Armstrong

Armstrong and Eberle are dueling for the job that term limits are forcing current State GOP Vice-Chairman David Barton to give up after a nine-year stint as the state party organization's second-ranking official.

Former Texas Ethics Commission member Scott Fisher - a Nazarene minister, businessman and former Texas Christian Coalition communications director - had considered a race for state party vice-chair but appears to be out of the running going into the final stretch before the June 3 state convention vote.

With Texas Republican Chairwoman Tina Benkiser drawing no apparent challenge for re-election to the post she won in late 2003, the race for Barton's job will be the number one fight on the state convention card this year. Former Dallas County Republican Chairman Nate Crain and Waco lawyer Gina Parker, a grassroots conservative leader who was Benkiser's rival in her first two campaigns for state party leader, had been mentioned earlier this year as possible state chair candidates but haven't been waging active campaigns in the months and weeks leading up to the convention. There's no filing deadline for a race for state party officer, meaning that campaigns can pop up anytime between now and the official vote.

Barton - a conservative leader who founded the national organization known as Wallbuilders - has given social conservatives a strong voice in state party operations and activities since winning the vice-chair's job in 1998 when Susan Weddington was first elected chair. Barton ran two years ago for re-election on a ticket with Benkiser.

This time around, Eberle, Armstrong and Fisher when he was still a candidate all have attempted at one point or another to suggest that they were Benkiser's running mate. But Benkiser doesn't appear to be part of any organized slate of candidates at this year's biennial gathering at the exact same location where the last state convention was held in 2004.

While the definition of "establishment" within the state GOP has changed under the tenures of Weddington and Benkiser, the vice-chair's race is shaping up as a spirited fight between conservative Republicans and forces that are viewed as more moderate. Armstrong - as an example - has been endorsed by Republican National Committeeman Bill Crocker, Texas Eagle Forum President Cathie Adams and several legislators including State Reps. Leo Berman of Tyler, Robert Talton of Pasadena and Larry Taylor of Friendswood. State Senator Kyle Janek of Houston, Harris County Republican Chairman Jared Woodfill and John Devine, a former Harris County state district judge who's popular with conservatives, have also sided with Armstrong in his campaign for vice-chair.

Armstrong is a doctor at the Mainland Medical Center in Texas City and an associate professor of internal medicine as well. He's a member of the State Republican Executive Committee and a former GOP precinct chairman in Galveston County and state convention delegate. The president-elect of the Galveston County Medical Society, Armstrong has been a member of the Texas Medical Association Political Action Committee's board of directors.

Both vice-chair candidates attended Texas A&M University - and Eberle also has the title of doctor as a Rice University graduate with a doctorate in mechanical engineering. In addition to his credentials and a leader in the Texas Young Republican Federation, Eberle has been a delegate at four state GOP conventions and one national convention as well.

But like most races for state party offices, the credentials of party activists and leaders who endorse the vice-chair candidates will probably carry as much weight with convention delegates as the contenders' actual qualifications.

Strake and Meyer have both been viewed as moderates by most standards in Texas Republican circles. Strake led the state party for five years in the 1980s, surviving a challenge in 1988 from conservatives who had rallied behind then-state Vice-Chair Diana Denman before she opted to run for re-election instead. Meyer, who played a key role in President George W. Bush's fundraising efforts in his White House races, took Strake's place in 1990 and held the chair's job until forced out by social conservatives from the religious right in 1994. After persuading Meyer to drop his re-election bid that year, establishment Republicans in Texas backed U.S. Rep. Joe Barton as a replacement candidate who ended up losing to Tom Pauken in the race for state chair.

While Strake and Meyer were major players in Texas Republican politics during their heydays, it's unclear how much impact their support for Eberle will have with younger convention delegates who weren't active in politics when they led the state party. But Eberle could fare well with some delegates who are familiar with his growing presence on the Internet. Eberle has substantial grassroots support as well as endorsements from some SREC members and other activists.

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Sharpening The Tip Of The Spear

Sharpening The Tip Of The Spear