DALLAS — The chair of the Dallas County Republican Party says her members are no different than other Republicans across the state, divided by the upcoming impeachment trial of suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Jennifer Stoddard-Hajdu says some of her “grassroot” Republicans, those who are more conservative, don’t support the effort to oust Paxton, while more “traditional” conservatives argue the process needs to play out.
But unlike some other GOP leaders, Stoddard-Hajdu doesn’t think this division will lead to long-term damage for the party in Texas, even though technically in the end, one side will “win” and the other side will “lose.”
“I think that it will end the controversy over Paxton one way or the other,” the Republican told us on Inside Texas Politics. “But we all know that we have to unite and go forward or else we’re not going to be able to win 2024.”
And she won’t even predict whether Paxton will survive politically because there is current precedent that cautions any future forecasting.
“He’s survived a lot politically. And people have survived more than that. I mean look at our former President Trump who’s leading all the polls in the Republican primary -- so, never say never,” Stoddard-Hajdu said.
And speaking of the next election, the GOP chair has her work cut out for her in Dallas County, which has been solid blue for years now.
Republicans in Dallas County have even been shut out of the Commissioner’s Court.
Stoddard-Hajdu says their biggest challenge in 2024 is to register more conservative voters, so to that end, they’ll try to find people who haven’t been voting but are registered, as well as those who may not be registered but are qualified to vote.
“There are lot of people in Dallas County that don’t vote,” she said. “And so, as a Republican party, our goal is to register, register, register and really try to get out the vote.”
