Jessica Cuevas
Some LEAP Ambassadors are Republican; some are Democratic; and some are independent. Whatever their partisan identification, they are encouraged to be involved in democratic processes, and so it was that Ambassadors Morgan Robertson and Jessica Cuevas attended their party’s Precinct Conventions followed by the Walker County Republican Party Convention this spring, which we decided to post just before the two parties’ national conventions this summer.
While this was Morgan’s second time attending this convention…
…it was my first time, and I must say that after interning at the Texas Capitol last spring it was very interesting to see how the convention works and to take part in voting on resolutions.
Upon arriving at the Northside Baptist Church, we were provided breakfast and were asked to find the table where our precinct was so that we could join and partake in our precinct conventions. I had a lovely conversation with the delegates present from Precinct 201, as did Morgan with the delegates present from Precinct 102. One of the main goals for the precinct convention was to see if anyone within your precinct had a resolution that they were interested in passing. These would later be voted on by the 54 delegates present in the County Convention.
Following our Precinct Conventions, Morgan and I were asked by Walker County’s Republican Party Chairwoman, Linda McKenzie to lead the pledges at the start of the County Convention.
Chairwoman McKenzie explained what would occur before we broke off into a small break for committees to start meeting and complete their business.
I was selected to be on the Organization Committee whose sole purpose was to nominate the County Convention Chair, Secretary, and Sergeant of Arms.
Our nomination for County Convention Chair was Judge Tracy Sorensen…
…Mallory Martin for Secretary, and Shane Loosier for Sergeant of Arms.
These nominations would be presented by Committee Chair Thomas Leeper to the delegates present who would approve of our recommendations.
Morgan was selected to be on the Nominations Committee, whose mission is to nominate delegates and alternative delegates to attend and represent the Walker County Republican Party at the State Convention on May 23-25. Having served on this committee in 2022, Morgan had a better understanding of how this process worked but because of redistricting, this year it was slightly different given that Walker County is divided and is represented by two congressmen: Congressman Pete Sessions in District 17 and Congressman Morgan Luttrell in District 8. This committee had to rank the delegates that applied to attend the state convention based on the districts they lived in since only 11 people from District 8 could attend and 14 from District 17.
I was surprised to be nominated as a delegate from District 17 to attend the Republican Party State GOP Convention which will be hosted in San Antonio this year!
After the presentation of the delegates, there was more business conducted before it was time to vote on the 18 resolutions that were worked on by the Resolution Committee which reflected the priorities our delegates had. Before voting, delegates who wished to discuss the resolution could but were limited to six people overall, with three being for and three being against.
When our votes were divided for certain resolutions, we would practice precinct votes by conferring with the delegates in our precinct which our precinct chair would then tell County Chair Judge Sorensen how many Aye’s, No’s, or Abstains we had.
After each precinct voted, Secretary Mallory Martin would record the raw votes and would then tell Chair Judge Sorensen the weighted vote since each precinct has a specific amount of votes which were calculated by how many people voted in the previous primary for Governor Abbott.
Although this was my first time attending this convention it was very educational and interesting. We met new people, saw some candidates for office…
…had a chance to see democracy in action at the grass roots level….
….and saw some familiar and friendly faces…
I would like to thank Precinct Chair Mitchell Ray and County Clerk Leslie Ray Woolley for mentoring me through my first Precinct and County Convention, as well as Republican Chairwoman Linda McKenzie for putting this convention together.
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 