John Wilford
- El Paso County - Chair: Dave Marino
- Fayette County - Chair: Judi Lehman
- Fort Bend County - Chair: Scott Peterson
- Galveston County - Chair: Maeghan Garlington
- Guadalupe County - Chair: Darren Pollok
- Hansford County - Chair: Dave Richmond
- Harris County - Chair: Mike Coogan
- Hays County - Chair: Steve Ravet
- Hopkins County - Chair: Kate Prather
- Houston County - Chair: Bob Townsend
- Johnson County - Chair: Chris Owens
- Lamar County - Chair: Nathan Polsky
- Leon County - Chair: Zant Tatum
- Liberty County - Chair: Shanna Steele
- Lubbock County - Chair: Brad Clarney
- McLennan County - Chair: RJ Pase
- Midland County - Chair: Kenneth Burgess
- Montgomery County - Chair: Jessi Cowart
- Orange County - Chair: David Constant
- Parker County - Chair: Robert Ehrlic
- Polk County - Chair: Robert Appelbaum
- Randall County - Chair: Jack Westbrook
- Smith County - Chair: Rudy Wright
- Tarrant County - Chair: Daniel Bledsoe
- Taylor County - Chair: Bernard Johnson
- Tom Green County - Chair: Robert LeGrand
- Travis County - Chair: Daniel McCarthy
- Victoria County - Chair: Patrick Mitchell
- Waller County - Chair: Jacob Bradley
- Washington County - Chair: Ginny Moore
- Willacy County - Chair: Nicky Brashear
- Williamson County - Chair: Scott Talley
Our Legislative Action department is still hard at work writing legislation and building relationships needed to make the next legislative session a success.
Our Campaign Support Department gained two new members: Bola Kareem and David Fite. The department is focused on assistaing candidates with website and other visability tools.
Our Communications Department has been killing it on social media. Particularly, we have seen a huge spike in engagement on facebook.
Our IT Section, in conjunction with the Communications Department, is slowly getting a plan of action together to overhaul our website. Additionally, I would like to give a huge shout-out to Kyle Russell for his work in getting all of the convention notices on our website.
Our Development Department is utilizing a texting campaign within NationBuilder to try to bolster engagementat precinct and county conventions across the state. This will slowly transition into a campaign to promote our state convention and boost ticket sales.
I would like to welcome our new Events Director, Lawson "Gus" Stuart, to the team. He, and the rest of the events department, will be supplementing the efforts of the Convention Planning Committee. While Convention Planning Committee has the reins as far as the 2026 LPTexas convention goes, I believe Gus will be a great asset to help on the ground.
As always, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask here or reach out via email/call/text. Thank you.
