Our Future

2020 will be a consequential election in Travis County.

I am honored to serve as Travis County Republican Party (TCRP) Chairman.

Several weeks ago, I filed for reelection as TCRP chairman with a majority of our precinct chairs endorsing me for another term.

The filing period has now closed and I am unopposed, which means I will be serving another two years as chairman, completing my second full term through 2022.

Serving as TCRP Chairman is a volunteer role. The political makeup of Travis County is challenging.

But the work we are all doing together is vitally important and I am pleased to have the opportunity to work with so many committed Republicans here.

I have never felt more encouraged about TCRP’s future than I do right now.

As recently as five years ago, TCRP’s annual budget was as low as $40,000. Last year we surpassed $400,000, with fully $180,000 pumped into our Get-Out-The-Vote efforts to benefit our candidates. This year we have surpassed $210,000 in revenue with a couple weeks left.

Next year’s elections are crucially important.

With the filing period behind us, we now know who is running and for which offices.

Over the next ten weeks, TCRP will administer the primary elections (and primary runoff if necessary) with the goal of increasing Republican turnout.

Then we will unify behind our candidates and march together toward November.

We have big goals for next year.

We will aim to double our Get-Out-The-Vote budget to $350,000 and use that money to win the most competitive.

We will help every Republican on the ticket and work everyday to help them win.

I would like to spotlight several very important races next year:

CD-21: Freshman U.S. Rep. Chip Roy earned our Rising Star award this year and we are eager to help him defeat abortion extremist and carpetbagger Wendy Davis, the expected Democratic nominee. You can support Chip here.

CD-10: U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul is an outstanding member of Congress, having chaired the Homeland Security Committee and now serving as Ranking Member on the Foreign Affairs Committee. His campaign has ALREADY knocked on 50,000 doors — the most of any Republican campaign in the nation. He has three very liberal Democratic opponents and we will fully support him in the fall. You can support his campaign here.

3rd Court of Appeals: Chief Justice Jeff Rose is seeking reelection and we must help him. In 2018, the ‘Beto Wave’ swept out three of our Republican incumbents and the Republican candidate running in an open seat. Chief Justice Rose is a solid conservative running the most efficient and productive court of appeals bench in Texas. Please help him here.

County Commissioner, Pct. 3 (Open): With the retirement of Commissioner Gerald Daugherty, this is an open seat race. Our outstanding nominee is transportation engineer Becky Bray, who Daugherty is supporting. You can support her here.

HD-47: We have five excellent candidates running: Listed alphabetically, Justin Berry, Jennifer Fleck, Jenny Roan Forgey, Aaron Reitz and Don Zimmerman. I am confident that we will defeat first term incumbent Rep. Vikki Goodwin (D-Austin), who has the fourth most liberal voting record in the Texas House. Taking this seat back will be crucial with redistricting taking place in the next legislative session.

All of these races are vitally important.

We are also expecting a massive battle next year over a $2B transportation bond that will be proposed. And the fight over the Homeless Camping disaster in Austin continues.

Indeed, the 2020 election cycle could not have higher stakes for Travis County residents.

We will introduce all of our Republican candidates very soon and highlight their campaigns.

If you have questions about the primary, please contact Primary Administrator Ed Check (512–302–1776 / travisgopprimary@gmail.com).

In the meantime, anyone willing to support TCRP and our work with a financial contribution before year’s end is encouraged to do so. We could use your help.

If interested, you can make a secure, one-time contribution here.

If interested, you can join our Sustainers group right here, which offers specific benefits and requires a monthly or annual auto-deducted contribution.

In the meantime, on Saturday, Dec. 14 at 11am, there’s a rally in opposition to impeachment. Details are here.

That evening is the TCRP annual Christmas Party. Details and a RSVP link are here.

Republicans are ready for the battle next year!

Matt Mackowiak is Travis County GOP chairman, a Republican consultant, and President of Potomac Strategy Group, LLC.