Republican Party of Texas Vice Chair\u00a0D\u2019rinda Randall became the party\u2019s new leader Friday after defeating her former running mate, incumbent Chair Abraham George, shaking up the top of the state\u2019s majority party ahead of the fall midterm elections.<\/p>\n
Randall, who first became involved in GOP politics nearly two decades ago, campaigned on her accomplishments as the party\u2019s second-in-command during the last two years, touting financial wins like the return of certain convention corporate sponsors and her support for grassroots members, pointing to volunteer training she led.<\/p>\n
George conceded in a social media post<\/a> shortly before Friday\u2019s general session at the convention began.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile this race has come to an end, our mission continues,\u201d he said. \u201cNow is the time to come together, unite behind our Republican nominees, support the entire Republican ticket in November, advance our legislative priorities in the next session, and continue standing firmly for the conservative principles outlined in our platform.\u201d<\/p>\n George\u2019s tenure came to an end after a memorable two-year run that saw the party claim long-sought legislative victories<\/a> in Austin, including private school vouchers<\/a> and a variety of socially conservative new laws. That productivity, driven by a hard-right turn in the Texas House, reduced the infighting that has plagued<\/a> the Texas GOP in recent years. Attorney General Ken Paxton<\/a> led a long list of elected officials and activists lining up behind George, while Randall touted a much narrower stable of backers.<\/p>\n Still, the party is not marching completely in lockstep and old divisions continue to pit factions against each other, which created the opening for Randall and her running mate, David Covey \u2014 who unsuccessfully ran against former House Speaker Dade Phelan<\/a> of Beaumont in the 2024 primaries \u2014 to challenge George, at times knocking him for insufficient backing of the party\u2019s hardline grassroots.<\/p>\n Some of Randall\u2019s supporters also charged that the incumbent chair has been too welcoming to establishment Republicans, after he warmed up to Phelan\u2019s successor, House Speaker Dustin Burrows<\/a>, following initial reservations over his election aided by Democrats.<\/p>\n George also faced criticism earlier this week from a member of the State Republican Executive Committee, the party\u2019s governing board, who claimed the party was taking a $651,000 loss to run the convention. In a response, George said the deficit was closer to $100,000 and would end up in the black \u201cwhen you factor in the registrations that will be paid over the next couple of days.\u201d<\/p>\n