HOUSTON – Texas is shattering early voting records and is becoming one of the states to watch on Election Day. The Lone Star State has hit a record high for early voting turnout. That equates to roughly 46% of registered voters and there’s still three days of early voting left. The Quinnipiac poll also shows among those who will vote in person on Election Day, 62% support Trump and 32% will support Biden. Harris County Democratic Party chairwoman Lillie Schechter said her focus isn’t on the polls, rather getting Democrats to vote early now through Sunday.

HOUSTON Harris County GOP chairman Keith Nielsen officially took office August 3. However, as the party prepares for a contentious election season, there are renewed calls from some party regulars for his resignation. Many urged Nielsen to step down even before he assumed office. I work for my voters, Nielsen told KPRC 2 on June 6. This shouldnt stand. He grabbed his gun and tried to drag me to the back of the room and said you need to leave.Karpiuk said he and 149 other Republican county precinct chairmen have signed an open letter calling for Nielsens resignation.

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Nielsen, elected in March, was set to automatically take over as the party leader in Texas' biggest county, home to Houston, at 12 a.m. Monday. By Sunday night, over 120 precinct chairs had signed on to a statement reminding Nielsen of his early June "declination to take the office." The statement from the precinct chairs does not criticize Nielsen but favorably notes his June 6 statement that he would not take office. "This difficult decision rightfully put our party over personal interest," the precinct chairs' statement says. Nielsen initially said the graphic was being misinterpreted and declined to give up the job.

Based on that announcement, the party made plans to hold an Aug. 8 election to pick a new chair, and candidates started lining up. "He announced that he would be taking office on Aug. 3," said Nancy Scott, a precinct chair who was in attendance. Furthermore, to actually relinquish the post, Nielsen would need to formally notify the party's secretary something he has not done yet, according to a party spokesperson, Genevieve Carter. Dan Patrick, who called on Nielsen to "withdraw immediately from any further consideration as county chair." Nielsen was one of several county party leaders who came under fire for social media posts after George Floyd's death in May.

Social MediaHarris County Republican Party chair-elect Keith Nielsen announced on Facebook he will not take office in August, days after defending a racist post related to ongoing protests on racial inequity. I have spent my entire adult life supporting conservative candidates and causes and I am grateful for the thousands of supporters who have reached out to me over the last several days, Nielsen wrote in a Facebook post. The juxtaposition of the quote and the banana can be read as an allusion to equating black people with monkeys, a well-worn racist trope. Nielsen appears to have deleted the post and apparently addressed it on his Facebook page Thursday evening. Nielson was one of several Texas GOP members to post racist remarks following days of protests in Texas, garnering criticism from Republican officials in the state.

Greg Abbott, had condemned four GOP chairs for proliferating conspiracy theories on Facebook. On Friday afternoon, The Texas Tribune identified similar posts from seven more GOP chairs across the state. GOP county chairs are elected leaders of the Republican Party who help oversee local elections and head up county-level meetings and events. News circulating about the first five chairs posts sparked concern both internal and external about the Texas GOP. Lynne Teinert, the GOP chairperson for Shackelford County, shared on Saturday a picture of Soros with the text, The pandemic isnt working.

Republican leaders in five Texas counties shared racist Facebook posts, some of which also floated conspiracy theories, leading Gov. The Texas Tribune became aware of Nielsen’s post after Abbott called for the resignation of the Bexar County and Nueces County chairs. Similar resignation calls came Thursday afternoon from Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Lt. Gov. Garcia's tweet prompted U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Austin, whose district includes Bexar County, to call for Brehm to step down immediately. State Sen. Donna Campbell, R-New Braunfels, who represents Bexar County as well, also pressured Brehm to resign Thursday afternoon.

The chairman-elect of the Harris County Republican Party Keith Nielsen is facing backlash for a social media post. In a now-removed post, the Harris County GOP Chair Facebook page posted a famous quote from Martin Luther King Jr. Nielsen has not yet started in his position as the Harris Countys party chair. "As only the Chair-elect at this time, Mr. Nielsen does not yet speak officially for the Harris County Republican Party nor does his Facebook page represent HCRP. I can only hope his current Facebook post is a truthful apology, and that he is indeed an admirer of Dr. Martin Luther King as he has stated today.