August 20, 2013

3:27 PM

MUNISTERI: 500 REPUBLICANS MOVE TO TEXAS DAILY

RPT chair is pushing for a shorter primary and an earlier Republican National Convention
Governor Perry and other state leaders often brag about how many people move to Texas each day.

Now, the head of the Texas GOP says being Republican is already old hat for many of those brand new Texans.
Republican Party of Texas Chairman Steve Munisteri - fresh off his trip to Boston for the RNC meeting

- said he now estimates that there are about 500 Republicans moving to the Lone Star State every day. Estimates are that about 1,000 to 1,300 people move to Texas daily, but of course many of those are either children who can't vote or adults who have never been active in politics. Between the first of the year and June, Munisteri said his analysis shows there were 94,000 Republicans who moved here. That would amount to an additional 400,000 Republican voters added in that fashion by next fall.
As part of the partys outreach program, Munisteri said the Texas GOP is actively working to communicate with those new Texans who have a history of voting for Republicans in other states. Munisteri has been on the forefront of warning his own party that the states changing demographics present Democrats with opportunities and put Texas in play. "Other people are talking about whether it will become competitive, but it already is, he said. "We're doing better at winning the competition than people give us credit for.

The RPT Chairman is also on the RNCs Convention Commission and the Primary Committee and he said the talks the past few days in Boston were focused largely on how to streamline the process for choosing a standard-bearer.
Munisteri and others are pushing to compress the timetable. He favors a 3 month primary contest instead of one that drags on for half a year. The lengthy process with the party not controlling the debates worked to our detriment," he said. If Munisteri had his way, the Texas Primary would be held earlier than March if Munisteri, but "We're early as we can be under the RNCs rules now. On the issue of when to hold the convention, he and other members feel it needs to be earlier so that the nominee can be in place ready to receive Republican Party money to fire back at the Democrat. The consensus seemed to be that we need to hold it sometime in early to mid-July, he said. There was some discussion of holding it as early as June, Munisteri said, but there were concerns that a calendar like that wouldnt put enough time between state conventions and the national one.
By Scott Braddock

Copyright August 20, 2013, Harvey Kronberg, www.quorumreport.com, All rights are reserved