Republican Party of Texas' Annual Dinner and Fundraiser Is an Overwhelming Success!

AUSTIN - On March 9th at the historic Driskill Hotel in downtown Austin, the Republican Party of Texas hosted its annual dinner with our elected officials. Over 60 Republican elected officials including numerous State Senators and State Representatives along with 200 other guests attended the event.  There was a reception prior to the main dinner with music provided by the Sheila Marshall Band.  RPT Chairman Steve Munisteri opened the dinner by giving brief remarks before he introduced Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones for the invocation and Railroad Commissioner David Porter for the Pledges to the U.S. and Texas flags.

Kicking off the speaking portion of our program was Comptroller Susan Combs, who in turn introduced the first of our featured speakers - Texas Governor Rick Perry. In his traditional, bold style, the Governor emphatically drew a line in the sand against raising taxes and pledged that the state of Texas would absolutely balance its budget by reducing spending.  He went on to give encouraging remarks about the strength of the state of Texas and expressed confidence that Republican legislators will meet the challenges faced by the upcoming session.  The rousing speech was met by a standing ovation.

Following Governor Perry, Land Commissioner and former U.S. Marine Jerry Patterson took the podium and used some good-natured military humor and wit to introduce our second featured speaker, Air Force veteran and Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst. Governor Dewhurst also took the opportunity during his speech to speak of the strength of the party, and how he was proud to be a strong supporter of the RPT (Gov. Dewhurst has become a Chairman's Circle member, having given $25,000 to the RPT and also raised an additional $100,000 for our party's Rainy Day fund as well as funding our Outreach department.) "People are voting with their feet for Texas, and it’s not because of our weather," said Lt. Governor Dewhurst. "It's because Texas Republicans share a commitment to limiting the size of government, keeping spending and taxes low, upholding the Constitution, protecting faith and families, and promoting freedom."  Dewhurst's remarks were well received as he too received a standing ovation after his speech.

After Lt. Governor Dewhurst's speech, Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples addressed the crowd and made introductions of our final featured speaker for the evening - Speaker of the Texas House Joe Straus. Speaker Straus was greeted enthusiastically by the crowd who stood and applauded both before and after his speech.  Speaker Straus spoke at length in regards to the continued strength of the Republican Party of Texas, and how that has translated into more conservative legislation and leadership in the House chamber. The Speaker outlined a conservative legislative agenda which he was confident would be enacted by the Texas House.  Straus is also a member of the RPT Chairman's Circle, having previously given $75,000 in support of the party last September. Speaker Straus was immediately followed by Railroad Commissioner Michael Williams who offered concluding remarks and brought a great lineup of Republican leadership to a close.

At the conclusion of the night, Chairman Munisteri thanked the crowd and announced that the event was the most financially successful fundraiser of this type in many years for the RPT. To date, the event has raised $197,400. Chairman Munisteri, commenting on the success of the event, stated "The RPT is grateful for the tremendous support provided by Governor Perry, Lt. Governor Dewhurst, Speaker Straus, Comptroller Combs, Commissioner Patterson, Commisioner Staples and Commissioners Jones, Porter and Williams, as well as our State Senators and State Representatives.  Since I have been Chairman, the Governor, Lt. Governor, Speaker and Comptroller as well as our other statewide elected officials have been very generous, but more importantly, have taken an active role in ensuring a healthy state party.  I wish to thank all of them publicly on behalf of the RPT.  The RPT would also like to thank the following sponsors of the event as well as Susan Lilly, who organized the event and did a fabulous job."