The Republican Party of Texas (RPT) is the affiliate of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

Republican Party in the state of

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2020, it is the second-largest U.S. state by ...

. It is currently chaired by

Matt Rinaldi Matthew Daniel Rinaldi (born April 11, 1975) is an American attorney and politician serving as the chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. Rinaldi was a member of the Texas House of Representatives for district 115 in Dallas County from 2015 ...

, succeeding Allen West who resigned prior to the expiration of his term to run for governor of Texas. The party is headquartered in Austin. The RPT is legally considered to be a political action committee. It is currently the state's favored party, controlling the majority of Texas'

U.S. House The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

seats, both

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

seats, both houses of the state legislature, and the

governorship A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

History

The Republican Party developed dramatically in Texas during the Reconstruction era, after constitutional amendments freeing the slaves and giving suffrage to black males. Blacks joined the party that had ensured the end of slavery. African-American leaders, frequently men of

mixed race Mixed race people are people of more than one race or ethnicity. A variety of terms have been used both historically and presently for mixed race people in a variety of contexts, including ''multiethnic'', ''polyethnic'', occasionally ''bi-ethn ...

who had been free and educated before the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, provided leadership in extending education and work opportunities to blacks after the war. They supported establishment of a public school system for the first time. Men such as William Madison McDonald in Fort Worth,

Norris Wright Cuney Norris Wright Cuney, or simply Wright Cuney, (May 12, 1846March 3, 1898) was an American politician, businessman, union leader, and advocate for the rights of African-Americans in Texas. Following the American Civil War, he became active in G ...

in Galveston, and Henry Clay Ferguson worked for the black community and the state. In 1870, Edmund J. Davis was elected Governor, but was soundly defeated in 1874. In the year 1876, Republicans had made gradual gains in Texas, earning nearly one-third of the statewide vote and electing a small number of candidates to the State Legislature (including several African Americans). After the Reconstruction era, the Republican Party of Texas gradually lost power, and after the turn of the century, the "Lily Whites" pushed blacks out of power. The Democrats passed disfranchising laws near the turn of the century requiring

poll taxes A poll tax, also known as head tax or capitation, is a tax levied as a fixed sum on every liable individual (typically every adult), without reference to income or resources. Head taxes were important sources of revenue for many governments f ...

be paid prior to voter registration; together with the party establishing white primaries, black voting dropped dramatically, from more than 100,000 statewide in the 1890s, to 5,000 in 1906. Mexican Americans and poor whites were also adversely affected by such measures. For more than 100 years, the Republicans were a minority party in the state. As a result, the biggest base of electoral support for the Republican Party in Texas during this time was the

German Texan German Texan (german: Deutschtexaner) is both a term to describe immigrants who arrived in the Republic of Texas from Germany from the 1830s onward and an ethnic category that includes their descendants in today's state of Texas. The arriving Ge ...

community in the Texas Hill Country, with the majority-German Gillespie, Guadalupe and Kendall counties constituting the most Republican counties in the state of Texas throughout the late 19th and into the 20th century. Between the departing of Robert B. Hawley from his second

term in 1901 and the seating of

Bruce Alger Bruce Reynolds Alger (June 12, 1918 – April 13, 2015) was an American politician, real estate agent and developer, and a Republican U.S. representative from Texas, the first to have represented a Dallas district since Reconstruction. He serv ...

in 1954, the sole Republican to represent Texas in Congress was Harry M. Wurzbach, a politician from the German Texan community in the Hill Country who served in the U.S. House for most of the 1920s and left office in 1931. The first Republican statewide primary was held in 1926, but drew only 15,239 voters. By contrast, the Democratic primary in the same year drew 821,234 voters, as disfranchisement was well established, and Texas was essentially a one-party, white-only voting state. Only two more Republican primaries were run in the next thirty-four years.

