The kicks off its 2016 convention this Thursday in Dallas. Until recently, it looked as if there would be a fierce competition to determine who would represent Texas at the party鈥檚 in July. But that was before Sen. Ted Cruz suspended his presidential campaign.
University of Saint Thomas student Vlad Davidiuk attended his first Texas GOP convention four years ago. He ran for a delegate鈥檚 spot at the party鈥檚 national convention in Tampa, and lost. This year, he鈥檚 better organized. He鈥檚 got a network of supporters, as the past chair of his school鈥檚 College Republicans. And he was looking forward to campaigning for Ted Cruz in Cleveland.
鈥淚鈥檓 kind of torn,鈥� Davidiuk says, 鈥渂ecause I鈥檝e never actually been to a national convention, so I would like to have the actual experience of being there. At the same time, I find myself somewhat reluctant to be there at what in all certainty seems to be the coronation of Donald Trump.鈥�
Davidiuk says he鈥檚 hearing a lot of that from fellow Cruz supporters, including those who were running to be national delegates themselves. 鈥淚鈥檝e had a few friends who I鈥檝e noticed have dropped out, who have subsequently decided that they no longer wish to attend the national convention,鈥� he says.
Picking Texas鈥� 155 delegates to Cleveland won鈥檛 be the only order of business in Dallas. There鈥檚 the question of who will lead the state GOP for the next two years. Incumbent chairman is facing a rematch with , former chair of the Harris County Republican Party and his 2014 opponent.
But Rice University political scientist Bob Stein says much of the Texas convention will boil down to damage control.
鈥淢y suspicions are that the convention will be one of how do we manage Donald Trump as a candidate for president and how do we protect ourselves, the Republican Party in Texas, from possible down-ballot defections,鈥� Stein says. If Republican voters who backed Cruz in March stay home this November, it could wind up costing the party local contests in places like Harris County.
Cruz himself is scheduled to address the convention. I asked Davidiuk what he鈥檇 most like to hear from the senator.
鈥淭he best course of action for him would be to acknowledge the reality that our party has to do better,鈥� Davidiuk says, 鈥渘ot only with these people in the middle class and the white working class that have been largely ignored and set aside for the last 30, 40 years, but in reaching out to those people who may not have looked at Republicans as a natural outlet politically.鈥�
To put it another way, he says, the GOP is going to be known as the Party of Trump for at least the next six months. The state convention will give Texas Republicans the opportunity to come to terms with that and to decide where to go next.
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