The Texas House today passed SB 100, the amended version of which does not have the April presidential primary provision contained in it. The original, Senate-passed version did not call for the primary to be moved to April either. Together, that ends the April presidential primary talk in the Lone Star state.
[Click to Enlarge]
The move -- non-move really -- does put the Texas Republican Party in a bit of a bind, though. The party has typically used winner-take-all delegate allocation rules in the past, but the Republican National Committee will not allow that in 2012 before April 1. Texas Republicans are further constrained by the fact that the party's delegate allocation rules cannot be changed between now and the March 6 primary. Those sorts of changes can only be made at the state convention and the 2011 state convention has already come and gone. The party, then, is in the proportional window, but with winner-take-all rules, leaving Texas Republicans open to penalties (half the delegation or more) from the national party.
NOTE: Technically, HB 318, the bill to move the Texas primary to February, is still active. However, that legislation has been stuck in committee since February, and with the legislature set to adjourn next week, that is unlikely to change. FHQ, thus, feels comfortable in shifting Texas into the settled category on the calendar.
Recent Posts:
2 comments:
Regarding Texas, you wrote:
"Texas Republicans are further constrained by the fact that the party's delegate allocation rules cannot be changed between now and the March 6 primary. Those sorts of changes can only be made at the state convention and the 2011 state convention has already come and gone. The party, then, is in the proportional window, but with winner-take-all rules, leaving Texas Republicans open to penalties (half the delegation or more) from the national party."
But, the Party does have an out. TRP rules allow the State EC to pass changes to the rules that must then be ratified by the NEXT state convention. So, the SREC will soon consider a proportional allocation rule that must be passed and delivered to the RNC by Oct. 1, and that, if approved, will only need to be ratified by the June, 2012 State Convention to go into effect and still allow the full delegation to be sent to Tampa.
BTW, there is no off-year state convention in Texas--our 2010 convention was held before the RNC acted to change the rules. Had we known, we would have changed the rules last year. Also, our primary is not technically winner-take-all, we have modified proportional rules that favor strong vote-getters. Last time, McCain won 52% statewide but Huckabee won 2 delegates from individual congressional districts. But, our rules must become truly proportional to meet RNC rules.
Bill in Texas
Hey Bill. Thanks for the clarification on the state convention situation.
As for the winner-take-all rules, please read the other, more in-depth posts I've done on the rules and Texas (specifically this one). FHQ has never maintained that Texas is a true winner-take-all state. However, there are winner-take-all components to the allocation method.
As for the proposed changes you mention that RPT is considering, my reading of the RNC delegate selection rules and the system Texas currently has indicates that Texas is "mostly" compliant and does not need to make any changes.
Post a Comment