What Has Happened to the Republican Party in Montgomery County Texas?

What
Has Happened to the Republican Party in Montgomery County Texas?

You can’t
look at your phone or your local news station without seeing the turmoil going
on in our nation and our state. But it doesn’t stop there if you are a
concerned Republican voter in Montgomery County!

Montgomery
County has been known as “The Red County that got Ted Cruz across the finish
line and helped get Trump elected.” But
if you have had the opportunity to check out the “Montgomery County Republican
Party” recently you will find that it is no longer a unified front to compete
against the Democrats that are trying to divide our country from within, we are
now dividing our own party.

If you do
a search on the Internet for “Montgomery County Republican Party of Texas”) you
will notice it begins with our Montgomery County Executive Committee website,
followed by their Facebook Page, followed by a Conservative Voter Guide
(created by the Tea Party), then a local business site, then “Montgomery County
Republican Party votes not to support Texas Lawmakers…”

If you
click on the “News Releases” tab under the first site (Montgomery County
Republican Party of Texas GOP, the first article mentioned is “Update from
County Chair Gwen Withrow,” then “CEC Votes to Deny Support to Censured Representatives
Bell and Metcalf.”

It seems
the Republican Party Leadership which was once a well-oiled conservative
machine that supported the rights of our citizens, our constitution, and our
conservative principles is trying to take away those rights. They have lost sight of the fact that we
already have an accountability process in place—elections! If you are not pleased with a candidate’s
actions, you, as a voter, elect a different candidate at the next election. The CEC’s purpose is to represent the
Republican Party of Montgomery County as a whole, not to endorse or favor one
Republican candidate over another. The Primary Elections are held to allow the
voters the choice of which candidate will be on the ballot to represent our
party. Is the present CEC really representing the true Republican voters of
Montgomery County, or are they just supporting candidates they select? Do they believe they can take away our right
to vote for the candidates of our own choosing by changing their By-laws so
they can control who the candidates should be, and do they have the right to
tell the elected candidate how they should do their job?

The recent
turmoil that has taken place in our Montgomery County Republican Party began when
the new CEC leadership took office in 2024. A few of them made the decision that
it was now their job to determine who the Speaker of the House in Texas would
be. Instead of allowing our elected representatives to do the job they were
elected to do, the CEC tried to pressure and intimidate them with a threat of
“Censure” to elect the person the CEC wanted as Speaker. If this is the new role of the CEC, why would
we need to elect Representatives at all?

Thankfully,
our elected Representatives Metcalf and Bell did their job and voted for the
Republican Representative they felt would best serve the House and the citizens
they represent, even with “Censure” threat. But, realizing the integrity of
these two men as being “True” Republicans that would not bow to the CEC’s
pressure, the power-hungry members of the Montgomery CEC leadership team began
laying the groundwork right after they took office in 2024 before the Speaker
selection to remove them from the ballot.
This began with them rewriting their By-Laws so they would have grounds
to utilize the State CEC’s newly written “Censure” resolution.

But why would
our Montgomery Republican Party want to get rid of some of the most productive,
conservative, trustworthy Representatives we have had in the State? Will Metcalf has been the Author, Co-Author
or Joint Author of over 362 bills and Sponsored, Joint Sponsored and
Co-Sponsored 70 bills in just the current 89^th Regular Session.
These bills have directly or indirectly supported the citizens of Montgomery
County. This is just one example of why
he was elected to serve in this position for the last 3 terms. He is in his position because the voters felt
he was the best candidate. Is it because
one of his former opponents (the recently resigned Vice Chair of the CEC) was already
planning to replace him as the Republican candidate on the upcoming ballot or
is the Montgomery CEC really trying to control who our elected officials should
be?

Who is
behind this detrimental change in the purpose of the CEC and why? Are they so power-hungry that they feel it is
warranted to destroy the unity of the Montgomery Republican Party? Are they really
willing to take the chance and let the Democrats take control and turn
Montgomery County “Purple” or worse yet, “Blue?”

The CEC
Chairperson ran on the promise of bringing unity to our party, but the abrupt takeover
of the party’s funding and the move of the established headquarters from its
centrally located headquarters in Conroe to an office location owned by their
newly appointed CEC attorney was not a good start. Trying to remove elected
officials from the ballot even though the evidence they provided did not meet the
State’s resolution was outrageous. The
evidence they sited of a Democrat not being able to hold a “Committee Chair”
position had to be stretched to include “Co-chairs” (which was plainly not
listed in the State’s Resolution) just to try to meet the State’s “3” incidents requirement. Don’t they realize that we live with a
two-party system and sometimes Democratic votes are needed to get things passed!

