Is David Covey an SREC or a Candidate

Robert West | October 2, 2023

In a recent article I mentioned that David Covey, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee or SREC was not following Texas Election Law while holding this position and running for the State House District 21.

Thank you to all the supporters of David Covey who contacted me about this, you inspired this article.

When I wrote articles in the past, I foolishly expect that the readers would either know what I am talking about or would do their own research. Too often, we “lean on our own understanding” and I have been as guilty of that in the past as anyone.

At times I would respond individually to people that contacted me and point them in the right directions.  Sometimes I would even “cut and paste” the information, along with links to Texas Law and the definition of words.

It is easy to think that our “common sense” understanding of the law is correct but that is unfortunately not the case.

It is easy to see this when we are talking about a person that thinks outlawing guns will force criminals not to use guns. We have all heard of a stupid law that is an affront to common sense and assume the person informing us is mistaken. 

When Texas lowered the penalty of voter fraud from a felony to a misdemeanor in 2021, how many of us said “No they didn’t, that makes no sense.” I went even further and said, “Only a person planning on violating this law would vote to lower the penalty.”

For the People who Disagree

Here we are again. For people that disagreed with what I had to say in my last article, allow me to show you where I got the information and the actual text of the law.

Col. Allen West was elected to Republican State Chairman and called out the unconstitutional mandates and shutdown orders Governor Greg Abbott was issuing. 

In response, the Austin establishment passed a law that no party or voting bloc had asked for, they passed it merely to protect their own. This law was HB1987 or what many in the GOP called, “The Stop Allen West from Running for Governor Bill."

This REQUIRED “a member, a chair, or a vice chair of a state executive committee of a political party.” To step down from their party position if they became “A candidate for nomination or election to, or the holder of, an elective office of the federal, state, or county government.”

Here is the link to the entire bill.

The Law and Covey the Candidate

It’s easy to see why people would believe you are not a candidate until you file to run for office. These people are mistaken. 

While filing for office does make you a candidate, filing is not required to be considered a candidate under Texas Election Code, Title 15, Chapter 252, Section 251.001, Subsection 1, Items A through H.

This is what it says but you can go to “Texas Election Code” to see and read it yourself but here are the important parts:

1E “the making of a public announcement of a definite intent to run for public office in a particular election, regardless of whether the specific office is mentioned in the announcement;

1F “before a public announcement of intent, the making of a statement of definite intent to run for public office and the soliciting of support by letter or other mode of communication;”

Why is Covey Pretending the Law Doesn't Exist

So why is David Covey, the State Republican Executive Committee and The Texas Secretary of State pretending this law does not apply to Covey? 

Why is David Covey publicly running against Dade Phelan and Alicia Davis for State Representative, District 21 while remaining an SREC member?

This law is clear, but we are steadily going further down the road of “laws for they, but not for me.”

You see this play out when Trump is prosecuted for fraud, when the “victims” say they are not victims. Will the bank executive who testified that Trump did not defraud them in any way face perjury charges for testifying that they were not defrauded?

You see this when you and I must pay back taxes and fines to the IRS or face prison time, but Hunter Biden executes a plan to avoid taxes by pretending it was a loan and gets a pass on not paying millions in taxes.

You see this when Bryan Slaton is removed from office for giving an underaged adult a drink, but a Democrat caught with cocaine gets to stay in office.

You see this when HB1124 disqualifies tens of millions of Texans from running for sheriff and creates “Sheriffs for life” in a hundred or more counties.

You see this when Dade Phelan ignores what the GOP wants to seat Democrat Committee Chairs and ignores history, rules and common sense to rush through Ken Paxton’s impeachment proceeding.

You see it when Matt Rinaldi endorses a candidate in a Republican primary when the party is to stay neutral in a primary.

The People Have a Better Choice

The people of HD21 have two Dade Phelan’s to choose from, two men that have been involved for years and feel they don’t have to follow the rules. 

It would not shock me at all if the plan was to run Covey against Phelan and then have one of the two “decide” to withdraw at the last minute. The last thing you want is a person that believes the law do not apply to them, to be writing your laws. 

Fortunately, House District 21 has Alicia Davis in the race, an actual person, not a swamp creature.

Robert West