By Ronnie Lewis
The election is over and voters came out and voted for change in our local GOP. Hopefully, we can unite and get on with a positive future. A lot was involved to bring in this change. I along with my sister worked for over a year to give voters a realistic take on what the Ector County Republican Party had become over the last five years.
We said over and over it wasn’t “the Party” but only the Party Chair and her appointed precinct chairs. The word “appointed” and the word “elected” was fought over like ground on a battlefield. My sister and I along with others that joined along the way believed the precinct chairs were appointed by each other, while the County Chair, but mainly her husband demanded that they be called “elected” even though we all knew they elected each other.
Some of the precinct chairs unethically used the word “re-elect” on their campaign signs and they’d never gone through a Primary Election in order to legally use that term. As the election results came in, we all learned it is much more difficult to get elected by voters than it is to get elected by a group of like minded friends.
During this campaign the term “endorsed by the Ector County Republican Party” was also unethically used since not one local Republican was asked his or her opinion about an endorsement. Jeff Russell who just lost his third attempt to get elected in Ector County filed Ethics Complaints on me days prior to the election. One of the complaints is “I am masquerading as the Republican Party” but now that the vote is in and I won my race by 73% and 13 other candidates that were not “endorsed by the local GOP” also won, it’s clear that Jeff Russell was “masquerading” as The Republican Party.
I had worked for over a year talking to voters all over Ector County while I absolutely knew the Republican County Chair and her hand picked precinct chairs were in a vacuum. I knew they weren’t “The Party” because I was talking with the actual Republican voters.
The night before Election Day, I was a little apprehensive thinking how more prepared they would be at manning polling places with volunteers, but to my surprise I saw no volunteers for their side while our side had ample volunteers cheerfully campaigning all day long in multiple locations.
As the day went on it was very obvious who was actually representing Ector County Republicans and who was just trying to stay in power.
Now that the election is over and a transition will take place in June, we need to unify our local GOP and never allow the ECRP Board to become a private club again. We need to demand that the Party not endorse during a Primary, never allow a candidate to be demeaned or bullied and that all local Republicans are welcome and have a voice.
I’d like to thank all Odessa American subscribers for following the letters to the editor during a time that two separate Facebook pages were being extremely bias and at times outright dishonest only to get their candidates elected. Without the Odessa American to rely on for news, Odessans will be at the mercy of social media led by some very unethical people that will do or say anything to stay in power.
As soon as we get the keys to the Republican Headquarters, you will be seeing positive change. The doors will be open, we will be hosting events, and entertaining politicians. All Republicans will be welcomed. I’m also encouraging all Republicans to join the Ector County Republican Women’s Club. Let’s build both the ECRW and the ECRP. Thanks to Donna Kelm and all the precinct chair candidates that stepped up even though they knew the campaign would be brutal. We’ve built a new family of candidates and volunteers. Come join us. Let’s pull some candidates across the finish line in the May runoff.
Ronnie Lewis is a longtime Odessa businessman who built Dos Amigos.