1960–present

In 1961, James A. Leonard became the first

executive director Executive director is commonly the title of the chief executive officer of a non-profit organization, government agency or international organization. The title is widely used in North American and European not-for-profit organizations, though ...

of the organization. He is credited as the "architect" of

John Tower John Goodwin Tower (September 29, 1925 – April 5, 1991) was an American politician, serving as a Republican United States Senator from Texas from 1961 to 1985. He was the first Republican Senator elected from Texas since Reconstruction. Tower ...

's successful campaign to fill Lyndon Johnson's vacant U.S. Senate seat, a victory that was a breakthrough in the party's attempts to gain a foothold in Texas politics. In 1966, two Republicans were elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, including future President George H. W. Bush, for the first time since Reconstruction. That same year, three Republicans were elected to the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. As of the 2010 United States census, each member represents abo ...

, and the first Republican was elected to the

Texas Senate The Texas Senate ( es, Senado de Texas) is the upper house of the Texas State Legislature. There are 31 members of the Senate, representing single-member districts across the U.S. state of Texas, with populations of approximately 806,000 per co ...

in 39 years. By 1972, Texas Republicans had increased their gains to 17 members of the Texas House and 3 members of the Texas Senate. The true turning point for Texas Republicans occurred in the May 1976 primary, when Ronald Reagan defeated Gerald Ford by a two-to-one margin in the state's presidential primary. According to former Secretary of State James A. Baker III, due to Reagan's victory in the Texas primary, "the whole shape and nature of the state changed." 104 years after the most recent previous Republican governor,

Bill Clements William Perry Clements Jr. (April 13, 1917 – May 29, 2011) was an American businessman and Republican Party politician who served two non-consecutive terms as the governor of Texas between 1979 and 1991. His terms bookended the sole t ...

eked out a narrow victory in November 1978. In 1984, Reagan, George H. W. Bush, and Phil Gramm led a GOP ticket that relied upon the RPT to provide a centralized network of communications. Throughout the rest of the decade, the total Republican vote continued to increase, and the party made large gains in both the state legislature and in local races. Since 1994, every statewide elected office has been held by a Republican. Both houses of the

Texas Legislature The Texas Legislature is the state legislature of the US state of Texas. It is a bicameral body composed of a 31-member Senate and a 150-member House of Representatives. The state legislature meets at the Capitol in Austin. It is a powerful ar ...

feature Republican majorities. The last time Texas was carried by a Democratic presidential candidate was in

1976 Events January * January 3 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 11 – The 1976 ...

, when the state voted for

Jimmy Carter James Earl Carter Jr. (born October 1, 1924) is an American politician who served as the 39th president of the United States from 1977 to 1981. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the 76th governor of Georgia from 1 ...

. George H. W. Bush (41st) and his son George W. Bush (43rd) are the only Republican Presidents from Texas. In 2020, the RPT adopted the slogan "We are the storm", a phrase also used by believers in the

QAnon QAnon ( , ) is an American political conspiracy theory and political movement. It originated in the American far-right political sphere in 2017. QAnon centers on fabricated claims made by an anonymous individual or individuals known as "Q". ...

conspiracy theory, which party chair Allen West identified as a quotation from an unspecified poem.

2022 platform

Some 5,100 delegates and alternates attended the party's June 2022 convention in Houston, its first in three years. The

Log Cabin Republicans The Log Cabin Republicans (LCR) is an organization within the Republican Party which advocates for equal rights for LGBT+ Americans. History Log Cabin Republicans was founded in 1977 in California as a rallying point for Republicans opposed t ...

, an organization that advocates for

LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender ( LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, ...

, was banned from attending the convention. Attendees approved resolutions including the false assertion that President Joe Biden "was not legitimately

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

." The convention included three screenings of ''

2000 Mules ''2000 Mules'' is a 2022 American conspiracy theory political film from right-wing political commentator Dinesh D'Souza. The film falsely claims unnamed nonprofit organizations supposedly associated with the Democratic Party paid " mules" to ...

