Please describe what you believe are the most significant issues in this race, why and what you'll do to address them?

The most significant issue in this race is whether or not our party will remain a bottom-up, transparent, grassroots-led organization. Because we have built such stellar grassroots teams across the state, our Party has set records in fundraising, candidate recruitment and training, and the number of platform planks that have been addressed in a single session. We must continue this momentum if we are to win in 2020 and get even more of our platform and priorities addressed in 2021.

Do you promise, if elected, to abide by the RPT platform? And if not, please enumerate what problems you have. 

Of course. I have been 100% consistent in abiding by the RPT platform and defending and promoting it vigorously in the media and legislature.

What differentiates you from your opponents?

I volunteered and donated my time, talent, and resources to the Party for many years- before ever running for Chair. I attended SREC meetings and became a delegate to Precinct, Senate District, State, and even National Conventions- before ever running for Chair. I blockwalked, phonebanked, registered voters, and helped Conservative Texas Republicans get elected to local City Councils- before ever running for Chair. I advocated for our Party platform and priorities at every level of government, before, during, and even after session, and yes, even before I became Chair. 

What best describes your political ideology most(circle only one).   
1.        Republican                     
2.        Grassroots                     
3.        Conservative
4.        Tea Party

I have a significant challenge circling only one. I am literally a combination of all of the above. All of my life I have campaigned for, donated to, and supported Republican candidates and officeholders, and once again immersed myself into politics in 2008 via the Precinct, Senate District, State, and National Conventions as a delegate and alternate delegate. I have stayed involved in the Party either as Precinct, County or State Chair ever since. 

In2009, I was one of the co-founders of the Dallas Tea Party, and I am very proud of the work we did through that to bring increased activism opportunities to people who had not been involved in the Party previously. 

Then in 2012, I restarted the Central Texas Republican Assembly and was a National Vice President of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies. Our tagline was literally “the Republican wing of the Republican Party,” and our mission was to vet, endorse, and support the most Conservative candidates inside contested Republican primaries. 

All of my work the whole time within the party has been to reinforce the fact that we are a uniquely Grassroots-led organization. No other state party is as bottom-up as we are, and that is our unique strength. I have always respected that it is the delegates who properly have the authority in the RPT and that their authority is delegated to the SREC, Chair, and Vice Chair between conventions. As Chair, and as one running for re-election as Chair, if you make me pick one, I would therefore pick that I am Grassroots - and proud of it, and proud of the fact that also makes me pro-Republican-Party - the way we do Republican Party in Texas - led by the Grassroots.

Please list 3 federal agencies that are popular in our culture and should be abolished

Department of Education, Department of Energy, and Department of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms

Should Texas GOP limit their elected officials to 8 years or less from the same office, even though it will force some good candidates to leave an office?

Our platform calls for 12-year term limits for state and federal offices. I have 100% consistently stood for our platform, and as long as I am Chair I will fight for what the delegates determine is the Party’s position. So, yes there should be limits, but it should be 12 not 8 per the convention delegates via our platform.

When you leave office what accomplishment/s do you want to be your hallmark, your legacy, and why?

My objective as Chairman has been to build the Party to be substantially better off than it was when I arrived in every possible way. More support, better relationships with candidates, elected officials, and the grassroots. Better financial position. Improved tools and operations. Better data and processes and a culture of transparency and effective advocacy for our principles. All to elect more Republicans to maintain the White House, maintain and gain on our majorities at the federal and state levels and to win back in the U.S. and Texas Houses and the county and local levels in 2020. We have achieved success on the operations front to build the machine for 2020. I am running for re-election to see my plans through, execute on the plans made, and win from the White House to the courthouse in November. I am the most prepared and qualified to do just that and finish what I have started.

What form of federal tax law do you support (e.g., current, flat tax, fair tax, other) and why?

Taxation inherently discourages what is taxed. So an income tax is pernicious, as it discourages work. All things being equal, the best form of taxation is a consumption-based tax - which is why our Legislative Priority recommends replacing the school M&O portion of the state property tax with a consumption-based tax. Plus, for the first 130 years of our existence, that was primarily how the Federal government was funded - via tariffs, which are a consumption-based tax. So I’d recommend a consumption-based tax at all levels - including the Federal level.

Do you believe the Second Amendment grants an individual right or a militia right?

The second amendment (as with all of the rest of the Bill of Rights) does not grant any right. It merely enumerates a protection of one of our inalienable, God-given rights. In this case, the right to defend ourselves from those who would seek to harm us and our liberties from tyrannical governments who would seek to violate those rights. So the 2nd Amendment protects, not grants, an individual right, as correctly (finally) affirmed by the Supreme Court in the Heller case.

Please explain your interpretation of the Tenth Amendment and the principle of nullification. Do states have a right of nullification? What should the federal government do if a state attempts nullification?

As specified in Plank 55 of our platform, “federally mandated legislation that infringes upon the 10th Amendment rights of Texas, should be ignored, opposed, refused, and nullified. Regulation of Commerce in Article I Section 8 of the Constitution has exceeded the original intent. All attempts by the federal judiciary to rule in areas not expressly enumerated by the United States Constitution should be likewise nullified.” Nullification properly executed is simply the state refusing to acknowledge federal overreach. That should happen much more often than it does. The federal government should stand down if an attempted overreach is thwarted by nullification, and it likely would in most cases. 

