HK: The Disappearing Texas Inaugural Celebration
Once upon a time, Texas gubernatorial celebrations were the party of the year replete with multiple events over two days, multiple galas, a parade down Congress and as many as 30,000 people expected to attend at least one event in 2015 (the last date with projected numbers). The Inaugural Committee was a Who’s Who of Texas luminaries, contributors, and just plain supporters. In contrast, this Inauguration of Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick is not a statewide celebration but is being held with much less fanfare.
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Once upon a time, Texas gubernatorial celebrations were the party of the year replete with multiple events over two days, multiple galas, a parade down Congress and as many as 30,000 people expected to attend at least one event in 2015 (the last date with projected numbers).
The Inaugural Committee was a Who’s Who of Texas luminaries, contributors, and just plain supporters.
In contrast, this Inauguration of Governor Greg Abbott and Lt. Governor Dan Patrick
is not a statewide celebration but is being held with much less fanfare.
QR was unable to find anything online identifying the Inaugural Committee members and the only apparent way to contact them is through an online contact template. No names, no phone numbers, no press contact, and no mailing address available to the general public . We were of course able to get copies of the event invites, but other than dollar levels of support and event planner contact, they were not informative. Back in 2015, Reeve Hamilton at the Texas Tribune reported that the inaugural festivities spanned two days and included a $4 million budget from private donors. Event underwriters were asked for $10,000 to $100,000 with various tiers of VIP benefits at each contribution level. This year’s invitation is similar but includes no individual ticket prices to the Inaugural Ball although we have independently confirmed they are available. According to Reeves in ‘15, “That group includes Walmart heiress Alice Walton , University of Texas System Regent Steve Hicks , conservative mega-donor Tim Dunn and others.” Sponsors were invited to everything from a “Young Texans Celebration” the night before to a morning prayer service, the Capitol grounds BBQ and VIP treatment at the 10,000 person gala the evening of the Inauguration. The ensuing secrecy around the details began in earnest in 2019 when news organizations had to literally file suit to find any details. The lawsuit ultimately reveal that costs exceeded $5 million funded by big time donors. This year could not be more different.
Despite Texas’ enormous prosperity over the last four years, there is no online presence for the Inauguration other than under this not so easy to find URL .
The site is uniquely uninformative listing only three events, which is surprising for a political celebration after literally crushing their Democratic opponents last November.
Through reliable sources we were able to confirm that there are multiple Chairmen of this year’s Committee including at least Tilman Fertitta , owner of the Houston Rockets and among other things, a major casino operator and Brint Ryan of Ryan LLC , as well as others as of now unidentified.
There are apparently plenty of tickets left for the post swearing in event -- dining on the Capitol grounds ($10 a ticket) but the Inaugural Ball is sold out. That is not surprising, because the gala is being held at the ACL Live Moody Theater adjacent to the W Hotel which has a 2,700 person capacity. Many of the lobbyists and other movers and shakers who would typically host major clients and avid supporters from around the country are seriously annoyed that they could only get two tickets for a total of $2500. Even one loyal and longtime Abbott supporter called the event “elitist.”
And of course, there has been no press outreach. This should not be surprising when Texas Senate Republicans are so fearful of press coverage they’ve ended a century long tradition of permitting press on the floor. Given the dearth of information or press contacts, we are left to speculate what is going on which is what happens when you hide from the press. One theory comes from a die-hard Abbott supporter who speculates that the anonymous inaugural committee has raised it’s now typical $5 million or more but that this relatively low-cost celebration means the “profits” will be diverted to replenish Abbott’s war chest with an eye toward DC should other candidates flame out. It is no secret that Abbott is a driven fundraiser and is prohibited from doing so during the legislative session, so while a few million dollars may be a drop in the bucket, his post- Beto bank account may be as low as it has been since his first election. Given the Governor’s mania with fundraising, that is not an unrealistic proposition. But perhaps just as likely is fear of protests including the GOP faithful.
Don’t forget that the then-then two term Governor Abbott was too frightened to even make an appearance inside the 2022 state GOP Convention, preferring to have a ticket-only event near the Convention Center leaving attendees sweltering in 105 degree Houston temperatures as they patiently awaited entry one person at a time. The outdoor line was at least a couple of football fields long and there were even reported instances of fainting. It was probably prudent for Abbott to avoid the Convention Hall.
Texas’ senior Senator John Cornyn was rudely booed by party faithful for more than a half hour. Draw your own conclusions about gatherings of the Republican grassroots. And finally, one long-time observer speculated a growing distance from mega-donor Tim Dunn and others may have a role. Dunn was actually in the Capitol last week visibly in tow with state Rep Bryan Slayton , R-Mineola, who’s proposed House Rules Amendments could be largely characterized as seeking to silence other members or reducing their ability to participate. And don’t forget, Dunn mouthpiece Michael Quinn Sullivan (though much less visible these days) and his allies have been harshly critical toward Governor Abbott. Whatever the cause, we will presumably have to see Open Records Requests to ferret out any genuine metrics on the rapidly shrinking Texas Inaugural.