85S10502 JGH-D
By: Dale H.R. No. 96
R E S O L U T I O N
WHEREAS, Proud members of the Republican Party of Texas are
celebrating the organization's 150th anniversary in 2017; and
WHEREAS, The Republican Party of Texas was founded at the
Harris County Courthouse on the Fourth of July, 1867, 13 years after
the national party was established and 7 years after the election of
the first Republican president, Abraham Lincoln; former governor
Elisha M. Pease served as chair of that initial state convention,
and Colonel John L. Haynes, commander of the U.S. Army's First
Texas Cavalry, became the executive committee chair; the party's
membership in its early years was largely made up of former slaves,
German American immigrants, and Texans who had opposed secession
during the Civil War; and
WHEREAS, Notable early Texas Republicans included Edmund
J. Davis, the state's first Republican governor, Morgan
C. Hamilton, a Republican senator, George T. Ruby, an African
American state senator from Galveston, and Norris Wright Cuney, a
prominent African American leader and a member of the Republican
National Committee from 1886 to 1896; and
WHEREAS, The party gained strength in the Lone Star State in
the 20th century when Dwight Eisenhower carried Texas in the 1952
presidential election, and its fortunes were boosted again in 1961
when John Tower was elected to replace Lyndon Johnson in the
U.S. Senate; a new era began in 1978, when William P. Clements took
office as the first Republican governor since Reconstruction, and
from the 1980s to the present, Texas has been represented in the
U.S. Congress by a series of accomplished Republican leaders,
including Senators Phil Gramm, Kay Bailey Hutchison, John Cornyn,
and Ted Cruz, as well as numerous members of the U.S. House of
Representatives; Republicans have taken on an increasingly
prominent role in state and local government as well; the party has
held the governor's office since 1994, with George W. Bush, Rick
Perry, and Greg Abbott serving as chief executive, and Republicans
have swept the other statewide offices in five consecutive
elections and have held a majority in the Texas Senate since 1997
and in the Texas House of Representatives since 2003; and
WHEREAS, Thanks to the tireless service and exemplary
leadership of countless men and women, the Republican Party
continues to carry forth its core goals, including limited
government, political and economic freedom, and strong national
security, and its members may indeed take great pride in their
invaluable contributions to our state and nation; now, therefore,
be it
RESOLVED, That the House of Representatives of the 85th Texas
Legislature, 1st Called Session, hereby commemorate the
sesquicentennial of the Republican Party of Texas; and, be it
further
RESOLVED, That an official copy of this resolution be
prepared for the Republican Party of Texas as an expression of high
regard by the Texas House of Representatives.