Jason Vaughn

On to the next one.

[Matt Shaheen @MattShaheen]

Another failed liberal Democrat state loses a corporate headquarters & jobs to Texas. Conservative economic policies work. https://t.co/YRWca1sq6K

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

I agree with Fat Tony

[Tony McDonald @TweetTonyMac]

I sure hope they don’t waste our time with this challenge. It is quite silly. Even Randall is conceding he filed on time, and he’d be the one who would have to rule his own application out of order.

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

Meh, valid pull.

[New York Post @nypost]

Cop arrested, fired for allegedly pointing gun at fellow officer who microwaved fish at police station https://t.co/DkE9a4Vx4h

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@jonah_wendt

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

This is a much more reasonable criticism than claiming he was actually late, but I don’t think she shared a fundraising plan yet either or shown her work the last 2 years. Delegates should take disorganization as an issue, but internally I think Micah and @ThinkerMichelle are doing a pretty great job as staff so there is a campaign vs role variance.

Also, non-delegates are receiving mail which suggests a different list was used or built.

[Drinda Randall @DrindaRandall]

Delegates,
Yesterday, I received an overwhelming number of calls regarding the filing deadline issue involving Chairman George. Rather than allow speculation and rumors to drive the conversation, I knew I needed to address it directly.

Chairman George and his Vice Chair candidate waited until the final hours before the filing deadline to submit paperwork for their re-election/election campaign. Whether one believes the deadline should be measured in days or hours misses the larger point.
Republicans deserve leadership that is organized, proactive, and prepared, not leadership that consistently waits until the last possible moment on matters of consequence.

David Covey and I filed our Statements of Intent in February because we believe preparation matters.
The real question is not whether they met the filing deadline. The real question is why our Party continues to find itself navigating avoidable confusion, controversy, and unnecessary drama caused by last minute decisions and poor communication. Strong leadership prevents these situations from arising in the first place.

Our State Convention begins in just nine days, yet delegates are once again scrambling because of changes that should have been communicated weeks ago. Delegates were told the SREC elections would take place on Thursday. Which in the past they happened on Friday. Many adjusted their travel plans, work schedules, and budgets to ensure they could participate. Now, following a Rules Committee meeting, we are being told the Chairman changed those elections to occur on Friday instead.

This confusion was entirely preventable. Unfortunately, this is not an isolated incident.

When candidates requested access to the delegate list, Chairman George initially cited Rule 32 and stated that candidates and vendors would not be granted access. Yet he later chose to provide the list to SREC members. As the elected Vice Chair of the Republican Party of Texas and a voting member of the SREC, I was not granted access.

Your SREC members ultimately called an emergency meeting and voted to allow all candidates access to the delegate list. Chairman George then decided to impose a fee for that access, which we paid and received.
During that meeting, it was specifically decided that delegate addresses would not be distributed in order to protect delegates' privacy. I honored that decision. Yet the only candidates who have sent several mail pieces to delegates have been Chairman George and his Vice Chair candidate.

Lastly, in three candidate forums Chairman George repeatedly claimed he has raised $14 million, $14.5 million, and most recently, in writing he said he raised $15.5 million for the Republican Party of Texas.**

According to the information available to me, there are no records that substantiate those numbers.** At the same time, our convention is operating at a deficit.
Claims that cannot be verified damage the credibility of the Republican Party of Texas and erode trust among the grassroots activists, donors, and volunteers who make this Party work.

Under my leadership, I will initiate a comprehensive financial review so delegates can have complete confidence in the Party's financial condition.

Honesty, transparency, and accountability are not optional. They are fundamental responsibilities of leadership.

I will not want to spend the next two years talking about internal drama. I want to spend the next two years defeating Democrats, growing our Party, and preparing for victory.

David Covey and I are prepared to lead on Day One.

We understand the challenges facing our Party, including its financial realities. We also know Texas Republicans are ready for leadership that plans ahead, communicates clearly, tells the truth, and remains focused on winning elections.

Our first priority will be the 2026 midterms. We will focus relentlessly on voter registration, turnout, fundraising, messaging, grassroots engagement, and building the infrastructure necessary to make Texas even redder.

The stakes are too high for distractions, drama, and last-minute chaos. Texas Republicans deserve leadership that earns trust, inspires confidence, and delivers results.

This is our Party. This is your Party.

And Texas is better when it's Redder.

For Texas,
D'rinda Randall
Candidate for Chair, Republican Party of Texas

Here are the receipts for the **.
RPT Rule 1(g) on page 5 is clear: when computing any period of days, the first day is excluded and the last day is included.

Rule 14: “To be eligible, candidates for the office of State Chairman or Vice Chairman shall be required to file a statement of intent to run with SREC Secretary at least (10) days prior to the first General Session of the State Convention.”

** Chairman Statement on $15.5M raised under his leadership: https://t.co/RQuzilagG1

**TEC Reports and FEC Reports: https://t.co/kmBer4vcM7
https://t.co/tV1i75Klyf

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@robbysoave There are Texas elected Republicans much worse sadly. This is nothing.

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@Texasfurever @OffThePress1 @MayraFlores4TX It gets an emotional response.

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@jonah_wendt I’m still confused how they thought this was a scandal for independent voters in Maine when it wasn’t an issue for a Republicans in Texas

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

I hear @GovHotWheels_TX is appointing Robert Morrow

[Derrick Wilson @dtwilson117]

The new Secretary of State rumors are getting so ridiculous I’m thinking about making up a couple myself just for fun.