Thankfully,
the Montgomery CEC’s resolution did not receive enough votes by the Precinct
Chairs to pass, although the CEC leadership would have you believe it did. So next they started using intimidation and
harassment tactics to have current Precinct Chairs who did not agree with them
to resign. They also made the decision
to go ahead and punish Metcalf and Bell by disallowing their candidate
information and signs from being available to the public in the local Republican
Party Office, whose purpose is to support all Republican candidates.

To ensure
their power over the Precinct Chairs, the CEC leaders decided to create a “Vacancy
Committee” which would use a “vetting process” to select new Precinct Chairs. With
this in place they have been able to select Precinct Chairs who would go along
with what they want, and during these last two years under the present
leadership, the CEC has replaced over 15 Precinct Chairs with 5 newly appointed
by the Vacancy Committee at the January 2026 Meeting, with more to be
appointed. According to the CEC’s Minutes from that
January meeting, under the “Vacancy Committee Report,” when one of the current
Precinct Chairs asked if she could obtain a copy of the vetting questions, she
was told by the Vacancy Committee Chair, that “the questions are available on
the website as part of the application and that personal interview questions
were not “stock” and are spontaneously asked by committee members.” Does this sound
like the CEC Chair is trying to grow the party, or are they just encouraging hand-picked
applicants to be Precinct Chairs so they can control the party? (It makes you
wonder who may not have met the vetting criteria.)

Not only is
the CEC leadership encouraging uncooperative Precinct Chairs to leave the
Republican Party, they have been passing other resolutions to keep other Montgomery
County Republican organizations and PACs from supporting or endorsing any
Republican candidate (not of their choosing) through the distribution of voter
guides or by using the word “Republican” or any symbol representing Republican
party in the candidate’s literature by threatening to take “lawful action.” But the CEC is also relying heavily on the “Tea
Party” PAC to represent them which utilizes an icon/symbol for their PAC that
is very similar to the CEC’s icon, so they would not be included in the
organizations addressed in this Resolution. It is sad that they are utilizing the Texas
Tea Party’s good name, which was once considered to be an upstanding
conservative party that pushed to get Ted Cruz elected to promote their own voter
guide and initiatives.

These divisive
tactics are not uniting our Republican Party.
Presently there are many very good candidates running for office that
may not be the choice of the CEC, and many reputable PACS and Clubs that
support these candidates and our Republican Party, but they are being
ostracized by the CEC. They have also,
by pushing their resolutions and their selected candidates, allowed untruthful
articles to be written, and have encouraged and/or promoted their followers to
write these slanderous articles about various candidates and/or reputable
Republican organizations in various media which they endorse. This is dividing the party even more.

And, to
further disassociate themselves from others who may disagree with their
resolutions they have gone so far as to attack our local Republican Women’s
Clubs by no longer allowing them to serve as volunteers at the Republican headquarters,
even banning some club members from entering the premises, and have openly condemned
the Republican Voters of Texas PAC for distributing voter guides and other
materials that support local Republican candidates. Members of the CEC and
their selected candidates have even been regularly attending various club
meetings and have intimidated members and speakers and caused disruptions at
the meetings. This is an example of some more of the same Democratic tactics
that have been used against President Trump.

According
to the CEC’s website, their “Mission Statement” the Montgomery County
Republican Party is “…committed to honoring God by exhibiting the highest
levels of honesty, integrity, and accountability. …” Do they really believe they are exhibiting these
characteristics especially after all the
slander and gossip they have used against Representative Metcalf and his family? It is no wonder Metcalf’s motto this year is “Make Lying Wrong Again!.” It also
seems very hypocritical to state they are honoring God by using His church building
to host meetings and “Party Conventions” as a front with the slander,
gossiping, and use of intimidation and harassment tactics, (or just plain
“dirty politics”) taking place. I wonder if the parishioners are in agreement
with this or if they really know what is happening.

