Press Release - Contract Termination

Mechler Calls for Termination of Fisher Contract

Unapproved Debt, Conflict of Interest, Staff Attrition, Obama-like Spending Practices Could Harm Republican Chances in 2010

West Texas -- Republican State Chairman Candidate Tom Mechler today called for drastic changes in the financial dealings of the Republican Party of Texas, citing public records which show a current debt load of over a half a million dollars, an erosion of staff, and rules violations by the current chair, who has incurred debt without permission of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC) members. This new debt increase under the chair has been accumulated in spite of the SREC approving a balanced budget measure last quarter.

In an open letter to party activists, Mechler writes, “it is a little more than ironic that the fiscal policies we oppose in Washington are mirrored in Austin by the Republican Party of Texas.”

Questions about party finances are compounded by potential conflicts of interest. The RPT is paying consultant Jeff Fisher at least $2,200 a month, allegedly for fundraising services, while Fisher and associates is also assisting the current chair’s campaign for election to State Chair in June. RPT rules state that Party resources cannot be used to advance the candidacy of a candidate for chair. Fisher has been kept under contract despite staff layoffs due to poor fundraising. {See Report}

In addition to this conflict of interest, the RPT Chair has not yet disclosed one dime of expenditures of any type for her election in October, or her upcoming campaign, even though she is being aided by this contracted vendor. So far all of her campaign efforts have been done on RPT time and money. {See Report}

“There are two fundamental issues here,” said Mechler. “First, it appears the chair is draining party resources to benefit her campaign. Second, our chances of victory in the fall, in an otherwise excellent election environment, have been harmed by poor fundraising.”

“Our party is besieged with debt, the SREC has not been fully informed of the dire fiscal straits we are in, we have experienced tremendous staff depletion, and somehow we’re going to fight the Democrats in the fall with such an anemic, debt-ridden effort?

“Chairman Adams ought to immediately terminate the RPT contract with her campaign advisor to remove the appearance of impropriety, and to reduce spending in light of the half million dollars in debt that leaves our party in dire fiscal shape.”