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@Sit4Something @dcexaminer @RepOgles Which is something a lot of gay people will agree with and yet still very different than what he said

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

Regarding the Representative Andy Ogles tweet yesterday:

One of the people I consider one of my closest friends in the world is a strong Republican leader and a seminarian. We have had deep conversations about a hundred different things, including homosexuality. He disagrees with me. We have even had the painful conversation that if I were to get married, he probably would have been my best man, but because of his convictions, he would not feel comfortable standing in that role.

That hurts. I will not pretend it does not.

But every conversation we have ever had about it has been rooted in mutual love, respect, and what I believe is a genuinely gospel-centered posture.

That is the difference.

The problem with what we see from a lot of people is that it does not come across as love. It does not come across as concern for the gospel. It comes across as smug, hateful, and self-righteous. Too often, it feels like the person speaking believes they are better simply because they are straight.

That is a complete misunderstanding of the gospel.

Gay or straight, every one of us is a sinner in need of a Savior. Every one of us falls short. Every one of us stands in desperate need of grace. And the whole point of the gospel is that God loved us so much that He sent His Son to take the punishment we deserved, so that He could be both perfectly just and perfectly loving.

If that is not the place you are coming from when you disagree with someone, then you are not coming from a gospel position. You are just coming from pride (ironic for June).

The other thing I love about my friend is that he is consistent. He does not excuse serial adultery while saving all his outrage for gay people. He does not pick one sin as politically useful and ignore the rest.

Now, we are all hypocrites to some extent. That is part of being fallen people. But way too many people are blatant in how they choose their judgment. They want grace for the sins they understand and condemnation for the sins they do not.

I appreciated Speaker Johnson’s response about loving your neighbor. He did not have to sacrifice his own beliefs to say that. And I have no desire to bully people into silence or demand that everyone abandon deeply held convictions.

But we should be mature enough to recognize the difference between righteousness and self-righteousness. Between conviction and cruelty. Between love and self-promotion.

And that, to me, is the difference between cancel culture that demands total obedience and a serious people who still know how to disagree, debate, and treat one another like human beings.

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

What’s with the correlation to extreme homophobic Christianity and hatred of Israel?

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@LisaFayD @CurrentRevolt It was a silly choice, but the rules are clear they did not break them

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@Grampsknos @joe_jo9 You’re discussing the Huffines who first said this in 2018?

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@KMc17_ Only if it was happening next year. I doubt he’s gonna pull him out now because essentially he’d really need to put Huffines in and I don’t think he wants that until he has to.

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

Nate Schatzline is unlikely to be Greg Abbott’s next appointment to Secretary of State.

Not because Abbott could never surprise people. This is Texas politics. Never say never.

But if you look at what the Secretary of State actually does, and how Abbott tends to use that office, Schatzline just does not fit the profile.

The Texas Secretary of State is not a ceremonial conservative trophy. It is one of the most sensitive trust positions in state government.

The office is the chief elections office for Texas. It deals with county election officials, uniform application of election law, business filings, official state records, notaries, the Texas Register, government rules, the state seal, and formal actions tied to the Governor’s office.

That is not the type of job where Abbott is looking for a cable-news conservative or a grassroots firebrand.

That is the type of job where Abbott wants someone disciplined, confirmable, legally careful, administratively competent, and personally loyal to the Governor’s operation.

Jane Nelson made perfect sense for that kind of role.

She was a longtime senator. She chaired Senate Finance. She had relationships across the Capitol. She had a business background. She was serious, steady, and easy for the Senate to confirm.

That is the mold.

Now compare that with Schatzline.

He is young. He was a House member. His public brand is movement politics, faith-based activism, and Freedom Caucus-style conservatism. That may be appealing to some activists, but it is not the natural resume for running the machinery of Texas elections and state filings.

There is also the political trust issue.

Abbott did not originally build Schatzline’s political career. In fact, Abbott backed Laura Hill against him in the 2022 runoff. Schatzline was much more aligned with the Patrick/grassroots lane than the Abbott institutional lane.

That does not mean Abbott hates him.

It does mean he is not the obvious person Abbott would hand one of the most sensitive administrative offices in Texas government.

And that is the key point.

If Abbott wanted to elevate Schatzline, there are other ways to do it. He could help him with a campaign. He could support him for another elected office. He could let him become a louder voice on social issues.

But Secretary of State?

That is a different animal.

The SOS has to be able to work with the Senate, county officials, business interests, lawyers, state agencies, and the Governor’s inner circle without becoming the story.

Abbott does not need drama in that office.

He needs control and competence.

He needs someone who can survive confirmation and carry out the job without creating unnecessary political headaches.

So no, I would not say it is impossible.

But I would say this: when Jane Nelson leaves, the smart money is on Abbott picking someone much closer to Jane Nelson’s profile than Nate Schatzline’s.

A former senator.

A trusted lawyer.

A senior Abbott-world staffer.

A judge.

A business-minded institutional Republican.

Someone steady, confirmable, and boring in the best possible way.

The Secretary of State’s office is where Abbott puts trust, not noise.

But noise may be being made to try to push Abbott’s hand. We will see if he is swayed.

#txlege

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@mschlapp Blaming an unnamed staffer that was supposedly reprimanded. Doesn’t actually give anybody a lot of faith here.

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

They were not late. A day ends at midnight according to the rules it is not a 24 hour day. I asked multiple people I checked the rules I checked AI. This is not a real thing. I know people don’t like Abraham, but we don’t need fake stuff and fake drama. The rules are easy and clear.

[Jason Vaughn @JasonVaughn]

@onlybaconfans @TexasGOP Every voter I’ve talked to says she’s the reason they can’t vote for @abrahamgeorge. I hope she’s gone no matter who wins. Put this Allen West curse to bed