Current Chair Acknowledges Conflict

For Immediate Release                                          Contact: Russ Duerstine
April 14, 2010                                                               325-234-7572

Cathie Adams acknowledges conflict of interest, terminates Jeff Fisher's contract.

On March 17, Tom Mechler, candidate for State Chair of the Republican Party of Texas, issued a press release calling for the termination of the RPT’s contract with Jeff Fisher. Fisher, who was officially on payroll as a fundraiser, was doing double duty as a campaign manager for incumbent State Chair Cathie Adams. Adams has shown that she has no campaign expenses; but Fisher, her campaign manager, was under contract to be paid $2,200 a month, with a car, health insurance, and other benefits—all out of the RPT’s pocket! The RPT rules clearly prohibit the use of Party resources to fund a candidate’s campaign for State Chair.

The conflict of interest was evident—but Cathie Adams denied it. She responded to Mechler’s request by stating that Fisher’s work for her campaign had nothing to do with his work on Party fundraising—which, despite increasing debt, she said was doing well. 

One month later, with no public announcement, Jeff Fisher’s contract has been terminated. This admits of a tacit recognition by Cathie Adams of the growing perception of conflicted interests regarding Fisher’s contract.

Mechler responded to the news, saying that “finally she has realized this is a conflict of interest. There needs to be full transparency and accountability to the SREC, which is the oversight committee of the RPT. The State Chairman should always have the complete confidence of the SREC and the entire party, which can be tarnished by these kinds of mistakes."

Mechler also reiterated that RPT contracts and their cancellations should be approved first by the SREC (even if by the official's committee during an interim until the next scheduled meeting).