Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and former President Donald J. Trump attend a security briefing with state officials and law enforcement at the Weslaco Department of Public Safety Headquarters before touring the U.S.-Mexico border wall, Wednesday, June 30, 2021, in Weslaco, Texas.
Javin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
Abraham George Trump is taking over as chairman of the Republican Party of Texas (RPT) at a time when influential state-level political organizations are abandoning their longstanding alliances with corporate America.
Instead, RPT supports the anti-corporate, anti-elite populist agenda that has been on the rise among Republicans across the country in the Trump era.
Texas Annual Republican Convention The campaign kicked off in San Antonio on Thursday and culminated with George being selected as party chair. The campaign has long featured lucrative corporate sponsorship from Fortune 500 companies, but this year the names of past biggest sponsors were absent from banners and agendas.
Verizon, Comcast and Union Pacific Sponsored the 2020 Texas Republican Convention Texas TribuneHowever, they are not listed as this year’s backers.
Pepsi and Chevron was sponsor They support the 2022 Texas Republican Convention, but not this year’s convention.
Spokespeople for Verizon, Comcast, Pepsi and Chevron did not respond to requests for comment. A Union Pacific spokesman said only that the company’s “political contributions are bipartisan and disclosed in accordance with state and federal law.”
The battle over corporate money also emerged in the election that George won on Friday to become state party chairman.
Veteran Republican consultant Matt Mackowiak was among the candidates vying to become the next state Republican Party chairman. Note “Corporate fundraising for the party is virtually nonexistent,” Makoviak lamented in announcing his candidacy.
Griffin Perry, a Texas businessman and son of former Republican Texas Gov. Rick Perry, said earlier this week that it’s time for the Republican Party to return to working with corporations.
“The next speaker needs to work with business,” Perry told CNBC. “There’s no reason why the Texas Republican Party can’t have the support of business.”
For the lack of corporate sponsorship this year, Perry blamed his leadership team, which was replaced on Friday. He said the team is “wearing it as a badge of honor” before a new state party chair is elected.
Sponsor of the Texas Republican Party’s 2024 convention.
Texas Republican Party
Indeed, RPT communications director James Wesolek told CNBC, “The Republican Party is the party of hard-working Americans, not woke corporations trying to destroy the America we love.”
Wesolek denied that the disappearance of traditional sponsors had affected this week’s state party convention.
“The party has fully funded the conference from sponsors who do not have to compromise our values,” he said.
This year’s sponsor list is made up almost entirely of political action committees and campaigns, with very few corporate sponsors.
As of Thursday, the publicly listed companies on the sponsor list were tobacco giant Artoria Houston-based electric and natural gas utility Centerpoint Energy.
Patriot Mobile is the only mobile app in Japan that offersConservative Christian Wireless Provider” was also on the list, as was Conn’s HomePlus.
But the Texas Republican Party’s state convention isn’t the only one losing corporate sponsors.
Corporate contributions to the state party’s general fundraising account have fallen to the lowest level in at least a decade, he said. Texas Tribune.
The tech giant Google He has donated money to the Texas Republican Party, according to campaign finance records.
Similar situations have occurred at more than six companies: BNSF RailwayTexas-based railroad giant BSNF’s last donation to the Texas Republican Party was $5,000 in 2019, records show.
Since then, no money has entered the state party’s coffers from either BNSF or Google, according to campaign finance reports. A Google representative declined to comment. BNSF did not respond to a request for comment.
But campaign finance records show Verizon and Union Pacific have each donated at least $5,000 to the Texas Republican Party this year.
As the Texas Republican Party continues to move further to the right, some corporations that once regularly supported the party are now pulling back on their contributions, state campaign finance records show.
Texas political activists and fundraisers told CNBC that former corporate sponsors are weary of the Texas Republican Party’s anti-business rhetoric, bitter internal infighting and increasingly conservative policy stances.
For example, a law enacted in 2022 would ban abortions in Texas except in rare and extreme circumstances and allow for the prosecution of doctors and health care workers. Abbott signed the bill. Prohibits gender-affirming medical treatment for minors.
Earlier this year, Texas The Public School Investment Fund withdrew $8.5 billion from management. Black RockBlackRock argued that this was due to the company’s reluctance to invest in fossil fuels, a claim the company denied.
“I understand why companies don’t want to participate in the tournament because [Republican] “It’s an organization that attacks Republican officeholders,” said Wayne Hamilton, a longtime Republican activist and former executive director of the RPT.
Hamilton and other political consultants who spoke to CNBC noted that the state party has taken the unusual step of formally censuring Texas House Republican Speaker Dade Phelan and U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas).
Phelan is Condemned Republican role in impeaching state attorneys general Ken PaxtonGonzales is bipartisan. Gun Safety Laws in Congress and for voting in favor of a bill codifying the right. Same-sex marriage.
Despite having few concrete legal implications, the reprimand has real political implications for Messrs. Phelan and Gonzalez, who face runoff elections in the Republican primary on May 28.
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