It appears Hispanic Texans may have been “played” again by state Republican leaders seeking to promote themselves rather than truly grow the Party.
On Wednesday, May 17, Texas GOP chairman Tom Mechler was in San Antonio supporting a Hispanic outreach event called “Hispanic Engagement Dime” tour. Accompanying Mechler was Rick Figueroa, a member of the Trump Hispanic advisory council and key figure in organizing the Tour.
The “Tour”, which has been to several cities including Laredo, the Rio Grande Valley, Houston, and Dallas, was designed as a “listening” session for Hispanics to tell the GOP leaders what they want and suggest for greater Hispanic support of the GOP. People in attendance were divided into groups and notes were taken by facilitators.
There was some skepticism from grassroots activists because there have been so many “Hispanic outreach” projects and events in the past 40 years, and Democrats still dominate South Texas and most Hispanic communities.