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James Dickey (Texas politician)

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James Dickey
Chair of the Texas Republican Party
In office
June 3, 2017 – July 20, 2020
Preceded byTom Mechler
Succeeded byAllen West
Personal details
Born
James Roy Dickey

(1966-11-23) November 23, 1966 (age 57)
Political partyRepublican
SpouseLynda Dickey (1989–present)
Children3
EducationStanford University (BA)
Baylor University (MBA)
WebsiteCampaign website

James Roy Dickey (born November 23, 1966) is an American executive from Austin, Texas and the former chairman of the Republican Party of Texas. He was elected by the 64-member Republican State Executive Committee meeting in Austin on June 3, 2017, and re-elected at the state convention on June 15, 2018. In his third campaign he was defeated by Allen West on July 20, 2020.

Early life and education

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Dickey moved to Texas with his family when he was in elementary school and attended Polytechnic High School in Fort Worth[1] where he graduated valedictorian of his class. Dickey then attended Stanford University, where he received bachelor's degrees in Political Science and English and later Baylor University, where he received an Master of Business Administration.[1][2]

Dickey is CEO of JD Key, LLC, a business and political consulting firm, and a shareholder and board member of iManaging General Agency Holdings, LLC, the holding company of the insurance firm, iMGA, LLC.[1] He has previously worked in the insurance industry for Kemper Insurance, Great American Insurance, and Republic Group.[3][4]

Career

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Travis County Republican Party

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On March 4, 2014, Dickey was elected Travis County Republican Party chairman, in an uncontested Republican primary. He succeeded Rosemary Edwards, who served in that position from 2008 until Dickey's election.

Dickey ran for reelection as Travis County chair in 2016, but he was defeated in the March 1, 2016 election, 26,619 to 20,543 (56.4% to 43.6%) by Robert Morrow.[5] Travis County Republican Party leaders immediately wanted to remove Morrow because he would wear a court jester's hat to county party meetings, speculated on famous assassinations and conspiracy theories, and promoted his book on the Clintons he co-authored with Roger Stone. With Dickey's assistance they implemented a plan that turned over operations of the Party to an executive committee and other officers of the Party.[6][7]

Morrow held the Travis County chairmanship from March 1 to September 20, 2016. Dickey was re-elected as the Travis County chair after Morrow was disqualified by filing to run for U.S. President against Donald Trump.[8][9] After Morrow's removal, Dickey defeated, 62–26, the political consultant Brendan Steinhauser of Austin, who managed the successful John Cornyn Senate re-election campaign in 2014. Steinhauser said he could not say he would vote for Trump. Dickey made it clear that Trump was not his original choice but that it was the duty of the Party Chair to support nominees elected by the voters.[5]

Texas Republican Party

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On May 20, 2017, Tom Mechler of Amarillo, Texas announced his resignation, citing time constraints and business and family matters. Mechler set the election date for his successor less than two weeks later. Mechler's choice for party chair, Brenham, Texas wealth management executive Richard Scott "Rick" Figueroa,[10] immediately announced his candidacy.

Dickey announced a few days later, and during the less than 10-day campaign Dickey and Figueroa participated in debates in Fort Worth, Houston, San Antonio, Round Rock, and Austin.

On June 3, 2017, the 62-member State Republican Executive Committee and the vice chair narrowly elected Dickey to succeed Mechler as state chair. Dickey received 32 votes to 31 for Rick Figueroa.[11][12] Matt Mackowiak of Austin was elected to finish the one year remaining in Dickey's unexpired term as Travis County Republican Party Chairman.[9]

Dickey ran for reelection in 2018 as Texas state party chair. He was opposed by Cindy Asche, a precinct chair in Collin County, Texas, north of Dallas. Asche loaned herself almost $200,000 to finance her campaign.[13] On June 15, 2018, at the Republican Party of Texas convention in San Antonio, Dickey received the votes of 22 of the 31 Texas Senate districts.[14] Asche of Frisco, Texas, a nurse and the chaplain for the Texas Federation of Republican Women, demanded that all of the delegates to the state convention vote on the state party chairman contest. Dickey won the vote of the full convention with 5,680 votes to Asche's 3,009 votes, 65.4% to 34.6%,[15] growing Dickey's win to 24 of the 31 Senate districts. Asche ran a negative campaign focusing on the complaints of former state party employees and a 2004 Securities and Exchange Commission complaint against Dickey[16] as a result of his past partnership at a hedge fund that lost $20 million in 2001 for the Art Institute of Chicago. The SEC filed a lawsuit alleging Dickey violated securities registration provisions, antifraud provisions, and broker-dealer registration provisions of the securities laws.[17] The SEC settled the lawsuit with Dickey after he paid a fine without admitting guilt.[18][17]

In July 2019, Dickey announced he would be running for reelection. He was challenged by former Congressman Allen West.[19]

The state convention was originally scheduled for Houston in May 2020, but was postponed until mid-July to allow time for the county and Senate district conventions to be safely held and safeguards to be put in place.

