- The State Republican Executive Committee and State Chairman Abraham George are publicly at odds with President Trump over his endorsements of some Republican state lawmakers
- George and the Texas GOP have received significant assistance from Tim Dunn’s political network
- Dunn and his political network have a track record of supporting critics of President Trump and once sought to elect a never-Trump political consultant to the Republican National Committee
Leaders in the Republican Party of Texas – including State Chairman Abraham George and members of the State Republican Executive Committee – have launched an effort to strongarm President Trump into rescinding his endorsements of Republican Texas State lawmakers.
This move by Texas Republican party bosses has been viewed as a declaration of war against President Trump by some grassroots leaders and supporters of the President.
The first shot in the Texas GOP’s recent war against Trump came at the June 14, 2025, meeting of the State Republican Executive Committee (SREC), when the body approved a resolution urging President Trump to withhold his endorsement of Republican state lawmakers until after the Republican Party of Texas had completed its censure process that could see the Party arbitrarily attempt to ban some Republican lawmakers from the 2026 Republican Primary ballot.
A roll call of the vote published by the Republican Party of Texas shows that the resolution passed by a 54-10 margin.
While the resolution asks Trump to “withhold” his endorsements, Trump has already told lawmakers that those who supported Senate Bill 2, the school choice bill, have his support.
At a meeting of Texas House Republicans with Governor Abbott in April, Abbott placed Trump on speakerphone where he praised the work of Texas Republican lawmakers and offered his support. “Let me get on to what you’re doing today about voting because you’re doing a tremendous job. And many of you I’ve endorsed, and I’ll be endorsing all of you. This is such a this is such a big thing,” said Trump, who also told the House members, “I want you to know I totally have your back. I’m with you 100%.”
After the SREC’s passage of the Resolution, Republican Party of Texas State Chairman Abraham George went on the offensive against Trump. In a post on X, George insinuated that Trump was supporting “Lincoln Project Republicans” who opposed Trump and his “America-First agenda.” In an interview with radio host and Texas Scorecard personality Chris Salcedo, George acknowledged that there was “a conflict” with Trump that could be resolved by Trump acquiescing to the demands made by George and other party bosses.
Multiple sources have told The Texas Voice that George’s conduct has infuriated Trumpworld.
Many leaders in the conservative grassroots have sided with President Trump and have expressed opposition to any attempt by the Republican Party of Texas to deny Republican voters the ability to vote for Trump-endorsed candidates in the 2026 Republican Primary.
“As a County Chairman, whose job it is to grow the Republican Party and get out the vote for Republicans, I am beyond perplexed at the Republican Party of Texas’ latest actions,” said Hunter Bonner, the Chairman of the Marion County Republican Party in East Texas.
“Seeking to deny grassroots Republican voters the choice of voting for Trump endorsed candidates, is essentially declaring war on Trump himself. Donald Trump carried my county by nearly 76% of the vote in the 2024 Presidential Election. Marion County and the State of Texas are “Trump Country.” Frankly, the RPT just isn’t making sense.”
In addition to school choice, the Republican lawmakers supported by Trump passed several significant pieces of legislation this year aligned with President Trump’s agenda. These include bills to protect Texas from threats posed by China and other hostile foreign nations, DOGE-style bills to reduce regulatory burdens and mandate efficiency audits of state agencies, bail reform measures to enhance public safety, and legislation to strengthen the electric grid, among other bills.
Despite George’s claims that he and the Republican Party of Texas are firmly behind President Trump, the Republican Party of Texas was largely absent from efforts to elect Republican members of Congress from South Texas districts that were carried by the President.
In the 2024 General Election, Trump carried Congressional District 28 by more than 7 points and Congressional District 34 by more than 4 points. However, the incumbent Democrat Congressmen in those districts were victorious in their re-election campaigns. While George had promised to open Republican field offices in South Texas for the 2024 election, those offices never materialized. Republican Party of Texas fundraising and staffing also fell far short of goals set by George during his campaign for State Chairman.
While Governor Abbott is expected to include congressional redistricting on the call for an upcoming special session of the Texas legislature, George and the Republican Party of Texas do not appear to have taken any steps to create the fundraising and political infrastructure necessary for the Party to make a meaningful impact in efforts to win additional congressional seats in 2026.
George was elected Chairman of the Republican Party of Texas last year with the support of a political network tied to Midland businessman and prominent political donor Tim Dunn. Since George was elected State Chairman last May, the Republican Party of Texas has received nearly $1 million from the Dunn-funded Texas Conservative Project PAC – making it, by far, the Party’s largest source of funding outside of candidate campaigns that make “pass-through” donations to the Party to take advantage of a discounted direct mail rate.
