When incumbent Central Texas Republican Congressman Bill Flores announced he would not run for re-election, an organized group of his constituents knew voters would need to be informed and engaged if they were to elect a grassroots conservative to the seat in 2020.
Sure enough, shortly following Flores’ announcement, a crowd of candidates filed to replace him in Congress, with the field ultimately settling at a dozen. Their backgrounds vary drastically, including a rocket scientist (George Hindman), a former member of Congress (Pete Sessions), a small businesswoman with a chain of dry cleaners (Laurie McReynolds), and an Iranian immigrant-turned-Aggie-turned-College Station City Councilwoman (Elianor Vessali).
Vetting the entire slate of congressional hopefuls and finding the right conservative candidate would be a difficult and arduous task, but one group of Brazos County Republicans, Bryan College Station Tea Party members, and other grassroots activists stepped forward.
Unlike many Republicans often do, these activists didn’t sit around complaining about the latest tweet from Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, nor did they wait on Fox News or any local paper to do the work to inform them about the candidates in the race.
Instead, these folks stepped up to the plate themselves to serve their fellow Texans. They organized under the name “Grassroots Victory 2020,” formed a leadership committee, contacted candidates, and gathered the microphones, lighting equipment, and venue commitments necessary to host three candidate forums across Congressional District 17.
And they pulled it off with great success.
Situated a week apart in College Station, Waco, and Jewett, each forum provided an opportunity for everyday citizens to come and hear from the candidates themselves about who they are, why they’re running, and what plan they have if they get to Congress.
But even better, these candidates answered questions by real citizen activists on issues the mainstream media shies away from—things like the legality of banning bump stocks, tech censorship by Facebook and Google, and other issues.
Better than that, each of these candidates is now on-the-record on these issues with the video readily available on the Empower Texans or Grassroots Victory 2020 Facebook page.
Hats off to the Grassroots Victory 2020 leadership team, Young Conservatives of Texas, and every other individual who helped make these forums possible.
Chair: Carol Nichols
Vice-Chair: Jody Quimby
Secretary/Candidate Liaison: Susan Lucas
Treasurer: Mark Coppock
Publicity: Mary Sue Ribardo
Event Hostess: Mary Ann Quimby
Advisor/Outreach: Paul Rieger
Each of these individuals and what they did should serve as a positive reminder of what everyday people can do if they show up willing to work. It’s this kind of grassroots citizenship that leads to better lawmakers and better laws for our community, state, and nation.
Great job to everyone in Grassroots Victory 2020!
