The list authored by Carla Richburg, the chair for Harris County voting precinct 602, includes a ban on sex education in school, mandatory death penalty for criminals who kill law enforcement, a ban on all medical mandates, a ban on all abortions, stop recognizing transgender identity, reduce gay marriage to civil unions, label all Chinese nationalists as spies and forcibly removing them from the country, and wage war on all invaders at the Texas border by deadly force.
[Ads /]
"Certainly, these are not the type of proposals you would want to present if your goal is to win general elections in Harris County," said Mark Jones, a political science professor at Rice University.
The resolution was submitted to the Harris County GOP with the intention to be reviewed and adopted by their executive committee, but the advisory board attached their heavy critique to the resolution, asking the executive committee to not take up the resolution saying in part, "We unanimously condemn the tone and content of this resolution as being offensive to the values of the Republican Party and promoting certain governmental actions that would be unquestionably unconstitutional. Even the consideration of a resolution with this salacious rhetoric would embarrass and impugn the integrity of this body."
On Monday, Cat Parks, the vice-chair of the Republican Party of Texas, sounded off on Twitter, saying in part, "We live in a time where extremism abounds and any court jester can submit a resolution."
The Harris County Democrats, though, say condemning the list is not enough and want to see Carla Richburg out of office.
"Carla (Richburg) wrote in a resolution that all Chinese people are spies, abortion should be banned, which, by the way, the Republican Party rails against mandates. The last time (I) checked, banning abortion is a medical mandate," said Odus Evbagharu with Harris County Democrats. "We've got to do better and this Republican Party chair could be removed, should resign."
But Republican strategist Vlad Davidiuk disagrees.
[Ads /]
"I don't think asking someone to resign for offering a proposed resolution is in the best interest of maintaining the spirit of Democracy and maintaining the spirit of communication," Davidiuk said.
In a brief phone call on Monday, ABC13 spoke with Kyle Richburg, Carla Richburg's husband, who said they were not aware of backlash or calls for resignation over her proposed resolutions saying, "My wife is not a bad person. What she intended was maybe not so well stated."
Carla Richburg represents a precinct of about 3,000 to 5,000 voters. She is currently up for re-election and on the ballot un-opposed for the March 1 primary.
The Harris County GOP recently extended the filing date to run for a precinct chair, which means a challenger could run against her, but only as a write-in candidate.
"We've now passed the deadline. Early voting starts on Feb. 14. Mail ballots have already gone out, there's no time to re-do the ballot," explained Jones.
For more on this story, follow Shelley Childers on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.