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The Republican Party of Texas has vowed a “major investment” in South Texas legislative races amid ongoing criticism from county-level leaders over its fundraising and voter outreach efforts.

On Monday, the party announced a commitment to knock on more than 100,000 doors ahead of the Nov. 5 elections, with a focus on South Texas and other districts it considers competitive.

“This is a pivotal moment for Texas, and we are doubling down on our commitment to engage directly with voters across the state,” said Texas GOP Chair Abraham George. “We must work to expand our Republican majorities in the Texas Legislature and we have a clear path to do so.

The announcement comes amid ongoing concerns by some Republicans about the Texas GOP’s donor and voter outreach initiatives. Last year, the party recorded near-decade lows in fundraising, corporate donors and individual contributors. But the Texas GOP was able to weather those hits thanks to major donations from a handful of far-right oil billionaires who, along with former chair Matt Rinaldi, have sought to cleanse the party of its more moderate members.

Even so, the party’s finances have remained precarious. Ahead of its May convention, the Texas GOP had just five employees — compared to 50 at the same point in 2020, the last presidential cycle. Last month, the party reported that its 2024 convention ran roughly $600,000 over budget and resulted in a staggering, $382,000 loss. From mid-May until early September, the Texas GOP’s most important fundraising position was vacant. And in its last financial disclosure, from June, the Texas GOP reported having $2.3 million on-hand — $1 million less than at the same time in 2020.

The ongoing strains have prompted some county-level GOP leaders to question George, who said during his campaign for chair that the party needed a monthly, $1.5 million budget and more than 100 staff members ahead of the presidential election.

Since last week, at least 29 county-level party chairs have signed an open letter warning that the Texas GOP’s “grave and deteriorating” fundraising and voter outreach efforts could make some candidates vulnerable in November. Recent polling has found former President Donald Trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris by only 5 points — and that U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is just 2 points ahead of U.S. Rep. Colin Allred. If sustained, that trend could jeopardize down-ballot Republican candidates in November, the letter said.

The Texas GOP’s “current cash on hand should allow it to financially survive through the Nov. 5 election, but it will not allow for much else,” the letter said. “Fundraising has evaporated nearly entirely. The current chair appears to be either unwilling or unable to raise major funds.”

The letter also demanded that the Texas GOP detail its efforts to expand mail voting. Absent a “well-funded, statewide” initiative, it said, “we will get destroyed in mail ballots which will narrow Trump’s margin, threaten Cruz’s re-election, and harm all of our targeted down ballot races.”

The Texas GOP declined to comment on the letter, but on Friday, George provided an update to party leaders in which he touted upcoming visits to South Texas and the recruitment and training of thousands of poll watchers or workers. George also praised the removal of roughly 1.1 million people from the state’s voter rolls, and Attorney General Ken Paxton’s ongoing fights to stop voter registration efforts in the state’s more populous, Democrat-dominated counties.

George framed those moves as “election integrity efforts.” But experts have warned that they undermine trust in elections by perpetuating false notions of widespread fraud. Democrats have accused Paxton of trying to suppress additional voters. And officials in Bexar County, which is anchored by San Antonio, defied his threats of a lawsuit and moved forward with its voter registration outreach, saying Paxton’s legal claims were misleading and unfounded.

On Monday, a state district judge ruled against Paxton in his attempt to block Bexar County from mailing voter registration applications to eligible voters because the attorney general’s suit reached the court after the mailings went out.

George spent last weekend in South Texas, which he and other Republicans see as critical because of a handful of competitive races. There, former Republican U.S. Rep. Mayra Flores is running a well-funded campaign against Democrat Rep. Vicente Gonzalez — one of a few races that could decide control of the U.S. House. And in state Senate District 27, Adam Hinojosa is challenging Democratic Sen. Morgan LaMantia in a rematch of a 2022 race that was decided by roughly 700 votes.

The party’s plans to invest in South Texas were met with cautious optimism by Wayne Hamilton, whose group Project Red TX focuses on recruiting and supporting Republicans candidates there — often, Hamilton has said, with minimal help from the state party.

“We’ve heard a lot of talk in the past from all sorts of groups, but I always welcome anyone that's willing to pitch in,” said Hamilton, a former executive director of the Texas GOP who led campaigns by Abbott and former Gov. Rick Perry before focusing on South Texas. “I’ve always said I want people to put me out of business. I’d rather be in the Bahamas … but talk is cheap until you see something on the ground.”

Travis County GOP Chair Matt Mackowiak, who ran against George for party chair this year and organized last week’s open letter by county Republican leaders, similarly welcomed the efforts to help candidates in South Texas. But the Monday announcement did not assuage his broader concerns about the party’s direction, or negate the demands that he and other county chairs outlined last week.

“The state party appears completely unprepared for this immensely consequential election and we all need the Texas GOP to raise its performance,” he said. “Immediately.”

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This article originally appeared in The Texas Tribune at https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/16/texas-republican-party-south-texas-fundraising-outreach/.

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