As an example,
I personally witnessed their intimidation firsthand when the CEC leadership
changed the publicized time for the candidate meeting to an earlier time making
sure the representatives they wanted to attend were aware of the new time, when
others were not. They sent out information
about the change in a manner that was easily accessible to all the representatives
after having it in written form during the elections. One elderly lady in
particular that did not have access to
the Internet came to register that morning for the meeting with her printed
invitation and credentials in hand. She
had received the printed information showing the specified time for the meeting
during her precinct meeting, but she was denied entrance. She had not received the on-line message with
the change of times, and the CEC representative at the door would not allow her
or her other legitimate candidates to enter the meeting because the “Vice
Chair” had already started the meeting. This
outright refusal to let her enter was not an example of what could be
considered being a Christian, especially when it resulted with the lady in tears
thinking she let down the voters in her precinct. Instead of allowing her to
take her rightful place in the meeting, the person at the door’s actions
intimidated and publicly embarrassed her as she was sent to another room to “get
permission” from one of the CEC’s organizers.
(Jesus ran the “money changers” out of the temple, I wonder how he
would have viewed this.)

And
furthermore, taking a quote from the “anonymous” author of a Letter to
the Editor in the January 14, 2026, Montgomery County News (https://montgomerycountynews.net/dont-california-our-texas-the-metcalf-mouthpiece-republican-women-p14121-92.htm) “Contrary to the message of courage and
engaging in open dialog, and free debate that Turning Point USA President
Charlie Kirk died for, this organization (referencing the North Shore
Republican Women’s Organization) openly and hypocritically claims to
“Promote Republican Party candidates by keeping members informed of all
campaigns.” His letter is just another
example of the “misinformation” and innuendos being spread by a so-called proponent
of the CEC Leadership team’s candidate. The
North Shore Republican Women’s organization does abide by their “By-Laws.” The organization does not promote one
Republican Candidate above another. They
do promote “all” of the Republican Candidates after the primary
elections have taken place and the Republican Candidates are selected for the
ballot. The NSRW’s organization recognizes
all elected officials and candidates at each meeting, and funding is
provided to those candidates who have been selected to be on the ballot, especially
those who have Democratic opponents. Each
year the NSRW hosts a Candidate Forum open to the public which provides an
opportunity for all candidates who wish to participate to address the
voters of Montgomery County so the voters can make their own decisions. This
year the forum was put on by three of the Republican Women’s Organizations in
Montgomery County and the opposition candidate along with Representative
Metcalf participated. But unfortunately, one of the agreed upon parameters of
the event was broken by one of the opposing candidate’s supporters at the event
when he yelled “Traitor!” during Representative Metcalf’s speech.
Does this lack of respect by the
supporter represent the “integrity” of the opposing candidate?

As a
rebuttal to the “Anonymous” writer’s accusations, the President of the NSRW,
who is definitely a “True Republican,” always acknowledges both elected
officials and candidates at each event, especially if they have signed in at
the registration table. Various elected
officials and other special guests are asked to present the pledges, lead in
prayers and are sometimes asked to be guest speakers, which is a practice of
the CEC and is used by many organizations.
This does not mean that the organization or its leader is a “mouthpiece”
for any certain candidate, it just shows respect for our elected
officials. A table is also provided for all
candidates to provide their electoral literature for members to pick up if they
wish to do so, but the meeting is not held to promote one candidate over
another. It is no wonder you did not
sign your name to your article as your whole article made slanderous comments
about several people and probably did a disservice to your candidate if your
stance is representative of your candidate’s values and what you consider to be
a “Real Republican!”

With that
said, it is my hope that the voters of Montgomery County will use their own critical
thinking skills to do the research on all the candidates in the upcoming
election(s) and not depend on or be swayed by the unjustified opinions, slander
and gossip that has been put forward by others.
God gave all of us a brain, His Spirit gives us a sense of what is right
and wrong, Jesus modeled His Commandments for us to live by, and Charlie Kirk’s
legacy reminds us that we each should be able to express our own opinions in an
appropriate manner, and that by using facts based on truth, not innuendos and
gossip to try to persuade others to understand our points of view, but always
respect the other’s opinions. We all need to do this to help us come together
as a unified party. Hopefully the current
CEC can review their true purpose of providing voting integrity and let the
candidates do their own politicking. Help
us to truly grow our Republican Party instead of alienating those who support our
Republican ideals (even if they were a Republican from California or other
state and those who have decided to leave the Democratic Party. Many of us may have
at one time or another voted for someone in a different party before making the
commitment to be a True Republican.) That’s
how Trump won his election!

I encourage
you, if the CEC hasn’t already removed the information from their website (as
they have recently added “closed meetings” and are not publishing all of the
resolutions that have been taking place in the meetings, to go back and read
the minutes of the CEC meetings and the Resolutions they have proposed since
they took office in 2024. Hopefully, they will realize they have morphed into
something they were not designed to be. We
can all get a little zealous at times wanting to improve our world.

Submitted
by a Concerned Republican Voter,

Deborah
Graham