Blog Article

Dec 10 2023

Victory In Rowlett: We Flipped a Blue Seat Red!

  • Author: Jennifer Stoddard Hajdu
  • Category: Commentary
  • Views: 600,893
  • Comments: 5

Urgent Follow-Up: We have a very important municipal election coming up on May 4, 2024, for MANY school board seats throughout Dallas County, including in Carrollton-Farmers Branch, Coppell, Cedar Hill, Dallas, DeSoto, Duncanville, Grand Prairie, Irving, and Mesquite, and several city council seats.  In addition, several city council seats are up in Addison, Balch Springs, Carrollton, Coppell, Cedar Hill, DeSoto, Duncanville, Farmers Branch, Garland, Grand Prairie, Irving, and Sachse. Tired of what they are teaching or not teaching our children in our public schools?  GET INVOLVED.  Tired of your tax dollars being wasted on woke programs?  GET INVOLVED.  Let’s make sure we have Republicans running in every single race.

See New Blog Posting ABOUT MAY 2024 LOCAL ELECTIONS

And it was a landslide. Saturday night, conservative candidate Jonathan Reaves won his runoff against Democrat Kellie McKee 56.48% to 43.52%, turning a seat on the Rowlett City Council that was blue to red! We could not be prouder of Reaves. In a crowded field, Reaves came in second in the special election on November 7th. But that put him into a runoff in a head-to-head race with McKee.

The Dallas County Republican Party weighed in heavily on the Rowlett special election, utilizing a strong messaging campaign to get voters out for Reaves. The DCRP used its newly developed data to message conservatives throughout Rowlett, letting them know about the runoff and reminding them to get out and vote for Reaves.  He did an excellent job of communicating his conservative values to those who shared them and inspired his fellow voters to get to the polls! There are no such things as non-partisan elections.

And kudos to Rockwall County Republican Party and Rockwall YRs who energized the two precincts of Rowlett located in Rockwall County. They organized block walkers and poll greeters and Jonathan Reaves prevailed by 60% there!  

This is a splendid example of how we can use the voter data we have developed to help a strong candidate get their message out and get out the vote. This is the second time we have used our data to assist a conservative in a runoff, and both candidates were victorious. The first race was Sarah Weinberg’s runoff for the DISD Board. In Reaves’ race, we further enhanced the data and amplified its value by coupling it with our new messaging platform and its advanced analytics features that Bill Anderton has built for the Party. Thank you, Bill!

As late as yesterday and across the seven-week cycle of the Special Election and the Runoff Election, the DCRP sent six messaging e-campaigns spanning over 39,000 texts and 11,000 e-mails reminding Rowlett voters to get to the polls and encouraging them to vote for Reaves.

It looks like they did just that.

Jennifer Stoddard Hajdu
Chairwoman
Dallas County Republican Party

Update From Jonathan Reaves

"I am honored and humbled to have been elected to the Rowlett City Council in the December 9, 2023 Special Runoff Election. As Rowlett is the most eastern portion of Dallas County, having our Dallas County Republican Party support was vital to winning this election. I would like to personally thank Jennifer Stoddard Hajdu and Susan Fountain for their advice, insight, and most importantly their tireless efforts. I could not have done it without their support.

Elections at the local, state, and federal level have momentous impact on our lives. As the Democrats eye Texas as a prize they think they can turn blue, and thus the country, it is imperative for our party to continue to fight the battle and stand for conservative Republican values on elections at every level of government. If we only pay attention to state or federal elections, we will dissolve from within. We can no longer look over the fence at the “big” races and ignore our own backyard. Instead, we must band together, arm in arm, and not only hold the line- but push forward together. The current leadership of the Dallas County Republican Party understands the stakes. They are all in.

As conservatives we are by nature free, independent thinkers and do not fall to groupthink. This is our blessing and our curse. Because we are independent thinkers, I see we often fight amongst ourselves because of small disagreements. This infighting results in cannibalizing our own energy, votes, and elections. Our adversary only spends energy on fighting the ideals we hold dear, such as individual liberty, freedom of thought and speech, etc. It is time we unite and move forward together and, again, I thank Jennifer Stoddard Hajdu and Susan Fountain for understanding this big picture and doing the work to prove it.

Victory in Dallas County is no small feat. However, as we work together, we will build a legacy of winning. "

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5 Comments Add Comment
Added by diamonds1960

This is great news - pray God this kind of momentum holds and carries through to a true (and long overdue) RED WAVE that puts common sense conservatives with VALUES back in office, especially (God love him) TITANIUM President Trump ?????????
Added by allan.toole

That is good news. I am curious why you classify this as "flipping a blue seat red." I don't live in Rowlett, but it appears that the seat was held by Brian Galuardi (re-elected in May '23 and Republican) before it was declared vacant at the July 18 Rowlett City Council meeting. On top of that, it is a 'non-partisan' election, so candidates don't declare their party affiliation. I don't doubt that Mr. Reaves is a Republican, but to classify this as flipping a seat red seems to be a stretch.
Added by Jennifer Stoddard Hajdu

Dear Allan.Toole,

Thank you for your comment. The prior councilman, regardless of his stated party affiliation, did not vote conservative. In fact, he voted lock step with the very liberal mayor and other liberal council members. Assisting a conservative who will vote conservatively constitutes a “flip” in our opinion. Not to mention that Mr. Reeves faced a serious challenge from his liberal Democrat opponent we helped hm to defeat. She received more votes than Mr. Reeves in the general and was strongly supported by the liberal leadership in Rowlett. So, we did have to flip a lot of voters and get out new voters to accomplish his victory. We did it! We are both proud and excited that our efforts were successful. This is a roadmap to flipping other municipal seats in Dallas County cities. It is exactly how we helped win a DISD Board seat last May. This is how it starts.

Hiding our Republican conservative party affiliation in municipal and school board elections is what has turned Dallas County blue over the past 15 years. Voters are unable to tell the ideologies of a candidate and end up choosing the wrong candidate because he or she had more signs or decided not to vote at all. As you surely know, Democrats have campaigned for years in municipal elections touting :"Vote for me, I'm the Democrat, the other guy is a Republican". Under my leadership, we are going to make sure people know they have an alternative to the woke liberal leadership that is leading our county and our country astray.

There is really no such thing as a “non-partisan” election and until we embrace that fully, we will not be competitive. Current DCRP leadership was very involved in May's Grand Prairie's and Dallas' City Council races and offered the most support for 2023 municipal candidates in party history. We are committed to supporting our Republican candidates and calling on Republicans to turn out and VOTE for our Republican candidates. Our efforts are proving successful, and as conservatives, we should all embrace that. I hope you will choose to work with DCRP leadership to build on that effort and effectuate meaningful change in our local elections. We would welcome your assistance.
Added by allan.toole

So, a more accurate headline would read: "Victory in Rowlett: We helped a conservative win!"
Based on your description, the seat was previously held by a RINO.
For example, Barry Wernick defeating Morgan Meyer will be a win for conservatives, but it won't 'flip' a seat.
Thanks for the clarification and congratulations.
Added by Bill Anderton

Allan, to what purpose is your argument? Splitting hairs over how to parse a phase? Seems kind of petty.

Why not just celebrate the win?

Having worked this particular election, I stand by Jennifer's descriptions and find them very appropriate.
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