November 16, 2015 7:26 PM

Dallas equal rights vote causes internal strife in the Republican Party of Texas

Grassroots conservatives formally begin a push to move RPT convention out of Big D while current Chairman Tom Mechler says it is not the time to “cut and run.”

Last week’s vote by the Dallas City Council to adopt a measure strikingly similar to the just-defeated Houston Equal Rights Ordinance did more than keep the debate about equal rights at the top of the headlines – it’s also jumpstarted the campaign for Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas.

Internal warfare has been playing out for the past several days as the expected challenger for the party’s chairmanship urges Republicans to abandon Dallas as the party’s 2016 convention site and the current chairman tries to convince the GOP it would be wrong to “cut and run” just because not everyone agrees with Dallas municipal government about the rights of gay and transgendered people.

Social conservatives aligned with likely RPT Chairman Candidate Jared Woodfill are formally starting their push tonight to move the convention out of Dallas. Woodfill, former RPT Chair Cathie Adams, Texas Values President Jonathan Saenz and others support a proposed resolution being presented this evening to county parties in Houston and Dallas.

By Scott Braddock