Although George claims that his war on Trump is to protect Texas from anti-Trump “Lincoln Project” Republicans, Dunn’s political network has a history of supporting those who have opposed Trump.
Jefferson Rising, a federal SuperPAC funded by Dunn, paid former Trump attorney Jenna Ellis $40,000 last year. Ellis made headlines after she took a favorable plea deal in the criminal cases against President Trump and others brought by disgraced Fulton County, Georgia, District Attorney Fani Willis. As part of her plea deal, Ellis agreed to cooperate with Willis’ lawfare against Trump and other co-defendants, including Mark Meadows and Rudy Giuliani. Ellis has publicly confirmed her work for Dunn, saying that she is “a paid consultant for Dunn on pro-life messaging and issues.”
Another PAC funded by Dunn, Defend Texas Liberty, has given $48,500 to the National Association for Gun Rights – an organization led by a vocal never-Trumper.
Dudley Brown, President of the National Association for Gun Rights, is a longtime critic of Trump, who he claims “did more damage” to the Second Amendment than Barack Obama. In a tweet last year, Brown wrote, “I’ve never voted for Trump and never will.”
Dunn is also the Chairman of Citizens News Guild – the parent organization of the publication Texas Scorecard. Adam Cahn, a writer for Texas Scorecard, once served as a Presidential Elector for Austin-based conspiracy theorist Robert Morrow. The Travis County Republican Party once condemned Morrow for his “outrageous and slanderous allegations about President Trump.”
Cahn has echoed some of the anti-Trump conspiracies espoused by Morrow. In a tweet last year responding to a post by Morrow, Cahn expressed his belief that President Trump was “absolutely guaranteed” to have been “in on” the death of Jeffrey Epstein. In a separate tweet last year, Cahn replied to a post featuring a photograph of a flag reading “Death Penalty for Pedophiles” by saying, “Biden’s certainly a creep, but Trump is the Epstein associate.”
Dunn’s political network even supported a never-Trump political consultant who sought to represent Texas on the Republican National Committee last year.
Political consultant Randan Steinhauser was a candidate for the Texas Republican National Committeewoman position that was voted on at the Republican Party of Texas state convention last year, but she dropped her candidacy before the convention due to family reasons.
In addition to writing about her “disdain” for Trump on social media in a post explaining why she refused to vote for him against Hillary Clinton, she also endorsed and did paid work for a congressional candidate who ran on an anti-Trump platform.
In 2021, Steinhauser publicly touted the candidacy of Michael Wood, a candidate who ran on an explicitly anti-Trump platform, in the special election to fill the vacancy in Congressional District 6 created upon the passing of Congressman Ron Wright. In a Facebook post, Steinhauser wrote, “Our team at Steinhauser Strategies, LLC is proud to be running the Michael Wood for Congress campaign!” and described Wood as an “**incredible**” candidate.
The Facebook post included a profile of Wood published by Politico entitled “Meet the Texas veteran who could blaze a trail for the anti-Trump GOP.” Wood’s campaign attracted the financial support of anti-Trump Congress members Adam Kinzinger, Liz Cheney, and Anthony Gonzalez, as well as anti-Trump commentator Bill Kristol.
Despite her track record of anti-Trump rhetoric and support of and work for anti-Trump candidates, Steinhauser’s campaign for Republican National Committeewoman attracted the support of key figures within Dunn’s political network.
True Texas Project CEO Julie McCarty, political consultant and Texas Scorecard podcaster Luke Macias, political consultant Cary Cheshire, and Texas Scorecard personality Kambree Nelson were among those within Dunn’s political network who endorsed Steinhauser.
McCarty’s organization, the True Texas Project, has been among the most vocal in urging the Republican Party of Texas to deny access to the Republican Primary ballot to Trump-endorsed lawmakers who are disfavored by Dunn and his allies.
Julie McCarty’s husband, Fred McCarty, is a co-founder of the True Texas Project who serves as the organization’s PAC President and Treasurer. Fred McCarty has been a vocal critic of Trump on social media, once calling Trump a “King Grifter.”
In another tweet, Fred McCarty accused Trump of being weak on illegal immigration. “Trump left the border open for one caravan after another and never built the wall. That’s why he is one term’r and will never be back.”
Trump, according to Fred McCarty, was also insufficiently supportive of “white voters” during his first term.
“Would it have killed Trump to do something/anything for white voters? He didn’t deliver shit. He did offer to give blacks a half a trillion dollars! That got him a nominal bump in support,” wrote McCarty.
