With Mechler of Amarillo as candidate, GOP chairman race is down to the wire

The stage is set. As Texas Republicans hold their biennial convention a week from today, this time in Dallas, it looks like a nasty fight for party chairman will go down to the wire.

This means that Amarillo businessman Tom Mechler, who like Steve Munisteri of Houston, is challenging interim chairwoman Cathie Adams of Dallas, has as good a chance as his two rivals. Party leaders chose Adams in October when Chairwoman Tina Benkister of Houston resigned to join the re-election campaign of Gov. Rick Perry.

Mechler says the Grand Old Party of Texas needs a fresh start because under Adams and Benkister the party is drowning in debt. The Texas Tribune recently reported that the party’s debt has ballooned from about $70,000 in 2003 to $624,000 last year.

So, like Munisteri, Mechler is making the party’s debt a big campaign issue. In addition, since he launched his campaign a year ago, Mechler has complained that the party needs a new start because in recent years Texas Democrats have gained on Republicans, especially in the Texas House of Representatives where the party now holds a slim 77-73 majority compared to 88-62 in 2004.

The three-candidate race is considered a toss up because more than half of the expected delegates are first-timers, which mean that they owe no allegiance to Adams or anyone else in the leadership.

The GOP chairman race is expected to get lots of attention on June 12 because the party needs to get its own house in order before taking on the Democrats in November. The fall election is critical to both major political parties because control of the Texas Legislature is at stake, just like it was in 2008.