'', a recent film by conspiracy theorist

Dinesh D'Souza Dinesh Joseph D'Souza (; born April 25, 1961) is an Indian-American right-wing political commentator, author, filmmaker, and conspiracy theorist. He has written over a dozen books, several of them ''New York Times'' best-sellers. In 2012, D' ...

that falsely alleged an organized criminal "ballot harvesting" scheme by Democratic-aligned operatives to rig the 2020 presidential election against Donald Trump. The party adopted a platform change declaring

homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to pe ...

"an abnormal lifestyle choice" and further declared opposition to "all efforts to validate

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through ...

identity". Attendees also approved a resolution calling for the full repeal of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. The new platform called for a ban on "teaching, exposure, and/or discussion of sexual matters (mechanics, feelings, orientation or 'gender identity' issues)" in schools, including the prohibition of teaching

sex education Sex education, also known as sexual education, sexuality education or sex ed, is the instruction of issues relating to human sexuality, including emotional relations and responsibilities, human sexual anatomy, sexual activity, sexual reproduc ...

, while calling on Texas schools to teach about the "dignity of the preborn human". The new platform also stated: "Texas retains the right to

secede Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

from the United States, and the Texas Legislature should be called upon to pass a referendum consistent thereto." The party rebuked longtime Texas senator

John Cornyn John Cornyn III ( ; born February 2, 1952) is an American politician and attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Texas, a seat he has held since 2002. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the Senate majority whip for ...

for participating in bipartisan negotiations regarding guns, after a recent series of

mass shootings There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 20 ...

. Former President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

praised the platform, saying that "they know that a Country cannot survive without Free and Fair Elections." The resolutions were described by ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' as embracing far-right rhetoric and as a far-right platform by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

''. ''

Reason Reason is the capacity of consciously applying logic by drawing conclusions from new or existing information, with the aim of seeking the truth. It is closely associated with such characteristically human activities as philosophy, science, ...

'' called the "LGBT component" of the platform "a weird throwback" that is "reminiscent of how conservatives used to talk about gay marriage back in the 1990s." ''

The American Conservative ''The American Conservative'' (''TAC'') is a magazine published by the American Ideas Institute which was founded in 2002. Originally published twice a month, it was reduced to monthly publication in August 2009, and since February 2013, it has ...

'' described the platform as showing a turn "toward a conservation of the spirit of

Christendom Christendom historically refers to the Christian states, Christian-majority countries and the countries in which Christianity dominates, prevails,SeMerriam-Webster.com : dictionary, "Christendom"/ref> or is culturally or historically intertwine ...

, even if it means departing from the Union." that "gives the RNC much to ponder." According to the ''

Houston Chronicle The ''Houston Chronicle'' is the largest daily newspaper in Houston, Texas, United States. , it is the third-largest newspaper by Sunday circulation in the United States, behind only ''The New York Times'' and the ''Los Angeles Times''. With i ...

'', "Measures adopted to the party's platform at the convention are not set laws, rather they act as a 'mission statement' of sorts for the party over the next two years", and according to ''

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

'' "It remains an open question as to how closely the priorities outlined in the 2022 platform reflect the views of regular Republicans in Texas". Party platforms in Texas are non-binding, a frequent source of frustration for the most hardcore partisan activists.

Current elected officials

Texas Republicans currently control all elected statewide offices, a majority in the

, and a majority in the

. Republicans also hold both of the state's U.S. Senate seats and 23 of the state's 36 U.S. House seats.

Members of Congress

U.S. Senate

Republicans have controlled both of Texas's seats in the

since

1993 File:1993 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Oslo I Accord is signed in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict; The Russian White House is shelled during the 1993 Russian constitutional crisis; Czechoslovakia is peacefu ...