Do you support or oppose federal funding for Planned Parenthood and other agencies that perform abortions, both in the U.S. and abroad (even if they use money derived from other sources)?

As it says in plank 262, “We support completely eliminating public funding for Planned Parenthood and any other abortion providers and all their affiliates.” So I oppose all federal funding for them, regardless of location. I testified on pro-life legislation in the 2013 legislature before I was RPT Chairman, when I was a County Chairman, and in subsequent sessions because opposition to abortion has been a consistent position of mine all my life.

At what point should the "right to life" or "personhood" be granted to new human beings (e.g., at conception, birth, 5 days old, etc)? What action, if any, will you take to reflect this in law?

At conception. I will continue to fight for all efforts to reduce and abolish abortion (per our Legislative Priority on the issue) at every single opportunity.

Do you support or oppose allowing parents direct the flow of federal education funds (e.g., to their school or home school of choice)? Support? Oppose? Please explain.

Growing up in Fort Worth, I attended private schools, public schools, and a magnet school, I personally benefited very much from school choice. My older two children attended public schools, and our youngest is currently home schooled. So I am a huge fan of parents choosing what they believe is best for their children overall.

Platform plank 133 says, “Texas families should be empowered to choose from public, private, charter, or homeschool options for their children’s education, using tax credits or exemptions without government restraints or intrusion.” Plank 131 says, “Under the US Constitution, the power to regulate education is reserved exclusively to the States and to the people.” So: 1. I favor the abolition of the Department of Education and the end of federal education funds. 2. Our platform debate on school choice vehemently opposed the use of tax dollars flowing into non-government schools, as with those dollars inevitably come government regulation and overreach. 

I therefore would oppose the direction of direct tax dollars into any private or home school, especially unconstitutional federal education tax dollars. However, I would support the use of tax credits or exemptions, provided they had an arms-length separation that avoided the intrusion of government regulations as a result.

Do you agree with precinct chairs involvement in republican primaries? Why or why not?

I believe in freedom of speech and the right of self-governance. Therefore I would fight for a Precinct Chair’s right - unless the applicable EC had passed rules to the contrary - to endorse and advocate in a Primary. However, as County Chair I advocated for a rule that prevented me as a County Chair from taking sides in that role, and I am a fan of the similar rule we have at the RPT because in those roles - unlike the Precinct Chair - we are legally responsible for the free and fair conduction of the Primary election. 

What's your impression of GOP Speaker Dennis Bonnen after he was caught offering a Quid Pro Quo to Empower Texans Michael Quinn Sullivan?  Should Speaker Bonnen resign?  Should he suffer legal ramifications for his action/s?

Speaker Bonnen clearly lied after the meeting to the House members. They are the body that elects the Speaker, and being caught in those lies destroyed his ability to retain their trust. That led to his announced decision to not run for re-election either as a House member or as Speaker. The Republican Caucus has not asked for his resignation and neither has the SREC. Legal ramifications are the decision of the relevant investigators and prosecutors, not the RPT.

Is there anything in your background of an embarrassing nature that should be explained before your election? Arrests/Convictions? Bankruptcys?

I settled a civil lawsuit with the SEC 15 years ago for $35,000. Terms of the settlement require that I neither admit or deny the allegations involved. This was made very well known during the last Chair race to all the delegates, and I still won 70% of the Senate District votes.

What, if anything, should be done to protect our borders from illegal immigration?

Platform plank 287 covers this really well: “effectively secure the border through whatever means necessary, including but not limited to barriers, a border wall, or fence everywhere along the border where it is feasible and useful, as well as personnel and technology over land, sea, and air.” Plank 290 also adds the elimination of illegal immigration magnets: “No tax dollars should be provided for social or educational programs for illegal aliens. All existing laws providing for in-state tuition and non-emergency medical care shall be rescinded. All non-verifiable foreign-issued identification cards shall be legally invalid in the United States.”

Amnesty comes in many forms.  What's your view as it pertains to Texas?

Plank 286 is crystal clear: “Any form of amnesty with regard to immigration policy should not be granted, including the granting of legal status to persons in the country illegally.”

Do you support or oppose the referendum passed by both the MoCo GOP Executive Committee and SREC to allow voters, at the statewide level, to decide in the voting booth whether or not they want a particular toll road?  Why or why not?

Our platform opposes the use of tolls once the cost of the road has been recovered or if it was paid for by tax dollars. Platform plank 44 says, “We believe that tolls should come off the road when the debt is retired, and if the debt is ever restructured or refinanced, the pay-off date needs to remain the same or receive voter approval in order to extend the toll tax longer.”

Since the platform clearly advocates for voter approval for extensions of tolls, it is totally appropriate to advocate for requiring voter approval before starting a toll / toll road as well.

What does being a conservative mean to you?

Being a conservative means believing in limited government while holding onto the moral principles of our Founding Fathers. Recognizing that if we fail to be good, our nation will fail to be great. As individuals, we must advocate for a moral and just society because absent those morals, government will run amuck - and liberty, freedom and opportunity will all be lost for ourselves and our posterity.