A leader is never a leader because of their title; a leader is someone people choose to follow.

As I travel the state of Texas, I've been thinking about the role of Republican county chair because it's often the case the people talk to me about their county chair. Some want their chair to fundraise to help candidates. Some want their chair to lead on Republican issues.

I did some digging around. The Texas Republican County Chair Association seemed like a place to start, but it contains a lot of pointers to a guy named David Luther and his personal website. Nothing on the site says anything about being a county chair, but you can get a swell decorative pin if you join something called the 500 Club. Or you can read their extensive by-laws. Nothing about being a county chair... more like a vanity project.

The Secretary of State website has a bit to say. The county chair is mainly an administrative position, with these duties:

  • Supervises conduct of primary (172.111)
  • Approves primary contracts/joint primary agreements (31.092)
  • Determines consolidation of precincts in primary election (42.009)
  • Appoints poll watchers in elections with partisan candidates (33.003)
  • Nominates to fill vacancies under certain circumstances (202.006)
  • Adopts voting system in primary election (123.001)
  • Conducts ballot drawing for primary election, if requested to by primary committee (172.082)
  • Sets time and place for precinct conventions (174.022)
  • Serves on County Election Commission (31.032)
  • Serves on County Election Board (51.002)
  • Provides list of judges for appointment by commissioners court (32.002)
  • Provides list of potential election day clerks for general election for state and county officers (32.034)
  • Provides list of early voting workers (85.009)
  • Appoints judges for primary election (32.006)
  • Appoints poll watchers for elections with party nominee on ballot (Not primary) (33.003)
  • Filing authority for candidate applications (172.021)
  • Serves as chair of primary committee, if established (172.081)
  • Submit names of candidates in SOS candidate filing system (172.029)
  • Conducts ballot drawing (172.082)
  • Prepares ballots in primary election (52.002)
  • Designates polling locations in primary (43.003)
  • Procures and allocate supplies in primary, with approval of county exec. committee (51.003)
  • Provides list of names for early voting workers in a primary election (85.009)
  • Appoints signature verification committee in primary (87.027)
  • Certifies names for general election ballot (172.117)
A thoughtful chairperson had this to say: "What a good county chair does varies from county to county depending on the size of the county, how much money and how many volunteers they have and the election atmosphere. My main mission is simple: To create a strong County Executive Committee (CEC). It is in effect, our 'board of directors' and is made up of all of our county precinct chairs. With that 'board' in place, we then vet good candidates, educate voters and help get strong, capable Republicans elected. While the mission is straightforward, there are many working parts."

Of course, the chair should hold and run regular CEC meetings, so some familiarity with parliamentary procedure is important. The chair is often the public face of the party to whom the media and local leaders will reach out. The chair is unpaid - it's a volunteer position.

The chair needs to raise enough money to keep the headquarters open and supplied with what's necessary to work elections. Some fundraising capability is critical. In my opinion, this should be enough to stay in the black but most donations should be encouraged to go straight to candidates, who need it to win elections.

What is a leader? Lao Tzu said, "The good leader is he who the people revere. The great leader is he who the people say, 'We did it ourselves.'" A leader enables people to achieve their goals. It seems right that a Republican leader should enable Republicans to achieve Republican goals.

Whatever duties there are and whatever meetings are held, a Republican chair must help the people achieve Republican goals, and those goals are defined by the majority of Republicans, not just by those in power.

One of my favorite quotes on motivational leadership is this: "If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

A leader is never a leader because of their title; a leader is someone people choose to follow. A great leader helps those who follow become capable of more than they would have otherwise.

If you watched President Trump's SOTU speech, he leads. He pushes Republicans to rise to the challenges of the day. He solves problems. He invites you to join him as he does.

What I know is that some of our county chairs have titles, and some are leaders who enable their people to achieve Republican victories.