Judge sides with Turner in canceling GOP convention.
Texas Republicans vow to take their legal fight to state Supreme Court after mayor nixed event
A Harris County judge on Thursday denied the Texas Republican Party’s request for a court order that would have barred Mayor Sylvester Turner and Houston First Corp. from canceling the party’s in-person convention next week in downtown Houston.
Republican Party Chairman
James Dickey said the party would appeal to the Texas Supreme Court after state District Judge Larry Weiman turned down requests for temporary restraining orders from both the Texas GOP and Steve Hotze, a Houston Republican activist, after hearing their cases concurrently. Hotze attorney Jared Woodfill said he also plans to seek a writ of mandamus from the Supreme Court on Friday to bar Turner from canceling the convention.
The Texas GOP lawsuit, filed hours after Hotze’s challenge, alleges that Turner erred when he invoked a “force majeure” clause of the contract between the Texas GOP and Houston First, the city’s public nonprofit that operates the George R. Brown Convention Center. The suit also names the city and Houston First President Brenda Bazan.
Turner, who ordered Houston First to cancel the convention on Wednesday, said the clause allows one side to cancel over something out of its control, including “epidemics in the City of Houston.” In its petition filed
Thursday, the GOP said Turner simply does not want to hold the convention and, therefore, fails to meet the force majeure standard.
“Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner’s use of the force majeure clause is just a pretext to his intent to treat the Republican Party of Texas differently than other groups, such as those we have seen from recent protests in the city of Houston,” the party said in a statement Thursday. “It should go without saying that a political viewpoint cannot be the basis for unequal treatment.”
Hotze’s lawsuit, meanwhile, is focused on arguing that Turner violated parts of the Texas Constitution that allow for freedom of expression and association.
He was joined in the lawsuit by Texas GOP secretary Josh Flynn and former Republican Party Chairwoman Cathie Adams, among others. It is the latest in a string of lawsuits Hotze has filed challenging COVID-19 measures, with his most recent suit coming against Gov. Greg Abbott over his nearly statewide mask order.
Turner said he called off the convention based on concerns about Houston’s recent COVID-19
surge and input from various medical professionals. The mayor said Thursday afternoon that he had yet to see the lawsuit, though he stood by his original argument.
“The reality is, in March of this year they signed a contract that defined force majeure as a pandemic,” Turner said. “They signed that contract.”
The mayor also encouraged party officials to move their convention to Montgomery County, where County Judge Mark Keough offered to host the event and vowed “there will be no last-minute changes.”
“I think Judge Keough in Montgomery County is more than happy to host the 6,000 delegates (there),” Turner said. “I think they should go to Montgomery County.”
Dickey said the GOP is filing its appeal directly to the Texas Supreme Court “given the time sensitivity of the matter.” The convention was set to run from July 16 to 18, with committee meetings beginning Monday.
“It didn’t matter in which court this case landed, we expected a denial from the liberal Harris County courts,” Dickey said in a statement. “We thank them for a speedy denial so we can move forward with the appeal we had prepared.”
In the lawsuit, Texas Republican Party officials are seeking a temporary restraining order that would allow the convention to continue as planned and damages due to Turner’s “anticipatory breach of contract,” including the cost of all losses and the
“increased costs of handling the convention elsewhere.”
The party argued that Turner and Houston First violated the “equal rights clause” of the Texas Constitution, and that Abbott stripped Turner’s power to cancel the convention in one of his COVID-19 executive orders.
Turner, asked Wednesday about those comparing the convention to the George Floyd protests, said the GOP event would pose a greater health risk because it is indoors and involves serving food, among other differences. He also said protesters have the constitutional right to march through Houston streets, while the Texas GOP was under a contract to use a city facility.
The mayor’s move to cancel the convention has drawn mixed reviews from Republican officials, most of whom were set to address the convention virtually without attending. U.S. Rep. Dan Crenshaw, RHouston, tweeted that Turner made “a prudent move for public health,” while Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said it was “nothing but a political hack job by Mayor Turner” during an interview with Fox News host Laura Ingraham.
Abhi Rahman, a spokesman for the Texas Democratic Party, said the Republican Party “should be thanking Mayor Turner, not suing him.
“Republicans are lucky that Mayor Turner was willing to do the right thing, cancel this convention, and save them from themselves,” Rahman said. “Holding an in-person convention in the middle of a pandemic is dead wrong.”