Less than two months before the November election, a single vote has revealed a stark divide in the Tarrant County Republican Party — and prompted swift intraparty attacks. 

On Sept. 12, Republican County Commissioner Manny Ramirez made a motion to approve a list of 51 early voting sites, including eight on college campuses. His motion came after commissioners were split over an initial early voting site list in early September, with the list failing to pass along party lines. Ramirez was absent from that meeting. 

Ramirez’s Sept. 12 motion passed 4-1, with only County Judge Tim O’Hare supporting proposals to remove college polling locations. O’Hare said the move would cut costs and criticized campuses for being inaccessible to people who do not attend or work at universities. Ramirez said he was not in favor of removing polling sites, but supported adding more to balance the number of locations across precincts.

The intraparty backlash against Ramirez began almost immediately. In the hours and days that followed the meeting, Ramirez was targeted by a local political action committee, censured by Tarrant County Republican Party leadership and lambasted online by Republican activists. He also garnered support from some longtime Republican politicians, many of whom have faced similar criticism from within the party.

A week after his motion and the ensuing maelstrom of political activity, Ramirez remained steadfast in his belief that approving the early voting sites on college campuses was the right thing to do.

“I’m in the same place,” Ramirez told the Fort Worth Report. “I think my focus is on doing the business of the county and making sure that I’m doing my job to represent all of our citizens equally. So nothing’s changed for me.”

Attack ads follow quickly after vote

It took less than a day for the attack ads to begin. 

“Update: BREAKING: Commissioner Manny Ramirez calls himself a Republican, but he just voted with Democrats to help them turn out the vote on college campuses. (Recipient), call his office right now at (817) 238-4400! Ask him why he wants to turn Tarrant County blue!”

The message, sent the evening of Sept. 12, was attributed to Cary Cheshire, vice chairman of the Tarrant County Republican Party and president of the Tarrant County Patriots political action committee. It was labeled as a political ad sent on behalf of the PAC. The PAC sent out a series of other messages criticizing Ramirez following the vote.

Cheshire himself sent a tweet aimed at Ramirez on Sept. 14, asking him to “stop voting with Democrats to hurt our chances.”

Hey @MannyRamirez_TX , my personal political agenda this November is very simple:

I want Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Bill Waybourn, David Woodruff, and all of our other Republican candidates to win Tarrant County. Stop voting with Democrats to hurt our chances. #txlege #TXSen

— Cary Cheshire (@CaryCheshireTX) September 14, 2024

The Tarrant County Patriots PAC itself isn’t a stranger to intraparty disputes. Its largest funders are the Defend Texas Liberty PAC and the Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, both of which were criticized after the then-president of Defend Texas Liberty met with white supremacist Nick Fuentes near Fort Worth. Defend Texas Liberty later went dark, only for its funders to resume donations under the Texans United for a Conservative Majority name. 

Texans United for a Conservative Majority, which is funded by Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, then spent millions of dollars in the Republican primary earlier this year to unseat lawmakers who voted to impeach Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Brandon Rottinghaus, a University of Houston political science professor, said both the Paxton infighting and the attacks on Ramirez reflect a GOP shift, where singular figures can have an outsized role in political strategy if they embody what the party wants to become. 

“As some Republicans move in a more extreme direction, we see the inner-party pushback,” he said. “I think it’s particularly true on process matters, where institutionalist Republicans feel like they can stand on precedent and reject extreme changes pushed by some more insurgent Republicans. Voting is a good example of that.”

Rottinghaus pointed to Paxton’s aggressive approach on voting integrity issues, including filing lawsuits targeting voter registration efforts in Bexar and Travis counties. A judge tossed Paxton’s lawsuit against Bexar County on Sept. 16. Efforts to restrict voting registration activities have also followed in Tarrant County, where all three Republican commissioners voted in September to prevent organizations from registering voters inside county buildings.

Rottinghaus said he didn’t know Ramirez’s internal thought process, but the break with his party on college polling sites could also represent a more cautious approach.

“I think for a lot of these (institutionalist) Republicans, some of the objections are about good government practice, and some are about a perception of an indefensible legal argument, just from a practical perspective,” he said.

Tarrant GOP censures Ramirez, Fickes

Ramirez wasn’t the only Republican on the Commissioners Court who supported the motion; longtime commissioner Gary Fickes also voted in favor of keeping all college early voting sites. Despite that, Ramirez has borne the brunt of the backlash. Fickes is set to retire at the end of the year.

