The Texas Republican Party will move forward with its plan to hold an in-person convention this month.
Texas GOP Chairman James Dickey announced the decision in a statement.
“After extensive debate Thursday evening, the State Republican Executive Committee reinforced its support for proceeding with our State Convention in person in Houston,” Dickey said.
The convention is scheduled to take place July 13-18 in Houston.
Texas reported an uptick in coronavirus cases in June, which prompted state officials to back off on reopening plans. Houston is one of the cities that reported a surge in cases.
Despite the increase in cases, the Executive Committee of the Texas Republican Party voted 40 to 20 to host the meeting of about 6,000 people in Houston’s George R. Brown convention center, which is an indoor facility.
Texas Democrats, who are opting to go with a virtual convention, ripped the decision, The Hill reports.
“Against the advice of doctors, medical professionals, and common-sense, Greg Abbott and the Texas Republican Party decided to hold an in-person convention in the biggest coronavirus hotspot in the country,” Texas Democrat party Chair Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement Friday. “This decision is dead wrong.”
The Texas Medical Association, which is a sponsor of the GOP convention, also blasted the decision.
“This is just not the time to bring thousands of the party faithful from around the state to an indoor meeting in a county that, as I write, reports more than 18,000 active COVID-19 cases,” TMA president Diana Fite penned in a letter to GOP leadership on Tuesday.
GOP leaders said the convention will comply with Gov. Greg Abbot’s mask mandate that was issued on Thursday.
The order requires Texans to cover their faces while inside buildings or when social distancing isn’t possible.
The convention will provide free masks for attendees, conduct temperature checks and give out hand sanitizer, according to the statement.
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