If These Are Democratic Positions, Why Are Republicans Appearing in the Investigation?

Editorial | TX3DNews

What should a Republican parent think now?

A brochure arrives addressed to a student. It reads “Texas Trans & LGBTQ+ Student Resource Guide.” It promises: “There are people in Texas who will help you find support.”

You find it alarming. You wonder who is contacting your household and why. Collin County Republican Party Chairman Byron Henry condemns the contents and associates them with positions promoted by Democrats.

That gives you someone to blame. But does it tell you who sent it?

Who were parents supposed to blame?

Information disclosed through an Infobip deposition connected the Republican Women’s Caucus Fund and a person named John Braun to the transgender-related text campaign, according to the Texas Tribune. The fund denies involvement.

Separately, CBS traced the printed mailers’ bulk-mail permit to Three Z Printing, owned by Bill Zerrusen, whose political contributions include support for Trump-linked committees. His son Matthew founded the Catholic organization Newman Ministry and has publicly documented ties to Republican donor Doug Deason.

Deason told the Texas Observer that he did not conceive of or finance the mailers and did not know who was behind them.

The permit identifies a mailing company, not who hired it. The Republican fund was named in connection with the texts. Neither finding establishes who commissioned the brochures, but both warrant questions from anyone who blamed Democrats.

If the purpose was to challenge Democratic policies, why present the message as a student resource guide? Why address it to students instead of telling parents who paid for it and which candidate’s record they were criticizing?

If someone counted on frightened parents blaming Democrats, will Republican leaders demand answers just as loudly if those answers point toward political allies?

Henry should revisit his explanation

Henry associated the contents with Democratic positions. But that does not establish who sent them or why. With Republican connections emerging, voters deserve to ask whether these materials were intended to support students or to alarm parents and direct that anger toward Democrats.

Which candidate authorized the mailer, endorsed its contents or proposed the policies it supposedly represents? Receiving a brochure does not make its contents a candidate’s platform.

Some responses to coverage treated the mailers as a reason not to vote for Democrats. Those voters deserve to know whether they were judging a candidate’s actual position or reacting to an impression someone else created.

Henry has not responded to follow-up questions submitted after the Republican fund was identified in connection with the texts. Does that information change his assessment? Will he press for answers about who sent these materials and what they wanted parents to believe?

What happened to “regardless of political affiliation”?

Rep. Jeff Leach called for an investigation into the texts and mailers regardless of political affiliation, including how recipients’ information was obtained.

Leach’s call for an investigation should carry the same urgency now that a Republican fund has been named.

He also has not responded to follow-up questions submitted after that disclosure.

Both officials can demand disclosure without declaring anyone guilty. They can explain what answers they are seeking and whether their earlier requests have produced any.

If these materials were objectionable when associated with Democrats, Republican connections should make the demand for answers more urgent, not less.

Voters deserve answers before the votes are counted

Organizations mentioned in the materials have already paid a price. The Transgender Education Network of Texas, known as TENT, reported threats, canceled events and spent money on staff security. OutYouth temporarily closed its in-person programs, according to the Texas Newsroom. Meanwhile, those who commissioned the mailers remain unnamed.

The Texas Supreme Court has temporarily blocked questioning intended to identify those behind Texas Transgender Student Union LLC while it considers the company’s challenge to the proceedings. Voters are casting ballots without knowing who paid to put these materials in their homes or what they hoped to accomplish.

For Republican parents who found the brochures alarming, that deserves an answer. Was someone offering support to students, or counting on parents’ fear to turn them against Democrats?

The outrage came quickly. The explanation should not be allowed to arrive only after the votes are counted.