More than 10,000 thousand people are expected to converge on Dallas to kick off the Republican Convention of Texas Thursday.
The biannual convention is where the state’s GOP puts together the platform—a blue print of the party’s beliefs.
Bathrooms will likely be the focus of some heated debates on the convention floor.
“I think what most conservatives want to talk about and are talking about is the transgender bathroom issue,” said Vincent Harris, CEO of Harris Media.
A conservative GOP strategist, Harris expects this year’s convention to be more contentious that years past.
“Emotions are running really high at this convention and there is a lot on the line,” Harris said.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick called for a Fort Worth school superintended to resign over the district’s new bathroom policy that accommodates students who are transgender.
The policy allows transgender students to use the bathroom and locker room that coincides with their gender identity, not the sex listed on their birth certificate.
“The transgender bathroom issue that really gets people fired up. So, I would say that’s a very important plank and it’s one that’s going to be talked a lot about at the convention,” Harris said.
Lt. Gov. Patrick will be a delegate at the state convention and if the topic of transgender bathrooms makes it onto the platform that will determine the party’s stance on the issue statewide.
If a state lawmaker decides to propose a so-called “bathroom bill,” Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he would support it.
“There is going to be a lot debate and a lot of controversy when it comes to some of these party positions and individual planks,” Harris said.
For the first time, delegates will determine the party’s platform plank by plank—voting on one set of common principles at a time—as opposed to the entire platform as a single document.
Beyond bathrooms, Harris said, “There’s a lot of other issues, too that conservatives can and should be talking about.”
He mentioned debt, deficits, and open-carry laws. Immigration, education and healthcare are also expected to be hot topics at the convention.
“Those are issues that folks in my generation, I think, would hope that our party talked about,” said Harris.
The party’s platform is just one part of the three-day convention. The state’s delegates will also approve rules, elect a chairman to lead the Republican Party of Texas, and pick the delegates to go to the national convention in July.
