Harris County Republican Party Precinct 0459 – Audra Deaver

Have you ever been surprised at the voting booth? Well, I have and its not a pleasant feeling after what I thought was adequate due diligence on my part, turned out to be a dismal failure. Leaving the voting booth with that uneasy, did I vote for the right person? feeling frankly sucks. Even with the invention of the World Wide Web, finding who’s on your ballot is not easy. And I haven’t even started on researching candidates. Why is it so hard?

Well after my own recent experiences with local elections as a candidate, campaign strategist, and get-out-the-vote novice, I can tell you the lack of information floating around is baked into the cake. And that cake has layers. Namely culture wars, narratives, leverage, agendas, relationships or lack thereof, peer pressure, name calling, censorship, and party politics. It’s one big complicated layered cake.

I do have good news though! There is hope and it’s called the precinct strategy. Both major political parties run parallel in terms of organization with local precinct number. You might ask…What do you mean precincts? I’m not talking about constable precincts, or county level precincts. I am talking about your voting precinct. That’s right, the one on your voter registration card. The one you’ve probably never even looked at before. Go take a look at it. Yeah, like right now. I’ll wait right here….

Hmmm, can’t find it? Ok, for those of you in Harris County, go HERE to search for your Voter Registration card.

What’s that? Nothing is coming up for you in the search? Ok. it’s official. You’ve been under a rock in recent years so you’ll need to go HERE to get registered to vote in Harris County. Welcome back!

Now, on to the precinct level organization. In the fall of 2020, most conservatives received a gut punch in terms of elections on the national level. That’s when I started really paying attention and kept hearing about the precinct level strategy. It empowers people like us to actually get off the couch and DO something that matters. This is what I call taking responsibility for the crap hole our nation is in, one person at a time. And when we all get engaged at a local level, it will change this county, this state, and this nation from the bottom up.

So, here is where I get into what the precinct strategy is and how it benefits you, the conservatives next door to you, down the street from you, at your local grocery store, in your school district, your public library, your home owners associations, your municipal utility district, your city council, and for the love of God and all that is Holy YOUR very own Harris County Commissioners Court (“HCCC”). More, about that later…

Harris County is the third largest county in the nation. We all know, sometimes it could take 2 solid hours to get across town without ever leaving Harris county. 4.68M people is a lot of bodies to organize. However! the registered voters among the 4.68M people ARE organized in terms of voting by way of voting precincts. The Harris County Republican Party has a huge task in Houston, Texas. That is, delegate power down to the local precinct level to strategize, form relationships between neighbors ultimately informing and encouraging voters to cast ballots along Conservative party lines. Precinct Chairs also help run elections and contribute to the management of the Harris County Republican Party by participating in the County Executive Committee meetings, deliberations and votes. Precinct chairs can participate on as many levels as they have time for: local, county, state, and national.

That’s right, this organization exists nationwide. It all starts – at the precinct level. For example, my precinct contains about 4,400 registered voters. As precinct chair, I can handle that. Over time, with hard work, perseverance, and networking, I (along with 10 dedicated volunteers aka Block Captains) can reach about 4,000 people without issue.

Now, do I agree with everything the Harris County Republican Party does or does not do? Absolutely not. But, I will add I’d be a fool to throw the baby out with the bath water, among often futile disagreements when I’ve got the long game as my driving force. I say, use the existing party organization to enhance it rather than break it down. And, I’d like to add taking disagreement personally mixed in with a little vendetta on the side is the quickest way to shatter the glass at the proverbial “party”. It is politics but into today’s world, if we don’t engage sooner rather than later – who knows what type of nation we’ll be handing over to our grandchildren.

Now, back on point. It is also very important to note in the state of Texas, precinct chairs are office holders aka elected officials who actually take an oath of office. Did you know, if you volunteer as a precinct chair and there are two or more people in your precinct trying to do the same thing – both of you will appear on the ballot in the next primary election? Then of course, only voters in your precinct (i.e. your neighbors) will see it on their ballot. Which brings me back to the whole surprised feeling inside the voting booth. Let’s try to get away from that, shall we? Find out who your precinct chair is and go meet them!

Precinct Chairs are your most local party official. As a citizen of your community, your precinct chair is your go-to person when you have an issue at the local government level. Precinct chairs know who to call! If they don’t, they definitely know who to ask. And, where primaries come into play, your precinct chair has already sifted through the conservative candidates to know who’s a RINO, and who’s not. Any precinct chair worth their salt, know the candidates on your ballot. Like they’ve met them personally on more than one occasion. You see, all candidates want to meet the precinct chairs so they can get endorsements because candidates trust precinct chairs do their jobs. Candidates assume precinct chairs know their neighbors enough to inform them who to vote for. See how that works?

Let me, reemphasize the precinct strategy with a video for you before I wrap up.

Precinct Strategy Rumble Video

If you want to know more about who your precinct chair is, go to the Harris County Republican Party website to find out more. There you can also sign up to volunteer. Oftentimes, volunteering is the number one best way to dip your toes into your local pool of politics to see if it’s a good fit for you. I encourage you now to get involved without hesitation though. Time is running out for the upcoming 2023 November election and then it’s on to the Primaries in 2024. I also want to point out, every even year is when the party holds precinct and senatorial district conventions leading up to the Republic party of Texas convention where you can be a state delegate. My most recent experience in this was 2022 where the whole process fascinated me, really. Hello Constitutional Republic and Robert’s Rules on a mass scale! My suggestion… Get involved now so you too can ride the “Red” wave into the state convention wherever you live. You won’t regret it and you’ll meet some really great people during the process.

Conversely, it’s likely you are not going to like every human you meet; however, if you ask yourself “What is my task and what is my purpose?” And, if your answer is…. “to save this County (as in Harris County)” – This County will be saved! One Harris County voter at a time! To those of you who vaguely recognize that phrase, welcome. You’re my people!

Until Next Time –