Both commissioners were censured by the Tarrant County Republican Party, which voted on a resolution condemning their votes. The resolution, which was approved unanimously by precinct chairs at the meeting, said Ramirez’s and Fickes’ decision “undermines the ability of Republicans to win the general election in Tarrant County.” President Joe Biden won the county by less than 2,000 votes in 2020. 

Party chair Bo French wasted no time in deriding the vote online, promising that local Republicans won’t forget which elected officials sided with “the Leftist mob.” French has been an outspoken critic of voting locations at college campuses.

“@MannyRamirez_TX and Gary Fickes were elected as Republicans but today they voted to help Democrats win in November,” French wrote in a tweet shortly after the Sept. 12 vote.

I have attached the resolution that the @tarrantgop passed at our last meeting. I will note that it was unanimous.

I hope in the future @MannyRamirez_TX will endeavor to vote in a way that Republicans cheer him on instead of the radical leftists who frequently attend… https://t.co/jyLPo04k02 pic.twitter.com/4nfWcO5zcd

— Bo French (@Bo_French_TX) September 16, 2024

Ramirez, in turn, penned a letter to French criticizing him for using party resources to attack a fellow Republican. The first-term commissioner cited actions he’s taken since his 2022 election to further conservative causes, including ending mandatory diversity and inclusion training in Tarrant County; increasing law enforcement funding; and lowering taxes for two consecutive years.

“It is concerning that you and Vice Chair Cary Cheshire have used GOP resources, along with the ‘Tarrant Patriots PAC,’ to attack a staunch conservative Republican just 60 days before a critical election, solely because my decision didn’t align with your personal political agenda,” Ramirez wrote. “Nowhere in the Tarrant GOP platform does it call for ‘Closing College Voting Locations.’” 

Rottinghaus said college campuses are uniquely vulnerable to efforts to take away polling locations, because of a perception that students don’t vote. 

“That’s wrong, because you saw in the data, they do vote,” he said. “And even if they weren’t voting, encouraging them to do so is important and having the location there means that there’s a greater probability that they will vote.” 

O’Hare, the lone opposition vote on Ramirez’s motion, has previously argued it is not the county’s job to encourage one demographic group or another to get out to vote. 

Carlos Turcios, director of Texas Latinos United for Conservative Action, was one of the precinct chairs who voted to censure Ramirez and Fickes. Turcios, alongside several other LUCA members, released a statement Sept. 13 criticizing Ramirez for a vote they said undermined conservative efforts to ensure election integrity. 

“Instead, he has chosen to align with left-wing activists who promote mass mail-in ballots, voter fraud and socialist policies,” the LUCA members wrote.

Online criticism of Ramirez stretched to the state level, where Texas GOP Chairman Abraham George chimed in.

“When Republican elected officials vote against their Republican constituents, they damage our brand and hurt our party,” he wrote in a tweet. “If you are going to vote as a Democrat, you should run as one.”

Ramirez sees state, local support

Amid the flurry of criticism in the days following his vote, Ramirez also received support from several state lawmakers and Fort Worth Mayor Mattie Parker. 

Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, thanked Ramirez for “standing on conservative principles and keeping polling locations on college campuses.” Republicans, he said, “know how to earn the vote.”

Rep. Glenn Rogers, R-Graford, praised Ramirez and said his motion is what real conservative leadership looks like. Rogers also took aim at O’Hare.

“Voter suppression is not practiced by REAL Republicans,” Rogers wrote in a tweet. “The overwhelming majority of Republicans are not crazy radicals. Unfortunately, many in current Republican leadership positions are not in line with the true grassroots.”

Both Geren and Rogers faced intraparty challengers in the Republican primary earlier this year after voting to impeach Paxton. Geren defeated his opponent, the Paxton-supported Jack Reynolds, while Rogers fell to Paxton-endorsed Mike Olcott. 

On Sept. 17, Parker, a Republican, added her voice to those defending Ramirez. Parker wrote in a tweet that when parties resort to winning at the expense of voter turnout, everyone loses. Ramirez should be commended for protecting the fundamental right to vote and calling for more polling locations, she said. Parker has previously spoken out against partisan extremism in politics.

“He recognizes that it’s the communication of ideas and policies and ability to bring people together that wins elections not partisan politics,” Parker wrote. “We may run for office under the banner of one party, but once elected you take an oath to serve all.”

At the end of the day, Ramirez said, his job is to represent his precinct. He said the response from residents since he made the motion to retain early voting sites on college campuses has been incredible. 

“I’ve received hundreds, if not thousands, of messages of support, just saying that they agree that conservative messaging and conservative values are what wins elections, and remaining focused on winning in November is the No. 1 priority,” he said.