Apparently, the schism that erupted between newly formed conservative organizations in McLennan County and the Republican County Chairman has not healed.
Reportedly, Joe B. Hinton arrived downtown Friday afternoon with “smoke coming out of his ears,” late for a 4 p.m. meeting of Republican chairmen called to nominate Senator Brian Birdwell as the party's choice to oppose any Democrat challenger for the District 22 seat he recently won in a runoff with former Senator David Sibley.
The meeting took place just prior to the GOP Unity Rally hosted by the Waco Tea Party and GOP Is For Me at the Convention Center.
The election of Granbury resident Col. Brian Birdwell, a survivor of the 9/11 terrorist attack on the Pentagon where he was stationed at the time, is a radical departure from the status quo, which has seen a long and unbroken chain of Waco men who served as the District 22 State Senator, including incumbent Democratic Representative Chet Edwards, Senator Kip Averitt and Senator David Sibley.
This nomination was all important, because Senator Averitt had filed for re-election, then made it known that if he was elected, he would not serve; if nominated, he would not run due to health concerns which he termed a diabetic condition that makes him “a walking heart attack.”
He was the nomineee for the November general election until he resigned that designation, casting the judgment of the chairmen of the 10 district counties into question due to residency requirement questions posed by Austin election lawyers who pointed out that Col Birdwell had not been living in this state and this district for the requisite five years called for in the Texas Election Code.
Mr. Hinton, a retired Executive Vice President of Exxon/Mobil for European operations, was out of the loop due to miscommunication of some other difficulty regarding the nomination meeting.
He had previously objected to the formation of the GOP Is For Me and Hispanic Republican Club of McLennan County due to concerns over common courtesy of informing the County Chairman of future plans.
After his defeat of Tea Party member and challenger Will Jones for the office, Mr. Hinton appointed Chris DeCluitt as vice chair. Mr. DeCluitt is board chairman of the Brazos River Authority, a position formerly occupied by Mr. Hinton.
A Waco attorney, he is fresh from a recent defeat in the election of State Republican Executive Committee members to Mr. Jimmie Kerr, a Waco refuse hauler.
Mr. Hinton is a distinguished alumnus of Texas A&M Commerce, the former East Texas State University and a generous benefactor of A&M scholarship funds. He serves on numerous boards and state commissions, including the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, to which Governor Rick Perry appointed him.
Much ado has been made in the local press over the sense of pique which county Republican officials have expressed over the upstart foundation of GOP Is For Me, The Waco Tea Party and the Hispanic Republican Club of McLennan County without first checking with Mr. Hinton.
Hispanic Republican Club co-founders Duke Machado of Woodway and Janet Jackson, vice chairman of the Bosque County Republican Party, were criticized in news stories by local GOP officials earlier this year.
Mrs. Jackson has been elected to the State Republican Executive Committee as the female representative from Senate District 22.
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