: File:Ted Cruz official 116th portrait (cropped).jpg, Junior U.S. Senator File:John Cornyn (cropped).jpg, Senior U.S. Senator

U.S. House of Representatives

Out of the 36 seats Texas is apportioned in the U.S. House of Representatives, 24 are currently held by Republicans, making it the largest Republican delegation in the U.S. House: * TX-01:

Louie Gohmert Louis Buller Gohmert Jr. (; born August 18, 1953) is an American attorney, politician, and former jurist serving as the U.S. representative from Texas's 1st congressional district since 2005. Gohmert is a Republican and was part of the Tea P ...

* TX-02:

Dan Crenshaw Daniel Reed Crenshaw (born March 14, 1984) is an American politician and former United States Navy SEAL officer serving as the United States representative for Texas's 2nd congressional district since 2019. The district includes parts of northe ...

* TX-03:

Van Taylor Nicholas Van Campen Taylor (born August 1, 1972), known as Van Taylor,Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997. is an American businessman and Republican politician from Plano, Texas. He is the U.S. representative for Texas's 3rd congressional district, ...

* TX-04: Pat Fallon * TX-05: Lance Gooden * TX-06: Jake Ellzey * TX-08: Kevin Brady * TX-10: Michael McCaul * TX-11: August Pfluger * TX-12:

Kay Granger Norvell Kay Granger (; born January 18, 1943) is an American Republican politician from the U.S. state of Texas. She has represented the state's 12th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1997. She has been the ranki ...

TX-13 Texas's 13th congressional district is a List of United States congressional districts, congressional district in the U.S. state of Texas that includes most of the Texas Panhandle, parts of Texoma and northwestern parts of North Texas. The princi ...

Ronny Jackson Ronny Lynn Jackson (born May 4, 1967) is an American physician, politician, and retired United States Navy rear admiral who is the U.S. representative for . Jackson joined the White House Medical Unit in the mid-2000s under George W. Bush, a ...

TX-14 Texas's 14th congressional district for the United States House of Representatives stretches from Freeport to Beaumont. It formerly covered the area south and southwest of the Greater Houston region, including Galveston, in the state of Texas ...

Randy Weber Randall Keith Weber (born July 2, 1953) is an American businessman and politician who has represented Texas's 14th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2013. He was previously a member of the Texas House of ...

* TX-17: Pete Sessions * TX-19:

Jodey Arrington Jodey Cook Arrington (born March 9, 1972) is an American politician serving as the U.S. representative for . The district includes a large slice of West Texas, centered around Lubbock and Abilene. He is a member of the Republican Party. Arrin ...

* TX-21:

Chip Roy Charles Eugene "Chip" Roy (born August 7, 1972) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative for Texas's . A member of the Republican Party, Roy took office on January 3, 2019. Before his election to Congress, he s ...

TX-22 Texas's 22nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives covers a largely suburban south-central portion of the metropolitan area. The district includes the majority of Fort Bend County, Texas, Fort Bend County, includi ...

: Troy Nehls * TX-23: Tony Gonzales * TX-24: Beth Van Duyne * TX-25: Roger Williams * TX-26: Michael C. Burgess *

TX-27 Texas's 27th congressional district of the United States House of Representatives covers the coastal bend of Texas' Gulf Coast consisting of Corpus Christi, Texas, Corpus Christi and Victoria, Texas, Victoria up to Bastrop County, Texas, Bastro ...

Michael Cloud Michael Jonathan Cloud (born May 13, 1975) is an American politician representing Texas's 27th congressional district in the United States House of Representatives since 2018. He is a member of the Republican Party. Early life and career Cl ...

* TX-31: John Carter * TX-34:

Mayra Flores Mayra Nohemi Flores (born January 1, 1986) is an American politician who represented in the United States House of Representatives from 2022 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, she is the first female Mexican-born member of the House. ...

* TX-36:

Brian Babin Brian Philip Babin ( ; born March 23, 1948) is an American dentist, politician and member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party who has served as the United States House of Representatives, U.S. representative from since 2015 ...

Statewide officials

Republicans control all nine of the elected statewide offices: *

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Greg Abbott Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 ...

