By Ronnie Lewis
For months I’ve been writing letters to the editor explaining how Tisha Crow and her hand appointed precinct chairs have weaponized their positions in the Ector County Republican Party. I’ve repeatedly tried to make voters understand what is a precinct chair. No one knew because none of the precinct chairs were fulfilling their duties.
Instead, Tisha Crow and her precinct chairs have been working overtime to take control of every aspect of our city and county government and placing themselves and their cronies on nearly every board in our community. Their aggressive bullying and intimidation tactics have been successful with two city councilmen recently running unopposed. Longtime city employees have been fired, some have retired due to the hostile environment that Mayor Joven, council members Matta and Swanner have fostered, all three part of Tisha Crow’s Executive Board.
I’ve worked for months to ensure Republican Chair Tisha Crow faces an opponent. Threats were made regarding my background and that sparked me to check a few of their backgrounds.
There is nothing in my background, but I’ve had a lot of fun and made a lot of friends while building an iconic restaurant, bar and entertainment venue.
But I found that Tisha Crow had appointed as her vice chair, a man that only started voting in 2020 and also pleaded guilty to two felonies, burglary of a habitation and assault with a deadly weapon where he assaulted a young woman while she cared for an Alzheimer’s patient. Tisha and her executive board had also appointed a petty thief and young woman with felony drug arrests.
These are not attacks, these are facts.
As all this news broke, Tisha Crow and her executive board did not address these charges. Instead, they start calling me “Lying Lewis” and a “democratic operative”.
Thankfully, three of the precinct chairs broke rank and signed the petition for Tisha Crow to face an opponent and prove she can be elected by Ector County voters. Tisha got hit with the reality that she had an opponent just three hours before the filing deadline.
Tisha was also hit with a historic 22 precinct chairs filing to run against her hand picked group of cronies. And boom that hit like a ton of bricks and all of a sudden Tisha and her precinct chairs have stepped out in the open and are desperately writing letters asking for votes.
But for the last six or seven months the same people were working just as hard to deny your right to vote. Politicians are so predictable if they can keep you from voting, they absolutely will, but soon as they have an opponent they get busy and ask for your votes and your support.
Tisha Crow and her husband, Kriston Crow decorated their yard for Christmas with signs and even built a website calling me “Lying Lewis”…… but y’all remember I’ve publicly asked Tisha over and over to have a public discussion with me for months.
If these accusations were true, Tisha being a politician, would love to prove that I’m a liar in an open public setting. But she hid from me and she hid from the voters.
These attacks don’t phase me a bit. I have the support of my family, my friends, my neighbors and the community that I respect so much.
Tisha Crow has been Republican County Chair for 14 years. She has divided the local Republican Party, appointed bullies, appointed Mayor Joven after he lost his precinct chair race and then appointed members of Joven’s family to sit on the board. Let’s stop the cronyism.
Stick with me folks. Let’s clean house in the upcoming coming March primary with early voting starting in February. Vote Donna Kelm to replace Tisha Crow. Let’s put respect and civility back in our local GOP.
I’ve been blocked from Odessa’s Accountability Project Facebook page as they continue to post articles full of inaccuracies and flat out lies about me. How’s that for freedom of speech! Follow my page, Ector County Politics, on Facebook for up to date, accurate, local campaign information. And stay tuned for details for the first major campaign event, “The Party to Restore the Party”!
Ronnie Lewis is a longtime Odessa businessman who founded Dos Amigos.