After President Donald Trump proposed to move the 2020 Republican National Convention from North Carolina amid Coronavirus restrictions, Dickey volunteered Texas as a potential venue, saying, "Texans know how to and can safely have a big event like that as we reopen Texas." Dickey later mentioned Fort Worth, San Antonio, Dallas, and Houston as possible locations if the convention were hosted in Texas.[20][21] The Republican National Committee ultimately decided to move its convention to Jacksonville, Florida.

On July 8, 2020, contrary to prior statements, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner issued an order prohibiting the convention, scheduled for the following week. The next day the Party filed a lawsuit demanding specific performance of the lease between the state party and the Houston First, the management team of the Brown convention center.[22] After losing that suit and its appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, the convention had to be held virtually for the first time ever.

On July 20, 2020, during that virtual convention, he was defeated by Allen West, who won the vote in 22 of the 31 Senate districts.[23][24]

Private life

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Dickey married his wife, Lynda, in 1989, and they live in Spicewood, Texas, in unincorporated Travis County, Texas in the Texas Hill Country. They have three children.[1][2]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d "About Chairman Dickey". TexasGOP.Org. Austin, Texas: The Republican Party of Texas. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  2. ^ a b "James Dickey". Menlo Park, California: Facebook. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  3. ^ "iMGA's Team". imga.biz. Austin, Texas. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  4. ^ "James Dickey". LinkedIn. Sunnyvale, California. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  5. ^ a b Jonathan Tilove (September 21, 2016). "James Dickey reclaims leadership of the Travis County Republican Party". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. Archived from the original on July 1, 2017. Retrieved May 31, 2018.
  6. ^ Victor, Daniel (March 2, 2016). "Texas Republicans Disavow Foul-Mouthed Election Winner". New York Times. New York, New York. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  7. ^ Walsh, Sean Collins (August 13, 2016). "Robert Morrow holds first meeting as Travis County GOP chairman". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  8. ^ Patrick Svitek (August 25, 2016). "Texas GOP Officials: Controversial Travis County Chairman Is Out". The Texas Tribune. Austin, Texas. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
  9. ^ a b Goldenstein, Taylor (Nov 16, 2017). "Travis County GOP chairman announces re-election bid". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  10. ^ Patrick Svitek (May 20, 2017). "Texas GOP Chairman Tom Mechler resigns". KVUE and The Texas Tribune. Archived from the original on May 21, 2017. Retrieved May 21, 2017.
  11. ^ Tilove, Jonathan (June 3, 2017). "Austin's James Dickey elected Texas GOP chair in razor-thin victory". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  12. ^ Sonja Harris (June 5, 2017). "Texas Has a New Republican Party Chair - James Dickey". Texasgopvote.com. Retrieved June 19, 2017.
  13. ^ Svitek, Patrick (January 21, 2020). "Big bucks — and a big donor — fuel Allen West's bid for Texas GOP chair". The Eagle. Bryan, Texas: BH Media Group. Retrieved January 21, 2020.
  14. ^ Svitek, Patrick (June 15, 2018). "James Dickey wins re-election as chairman of the Texas GOP". Texas Tribune. Austin, Texas. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  15. ^ McGaughy, Lauren (June 15, 2018). "Texas Republicans re-elect James Dickey party chairman after testy debate". Dallas Morning News. Dallas, Texas. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  16. ^ Tilove, Jonathan (June 16, 2018). "Asche is to ashes, but is James Dickey a man the Texas GOP can trust?". Austin American-Statesman. Austin, Texas. Archived from the original on April 8, 2019. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  17. ^ a b SEC v. Conrad P. Seghers and James R. Dickey, Civil Action No. 3:04 CV 1320-K (N.D. Tex.), U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, September 25, 2006. The SEC filed a civil suit against Dickey alleging violation of the securities registration provisions of Sections 5(a) and 5(c) of the Securities Act of 1933, the antifraud provisions of Section 17(a) of the Securities Act and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 thereunder, and the broker-dealer registration provisions of Section 15(a) of the Exchange Act.
  18. ^ Hooks, Christopher (June 19, 2018). "The 'Crazies' Have Fully Taken Over the Texas GOP". The Texas Observer. Austin, Texas. Retrieved April 8, 2019.
  19. ^ WBAP Morning News – Retired Colonel Allen West Says He Is Looking to Run for GOP Chair, WBAP 820 AM, Dallas, Texas, July 8, 2019.
  20. ^ Uchida, Adela (2020-06-03). "Texas Republican leaders ready to roll out welcome mat for RNC". KEYE. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  21. ^ Perrett, Connor. "Texas Republican party chairman said Trump can hold the RNC in his state if the president moves it from North Carolina like he threatened". Business Insider. Retrieved 2020-06-05.
  22. ^ Pollock, Cassandra. Texas GOP sues Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner over canceled in-person convention, Texas Tribune, July 9, 2020.
  23. ^ Waltens, Brandon. Allen West Declares Victory in Race to Lead Texas GOP, Texas Scorecard, July 20, 2020.
  24. ^ Greenwood, Max. Tea Party conservative Allen West to guide Texas GOP through 2020 elections, The Hill, July 20, 2020. Retrieved July 21, 2020.
Party political offices
Preceded by Chair of the Texas Republican Party
2017–2020 		Succeeded by
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