James Dickey
| James Roy Dickey | |
| Incumbent | |
| Assumed office May 20, 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Thomas Richard "Tom" Mechler |
|---|---|
| Born | November 23, 1966 Place of birth missing |
| Spouse(s) | Lynda Dickey (married 1989) |
| Children | Jay, Donna, and Dakota Dickey |
| Residence | Spicewood, Burnet County, Texas |
| Alma mater | Polytechnic High School |
| Occupation | Insurance agent |
James Roy Dickey (born November 23, 1966) has been since 2017 the chairman of the Texas Republican Party. A conservative from the liberal capital city of Austin, Dickey had scored record fund-raising and excelled at candidate recruitment. An insurance agent, he is the past chairman of the Travis County (Austin) Republican Party.
Dickey (place of birth missing) graduated from Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth and then Stanford University in Palo Alto, California, at which he earned a degree in [[[political science]]. He then obtained a master's degree from Baylor University in Waco, Texas, a Southern Baptist-affiliated institution.[1]
In 2016, Dickey temporarily lost his Travis County chairmanship to insurgent Robert Partlow Morrow (born June 20, 1964, in Alabama), who was subsequently disqualified for the position after he announced a write-in candidacy for U.S. President against Donald Trump,[2] whom he called a "child rapist." An Austin resident who supports abortion on demand and is anti-Israeli in foreign policy, Morrow is co-author with Trump ally Roger Stone of The Clintons' War on Women.[3]
In the spring of 2017, Dickey was elected by the margin of one vote as the chairman of his state party. He defeated Richard Scott "Rick" Figueroa (born September 13, 1969) of Brenham in Washington County, 33-32, in a vote of the Republican State Executive Committee. He succeeded Thomas Richard "Tom" Mechler of Amarillo, a more Moderate Republican, who stepped down because of personal reasons after a brief tenure as party chairman and had favored Figueroa as his successor.[4]
Gary Michael Polland, editor of Texas Conservative Review, an on-line newsletter, hailed Dickey's first year as chairman based on nine key numbers:
1,543,725 - The record number of voters participating in the March 6 gubernatorial primary won by incumbent Greg Abbott
$1.1 Million - The unrestricted funds raised within the last ten months for operating expenses
$548,484.13 - Unrestricted cash on hand, $160,000 higher than our last SREC meeting, 12 percent increase since 2016
$35,000 - Amount raised by the Grassroots Club memberships in March 2018
23,857 - Number of doors on which the field staff knocked to talk about tax reform in the last two months of 2017
8,998 - The number of delegates to the Republican Party of Texas State Convention, the largest political convention in the United States.
3,862 - Republican candidates on the Texas ballot in the 2018 primary, more than double the number that the Democrats had on their ballot
43 - Donations exceeding $5,000 in the past ten months
14 - Paid Republican Party staff members.[5]
Dickey is a candidate for a two-year term as state chairman at the Republican state convention in June 2018. He is opposed by intra-party rival, Cindy Asche, a precinct chair in Denton County north of Dallas, whose father is a former GOP national committeeman.[5].
Dickey and his wife of nearly thirty years, Lynda, reside west of Austin in Spicewood in Burnet County in the Texas Hill Country. They have three children.[1]Dickey has previously resided in Tampa, Florida, Salt Lake City, Utah, Bloomfield, Connecticut, and Dallas , Plano, and Austin, Texas.[6]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Jamesw Dickey. Facebook. Retrieved on May 29, 2018.
- ↑ Patrick Svitek (August 25, 2016). Texas GOP Officials: Controversial Travis County Chairman Is Out. The Texas Tribune. Retrieved on May 30, 2018.
- ↑ Robert Morrow. Facebook. Retrieved on May 30, 2018.
- ↑ Sonja Harris (June 5, 2017). Texas Has a New Republican Party Chair - James Dickey. Texasgopvote.com. Retrieved on May 29, 2018.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Gary M. Polland (May 29, 2018). Thre Is Only One Choice for RPT Chair: James Dickeny. Texas Conservative Review. Retrieved on May 30, 2018.
- ↑ James R. Dickey - Spicewood, Texas. Intelius.com. Retrieved on May 29, 2018.