January 2021 Newsletter

If you missed our “Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Luncheon,” I invite you to start your new year by listening to this recording of our December guest speaker WHAM CEO Mark Brown’s talk about trusting God.  It is unprecedented that I’d rebroadcast a speaker’s message, and frankly, I don’t plan to do it again.  However, this message feels different.  2020 has been awful for a lot of our friends and members, but let us not loose our hope, faith, and gratitude. 

Looking back on my calendar and notes heading into 2020, what unfolded this year was beyond the scope of anyone’s imagination, and it still shocks me to look back on my notes regarding what has actually happened this year.  As a Tennessee-raised girl, the recent bombing in downtown Nashville breaks my heart, but it is not my final straw.  I still look back on 2020 with gratitude.  I’m grateful for a lot—my family, my community, my state, my country, my Republican women’s club—YOU.  I’m also grateful for our uniquely American and Texan ideals and expectations. 

Throughout the 2020 election cycle, I expressed what I consider to be simple truths:

A vote for Republicans is a vote for freedom; 
it is a vote for personal responsibility;
it is a vote for the rule of law;
it is a vote for freedom of speech;
it is a vote for free enterprise;
it is a vote for freedom of religion;
it is a vote for reduced federal regulation;
it is a vote for limited taxes;
it is a vote for energy independence; and,
it is a vote for national security.
There is a choice.

I stand firm on these simple truths and have faith and hope that you, my fellow Republicans, do too. 

Nobody but God knows what is in store for us in 2021.  Long ago I gave up trying to control what is out of my hands.  Instead, I look to what I can control and influence, such as VRW’s ongoing success.  2020 was a rebuilding year for our club, and yet we still had great impact throughout West Houston during this year’s election.   For that, I am grateful. 

One of my VRW 2021 resolutions for us is to build on Team Village— our VRW committee system— and to activate more of our wonderful VRW members.  Our members did so much good in 2020—outstanding speakers, our Centennial celebration, strong campaign activities, the Westside headquarters, launching a big philanthropy project, just to name a few our club’s impactful activities— during such a truly difficult year, and that makes me so hopeful and confident about what we can achieve in 2021.

All the best in 2021 and GRATITUDE for all of you and what you do!  Happy New Year!

One of our VRW 2021 resolutions is to build our VRW committee system and to activate more of our VRW members.  Coordinating Voter Registration for the Americanism Committee is Jodie Dornak.  She reminds us – “Don't let the results of the 2020 election get you down. We must forge ahead in 2021 and seek out non-registered voters and help them acquire the free gift of being able to vote.”  Sign up now HERE for a one-hour Zoom class. After completion, you will receive your Volunteer Deputy Voter Registrar (VDVR) credentials, good through December, 2022. (Note: while on Zoom, no one's face is shown; it is strictly audio. You can do it in your pj's!)   

Once you receive your credentials, you can register friends, neighbors and participate at voter registration drives.  Watch for the opportunities in upcoming newsletters!  Help us elect more Republicans in Houston and Harris County.  It starts by insuring that like-minded citizens are registered to vote!

On January 6th, a joint session of Congress will meet to count the Electoral College votes that were cast in December. 

Vice President Pence will preside over the joint session of Congress to count and accept or reject the votes.  He will hear and rule on objections to the electoral votes.  And there have been a growing number of Representatives who have pledged to object to the votes coming from the swing states where allegations of voter fraud have been made.  Vice President Pence has the authority to rule on those objections. . As president of the Senate, every objection comes directly to him, and he can rule any objection “out of order” or “denied.”  Some believe in his role as President of the Senate (the Vice President)  is the only person who is authorized to pick electors from each state when there are more than one set of electors—which is what we have in several key states.

Thomas Jefferson won the Presidency because he selected Georgia’s electoral college votes in his favor while he was vice president and serving as President of the Senate. Historian Edward B. Foley wrote:

The 1800 Presidential election was a contest between Jefferson, Aaron Burr, John Adams, Charles Pinckney, and John Jay. Jefferson, as the current Vice President, was the President of the Senate when it came time to count the votes. Thomas Jefferson was remarkably aggressive as President of the Senate. Georgia’s certificate-granting four electoral votes to Jefferson – was constitutionally defective on its face, a deficiency that was announced on the floor of Congress and reported by leading newspapers of the day. To resolve all doubts, we have located Georgia’s certificate in the National Archives, and it does indeed reveal striking constitutional irregularities…

This is the only precedent in our history when the Vice President’s authority was used to determine the outcome of a presidential election.  Or perhaps not  - because Jefferson’s actions were to accept the certified, albeit defective, Georgia votes. 

So why the lawsuit by GOP leaders against Vice President Pence?  A group of congressional Republicans led by Texas Rep. Louie Gohmert are suing Vice President Mike Pence to prevent him from confirming Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election.

The lawsuit, which lists Arizona Republican Party Chair Kelli Ward among almost a dozen additional plaintiffs, claims that any action that declares Biden the winner of the election will be fraudulent.

“This civil action seeks an expedited declaratory judgment finding that the elector dispute resolution provisions in Section 15 of the Electoral Count Act, 3 U.S.C. §§ 5 and 15, are unconstitutional because these provisions violate the Electors Clause and the Twelfth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
The legal argument here is what every law student dreads on the bar exam – does the statute (the Electoral Count Act) violate the Constitution, and if so how?  If it violates the Constitution the act is void, or at least the offensive section is void. 

Article II, Section 1 of the Constitution gives state legislatures “plenary authority” as enunciated in Bush v. Gore. This is key since the counting of votes is discussed in Article II, the 12th Amendment, and 3 USC 15. Put bluntly, it’s as clear as mud. Add to that the fact that the contested states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, New Mexico, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin have sent dueling slates of electors to D.C. And as of December 28, two state legislatures have initiated action to revoke the certification (Pennsylvania and Nevada).

This means that the V.P. has to decide how he will handle the situation when two sealed envelopes are handed to him from any of those states, and what to do if a State Legislature votes to revoke the certification of results by its Governor.  In states such as Georgia, where it absolutely clear that the State’s election laws were violated, the question becomes is the certified vote void because it violated the Constitution’s mandates that state election laws must be determined by state legislatures, not public officials. On this basis, VP Pence could reject the electoral votes of the offending state.

The statement says nothing about who might or might not have “won” the contested states. Rather, by not following their own laws, as enacted by their own legislatures, they have violated Article II, Section 1. Thus, they have not conducted an election, and their results are void.

Thus, the VP, as the presiding officer and final authority, has the unquestionable authority to declare that the states in question have not conducted lawful presidential elections. No one has the authority to override his decision.

If the votes of all seven contested states are registered as zero, President Trump will have 232 votes, and Joe Biden will have 222. The 12th Amendment says, “[T]he votes shall then be counted[.] … The person having the greatest number of votes for President, shall be the President[.]”