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Abraham George |
D'Rinda Randall |
Brooks McKenzie |
SREC Members Give Texas Party Chair
Thumbs Down Month Before Convention
Capitol Inside
May 14, 2026
A revolt erupted at the Texas GOP on Wednesday when seven members of the governing board accused state party Chairman Abraham George of abusive behavior, intimidation tactics and disrespect in a letter that expressed their collective loss of confidence in his work in the partisan leadership post.
The activists who signed the anti-George communique are all members of the State Republican Executive Committee's legislative priorities committee, which will make recommendations to delegates at the Texas GOP Convention that gets under way on June 11 in Houston for a three-day run.
One of the SREC members who called out the chairman, Christin Bentley of Tyler, said in a post on X on Thursday that a majority of the members on the legislative priorities panel supported the effort aimed at exposing George's conduct and actions at a time when he's seeking a second term as the state party boss.
Delegates will elect a new slate of state party leaders at the biennial gathering George R. Brown Convention Center four weeks form now. George faces opposition in his fight to keep the position from the current state vice-chair, D'Rinda Randall of Waxahachie. Brooks McKenzie, a precinct chair in Tarrant County, is running for state Republican chairman as well.
George has appeared to be the favorite based on a massive advantage up to now in fundraising for the chairmanship election next month. But the race could tighten in the aftermath of the scathing critique from the activists on the SREC.
George "has directed abusive, demeaning, and profanity laced verbal attacks toward committee members when they chose to adhere to the State Convention's Legislative Priorities language and the Committee's own votes rather than his personal directives," the SREC members asserted in the letter that covers two pages and part of a third.
The activists asserted that George took actions that directly contradicted and undermined the votes that the Legislative Priorities Committee had taken. The letter says George denied resources and other means of support for the efforts the committee voted to pursue, declined to meet with the special panel's members, conducted parallel operations and refused to publish the panel's weekly newsletter or allow the use of the party logo in communications. The SREC members who turned against the state chair said that he'd negotatied with legislators without the knowledge of the committee or its consent.
"These actions have undermined the effectiveness and integrity of the Party's legislative priorities process, created discord with legislators, consumed valuable volunteer and grassroots resources, and shown a disregard for the authority of the State Convention and its committees," the activists contended.
George won the Texas party chairmanship at the state convention in San Antonio in 2024 with strong support from the far right. George was fresh off a defeat in the GOP primary election in a race for the Texas House in Collin County where State Rep. Candy Noble of Parker was on the ballot for re-election. Noble defeated George by 5 points with almost 53 percent of the vote. George was one on a long list of challengers who Attorney General Ken Paxton had a hand in recruiting in a quest for revenge against Texas House Republicans who'd voted to impeach him the previous year.
George, who was born in India, had served as the Collin County Republican chairman before the unsuccessful bid for the Legislature as a preamble for the state chair's race. George overcame opposition from a half-dozen other candidates en route to the victory.
The list of SREC members who signed the letter slamming George included Deborah Kelting-Fite of Senate District 7, Milinda Morris of Senate District 13, Jeneria Lewis of Senate District 27 and the co-chairs of the Legislative Priorities Commoittee - Jerry Fisher of Senate District 2 and Leslie Thomas of Senate District 22. SREC member Jon Ker of SD 22 signed the letter as well.
more to come ...
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