Another shoe dropped for local Republican Party officials on Friday, when they learned that the Fort Bend County GOP has been procedurally frozen in place by the sudden resignations of its chairman and top officers.

County GOP Chairman Gary Gillen stunned political officials and activists Thursday when he announced that he and party Treasurer Richard McCarter, Secretary Nancy Porter and Parliamentarian Dick Hudgins had resigned over continuing political differences with what Gillen called “fringe elements” within the party.

Then on Friday, members of the local GOP Executive Committee learned that they are at least temporarily unable to appoint even an interim chairman to replace Gillen.

According to the Texas Election Code, if the county party chairman’s position becomes vacant, the party secretary is to call a meeting “for the purpose of filling it.” But with no party secretary either, it’s up to the Texas Republican Party chair, “on written request of a member of the county executive committee,” to call a meeting to fill the county chairman vacancy.

But There’s A Catch
Terese Raia, a member of both the county and State Republican Party executive committees, called State GOP Chairman Tina Benkiser Friday morning to discuss the election code stipulation and to strike a plan to find a replacement chairman for Fort Bend County.

Raia said Benkiser asked if county Executive Committee members had received party Secretary Porter’s written resignation.

“The caveat is, we do not have written notification that Nancy has resigned,” Raia said Friday morning. “Until we find out in writing that she truly resigned, nothing can happen. We are at a standstill. The party cannot call a meeting.”

“That is sort of where we find the situation,” State Republican Party Political and Communications Director Hans Klingler acknowledged Friday afternoon. “Our hope is…we will receive that sort of legal notification so we can move forward. We’re still trying to get our arms around this, too.”

Porter did not immediately respond to a call seeking clarification on whether she has officially resigned.

Gillen made his announcement at a luncheon meeting of the West Fort Bend Republican Women, at Katy’s Falcon Point Country Club on Thursday, saying, “We’re facing nothing less than a hostile takeover” of the county Republican Party.

Clash Becomes Permanent
While mentioning no one by name, he spoke of a “small group” of people on the county GOP Executive Committee with whom he’s repeatedly clashed since he became party chairman in May 2006.

That clash spilled into the courts on Jan. 3, 2007, when the Republican Party of Fort Bend County, in the person of the executive committee, filed a lawsuit against Gillen, saying he diverted money from the party by attempting to operate the party’s Lincoln Day fund-raiser through another organization.

More recently, attorney and Precinct Chairman David Stone sent an email to Gillen, McCarter and the GOP General Counsel Farha Ahmed, in which he detailed instances where he said party officials failed to comply with election law.

In the email, Stone alleges, among other things, that Gillen has used party funds for in-kind contributions to local and federal candidates but failed to report it as required by law. Gillen denies there’s truth to Stone’s statements.

Ironically, several precinct committee chairman said earlier this week that they probably would call a special executive committee meeting shortly, to discuss Stone’s email.

But without official written notification from Porter that she indeed has resigned, that apparently isn’t going to happen soon.

Said Raia: “This is another obstructionist move on their part.”

County GOP Chairman Gary Gillen stunned political officials and activists Thursday when he announced that he and party Treasurer Richard McCarter, Secretary Nancy Porter and Parliamentarian Dick Hudgins had resigned over continuing political differences with what Gillen called “fringe elements” within the party.

Then on Friday, members of the local GOP Executive Committee learned that they are at least temporarily unable to appoint even an interim chairman to replace Gillen.

According to the Texas Election Code, if the county party chairman’s position becomes vacant, the party secretary is to call a meeting “for the purpose of filling it.” But with no party secretary either, it’s up to the Texas Republican Party chair, “on written request of a member of the county executive committee,” to call a meeting to fill the county chairman vacancy.