What the Heck is a CEC?

By the time this column goes to print, we will have elected/reelected new precinct chairs for the Bandera County Republican Party. The Democrats, likewise, will have elected their new precinct chairs. These individuals will begin their term of office June 13th of this year along with the newly elected or reelected county chairs.

These precinct chairs, along with the County Chair, make up the Bandera County Republican/ Democrat Party County Executive Committee (CEC.)

Over the past few months with all the upheaval in our local Republican CEC, I have been asked by many people to explain how the party CEC works. So many voters have no clue about these very critical elected offices.

It’s important, when disruption happens in the party, that voters understand the legal responsibility these individuals have in their elected role. This is not simply another ‘club’ or group of ‘soccer moms’ that can simply vote each other off and remove someone from their duly elected office. The County Chair, for instance, is an office established by state law and has very specific authority and statutory responsibilities. One of the most important statutory duties of the county chair is to administer the primary. The county chair works closely with the Secretary of State to create a budget from which the state provides funding to pay primary and runoff election workers. The state administrative code clearly states;

“(a.) …the county chair, or an authorized agent of the county chair, shall sign all checks drafted on the primary fund account. (b.) The county chair must authorize all primary fund expenditures…” (Texas Administrative Code RULE 81.104)

Like any other elected official, the county chair cannot be removed from office by any means other than death, resignation, or election. That means any effort taken by any individual to remove the county chair or obstruct the county chair’s statutory duties becomes a serious violation of Texas law.

Leading up to the primary runoff, some Republican voters received “townhall” notices from a group of individuals labeling themselves the “Bandera County Republican CEC.” While these individuals are some of the elected members of the CEC, they do not make up the whole of the organization. This was a deceptive act to try and convince voters that they, as a subset of our local CEC, could speak and act on behalf of the whole organization. They did this without consultation from other CEC members including myself the County Chair. This subset also worked outside of party bylaws and proper procedure and announced ‘endorsements’ of certain candidates for the primary runoff. These were invalid endorsements. The CEC, of which I am Chair, did not convene to consider or vote to endorse any candidate in the runoff elections.

The CEC for both the Republican and Democrat party is governed by state law as well as state and local party bylaws. Local bylaws cannot conflict with state law or state bylaws. It is imperative that each county CEC carefully follow all laws and bylaws.

Bandera County has 10 voting precincts. Each of these voting precincts is represented by an elected precinct chair. In the recent runoff election, we had candidates running in 9 of the 10 precincts.

So how do vacant precinct chair seats get filled? After the new CEC assumes their office on June 13th, they will convene an organizational meeting to elect new officers, appoint members to fill vacant seats and vote on any local bylaw changes. Only the newly elected precinct chairs can vote to appoint and fill vacant precinct chair seats. At this time, the only vacant precinct without a candidate in the runoff was precinct 204. If an interested individual comes forward, they will be considered for appointment at the organizational meeting.

The CEC term of office is two years. We have 2 years to build and grow our party and to focus on fighting the left and not fellow Republicans. Censuring and suing fellow Republicans only weakens us and steals precious time that we should be using to keep our county red. My hope and prayer is that this new CEC will do just that with grace, integrity and professionalism and that you, the voters, will keep them accountable to that end.

Lynn Haueter is the Bandera County Republican Party Chair. She lives in Bandera with her husband, Bob, and their Boston Terrier, Bandit. She is a wife, mama bear and grandmama bear.