February 22, 2023 | Media Inquiries: info@mctxgop.org

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, TX – The Texas Supreme Court has accepted the petition to review the lawsuit filed on Feb. 14, 2023, by the majority of precinct chairs in the Montgomery County Republican Party against Chairman Bryan Christ.

Click here to view the petition and supporting documents on Attorney Warren Norred’s website.

In a Feb. 18 email titled, “Response to False Allegations,” Chairman Christ made several false and slanderous statements that we cannot in good conscience ignore.

One such statement by Chairman Christ was: “To be clear, their bizarre claims that I have violated the law are unequivocally false and their frivolous lawsuit will be dismissed by our Supreme Court.”

The Texas Supreme Court is reviewing the case. The Court may decide to set a briefing schedule and consider the matter, or issue a denial of the writ for any number of reasons.

One thing is certain – this is not a frivolous matter and the facts are straightforward:

1. Chairman Christ is obligated by state law, section 171.024(e) of the Texas Election Code, to keep the Texas Secretary of State’s list of appointed precinct chairs updated.

2. On July 23, 2022, Chairman Christ refused to preside over an emergency meeting of the Montgomery County Executive Committee, though he admitted the validity of the meeting’s call.

3. Because Chairman Christ refused to preside over the July 23rd meeting, the meeting went forward under Robert’s Rules; the body appointed six precinct chairs and elected party officers.

4. Rather than report the six new precinct chairs, and many others similarly appointed later, Chairman Christ has pretended that these meetings are invalid. 

5. After Chairman Christ repeatedly refused to mediate this matter in good faith and instead attacked those he is supposed to lead, a majority of the active chairs of Montgomery County filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus under section 161.009 of the Texas Election Code, which gives Texas courts authority to require officers of political parties to perform their duties imposed by law. 

No wise person ever predicts what a court will do; the Texas Supreme Court may decide a lower court should hear the matter first, or that it will use its discretion to deny the mandamus, but we are confident that the Texas Supreme Court will not call this matter frivolous.

Response to Chairman Christ

The Montgomery County Republican Party Steering Committee sent the following response to Chairman Christ’s email today:

To: Bryan Christ, Chairman Montgomery County Republican Party

RE: Allegations and Misrepresentations in Newsletter of 2-18-2023

Chairman Christ,

In your email of Feb. 18, 2023, titled, “Response to False Allegations,” you implied that party funds were used to fund the lawsuit brought against you. The fact is that those who support the lawsuit individually contributed money from their own pockets to fund the effort.

No Montgomery County Republican Party (MCRP) funds have been used for litigation.

This is easily verifiable as all expenditures of MCRP funds have been reported as required to the Texas Ethics Committee (TEC) by the Treasurer of Record for the Montgomery County Republican Party of Texas, Mr. Charles Shirley, under filing number 83126. Furthermore, the use of funds approved by the County Executive Committee (CEC) are noted in the meeting minutes, which are always made available promptly following CEC meetings and posted on the official party website at https://mctxgop.org.

In your newsletter, under the Heading “CAUTION REGARDING DONATIONS,” you stated and highlighted in red for emphasis: “Moreover, I am convinced they will use any proceeds to continue funding their tactics—including the frivolous lawsuit, website, and divisive newsletter."

Our upcoming fundraiser is being planned by members of the CEC to fund future “Get-Out-the-Vote” efforts. It is not a fundraiser for a lawsuit, website, or newsletter as you have communicated.  Any funds raised as part of the upcoming fundraiser will be filed with the TEC by the Treasurer, Mr. Shirley, under the filing number provided above. It is alarming that efforts by our Republican precinct chairs and volunteers to get voters to the polls in Montgomery County would be impeded by you as County Chairman.

We cannot in good conscience allow your actions to continue unanswered and this is why the majority of precinct chairs filed the Petition for Writ of Mandamus against you.

Therefore, it is with the authority of the majority of Montgomery County Republican Party precinct chairs that we demand that you, as Chairman, cease and desist in your efforts to undermine the County Party and we further demand that you issue a retraction of the statements described above immediately as they are not only inaccurate and without any basis in truth, they are slanderous and defaming of innocent people who have volunteered their time and treasure to help their local Republican Party.

As always, our ultimate desire would be for you to report the properly appointed precinct chairs to the Secretary of State, chair our meetings, and follow the Texas Election Code and our party rules. 

The majority of the local Republican Party is committed to bringing the party together for the mission of getting Republican voters registered and to the polls as was acknowledged in the Republican Party of Texas Mediation report. 

Respectfully,

Montgomery County Republican Party Steering Committee

Other false statements that were included in Chairman Christ’s email are addressed in the Petition for Writ of Mandamus.

For updates on the progress of this situation, please subscribe to official communications from the Montgomery County Republican Party at https://mctxgop.org/subscribe or visit https://www.mctxgop.org/news-releases. To learn more about the Party’s new website, newsletter, and logo, click here.

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