* Lieutenant Governor: Dan Patrick * Attorney General:

Ken Paxton Warren Kenneth Paxton Jr. (born December 23, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the Attorney General of Texas since January 2015. Paxton has described himself as a Tea Party conservative. Paxton was re-elected to a t ...

* Comptroller of Public Accounts: Glenn Hegar * State Land Commissioner:

George P. Bush George Prescott Bush (born April 24, 1976) is an American politician and attorney who served as the commissioner of the Texas General Land Office from 2015 to 2023. A member of the Republican Party, Bush unsuccessfully campaigned for the party's ...

* State Agriculture Commissioner: Sid Miller * Railroad Commission Chairman: Ryan Sitton * Railroad Commissioner: Wayne Christian * Railroad Commissioner: Christi Craddick

State legislative leaders

* President of the Senate: Dan Patrick * Speaker of the House: Dade Phelan

State Republican Executive Committee Members

Biannually, in even-numbered years, delegates at the Texas GOP State Convention elect a man and a woman from each of the thirty-one State Senatorial districts to serve a two-year term on the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC). The State Republican Executive Committee along with the elected State Chair and State Vice Chair manage the affairs of the Republican Party of Texas between state conventions.

List of state party chairs

* John L. Haynes (1867-?) * Edmund J. Davis (1875-1883) *

(1886-1896) * William Madison McDonald (1897-1898) * Henry Clay Ferguson (1898-1900) * Cecil A. Lyon (1900-1916) * Rentfro B. Creager (1920–50) * Orville Bullington (1951–1952) * Thad Hutcheson (1958) ;State Party Chairmen since 1962 *

Peter O'Donnell Peter O'Donnell (11 April 1920 – 3 May 2010) was an English writer of mysteries and of comic strips, best known as the creator of ''Modesty Blaise'', an action heroine/undercover trouble-shooter. He was also an award-winning gothic h ...

(1962–1969) * William Steger (1969–1971) * Missing (1971–1976) * Ray Hutchison – (1976–1977) * Ray Barnhart – (1977–1979) *

Chet Upham Chet is a masculine given name, often a nickname for Chester (given name), Chester, which means ''fortress'' or ''camp''. It is an uncommon name of England, English origin, and originated as a surname to identify people from the city of Chester, En ...

– (1979–1983) * George Strake Jr. – (1983–1988) * Fred Meyer – (1988–1994) * Tom Pauken – (1994–1997) * Susan Weddington – (1997–2003) *

Tina Benkiser Tina Renee Johns Benkiser (born February 7, 1963) is an attorney and was from 2003 to 2009 the state chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. She became chairman on the resignation of Susan Weddington. Career Benkiser was elected to full ...

– (2003–2009) * Cathie Adams – (2009–2010) * Steve Munisteri – (2010–2015) * Tom Mechler – (2015–2017) *

James Dickey James Lafayette Dickey (February 2, 1923 January 19, 1997) was an American poet and novelist. He was appointed the eighteenth United States Poet Laureate in 1966. He also received the Order of the South award. Dickey is best known for his n ...

– (2017– 2020) * Allen West – (2020–2021) *

– (2021–present)

Auxiliary organizations

The party has a number of affiliates and auxiliary organizations, including the Texas Federation of College Republicans, High School Republicans of Texas, Texas Federation of Republican Women (TFRW), Texas Republican County Chairmen's Association, Texas Young Republican Federation (TYRF), Texas Federation for Republican Outreach, Texas Republican Assembly, and Texas Federation of Hispanic Republicans.

References

External links

The Republican Party of Texas website

Texas House Republican Caucus

Texas Federation of Republican women

Texas Young Republican Federation

2016 Texas Republican Party Platform
{{DEFAULTSORT:Republican Party Of Texas Political parties in Texas

Organizations that oppose LGBT rights in the United States Paleoconservative parties in the United States Right-wing populism in the United States Secessionist organizations in the United States