September Newsletter

Jewell Salazar
Sep 1, 2025
6 min read

Wishing you a safe and relaxing Labor Day!

Today we celebrate the hard work and dedication that keep our communities strong.

Our next luncheon is September 16, 2025, from 11 am to 1 pm.

Members $38 and guests $42

Flintrock Falls Country Club, 401 Jack Nicklaus Drive

PLEASE - No walk-ins and there are NO REFUNDS

Reservation cut-off date is September, 12th at noon

Luncheon Speaker:

Vanessa Sivadge

President of Protecting Texas Children

Join us on September 16th, as Vanessa Sivadge, a pediatric RN turned whistleblower, shares her courageous story of exposing Medicaid fraud and secret transgender treatments for minors at Texas Children’s Hospital. Now leading Protecting Texas Children, Vanessa is fighting to safeguard kids and defend Biblical truth.

Register Now

Exciting Updates for Members

We have big news for our members—starting this year, the fiscal year for the Lake Travis Republican Club will run from September 1 through August 31. Along with this change, we’re rolling out several new features and improvements designed to make your membership easier, more engaging, and more impactful.

A New Membership Experience

We’ve revamped the entire LTRC website to create a members-only portal with features built specifically for you. When you become a site member, you’ll gain access to:

Membership Sign-Up & Subscription Management – Sign up or renew your annual membership online. You can choose a recurring subscription or a one-time membership.
Special Event Pricing – All event tickets will now be purchased directly through your member portal, giving you access to exclusive member discounts.
Communication Boards ("Groups") – Connect with fellow members to discuss legislation, share insights, and even recommend speakers for future events.
Member Directory – Access a secure listing of other members to network and collaborate.
Members-Only Content – Stay up-to-date with newsletters, important updates, and special communications just for members.

These changes are designed to make it easier than ever to get involved, make a bigger impact, and stay connected with the LTRC community.

At our next luncheon, we’ll provide a handout outlining the upcoming membership changes and be available to answer any questions you may have. Following the luncheon, we’ll also send a detailed step-by-step walkthrough by email showing how to become a site member and pay annual dues. We look forward to seeing you there as we kick off our new fiscal year!

Letter From The President

LTRC Members:

I hope that you and your families have had an enjoyable summer, had the opportunity to get to somewhere cool for a time and were able to "re-create," as one of my mentors used to say, each in your own way. As we close out the "dog days" of August and turn to early fall with an exciting high school and college football season ahead, we can also look forward to an active and extraordinary political environment in the great state of Texas. But before I talk Texas politics, I want to give our Club a big shout out.

On Tuesday, August 12, we hosted our summer social hour at the Hills Country Club. It was, in my opinion, the most successful and rewarding Club meeting that we have ever held. Our new board member, Stacy Smith, who resides in Marble Falls, gave an excellent summary of the disaster relief efforts by the Ark of the Highland Lakes organization the Central Hill Country caused by the July 4 floods. Our featured speaker, Texas State Representative Brian Harrison (R-Midlothian), who represents the 10th House District, delivered a blockbuster, very forceful speech on the challenges presented by the Democratic influence on the legislative process in our Republican controlled House. His presence, and of those like him in the Texas House, give conservative Texans great hope for the future. I believe that Representative Harrison is, in time, destined for a higher office in the state.

More importantly, that evening we were very successful in raising money for relief efforts in the Central Hill Country. In recent months, much of the country's attention has been focused on the tragic events of the Western Hill Country, primarily in Kerr County. But closer to home, flooding from various tributaries of the Colorado River devastated communities in Burnet, Marble Falls, San Saba and Lampasas. Thanks to many of you, we raised approximately $1,600 for the Ark of the Highland Lakes organization for their disaster relief efforts in that area. On top of that, Councilman and LTRC Board member Kent O'Brien donated a power washer and chainsaw to the effort (thought bubble in Kent's head: "whew!"). Someone even anonymously donated a big box of much-needed pampers to the cause. What a grand and worthy event. It was an outstanding night with a great turnout and lots of new faces. It was an excellent way to end the summer and position the Club to look toward the coming fall campaign season, the spring 2026 primaries and the November midterms.

So, as we view the "dog days" of August in the rear-view mirror, the forward political calendar is packed. In addition to our upcoming elections, as you probably are now aware, the Texas Congress's mid-decade redistricting map passed the Senate early Saturday morning, August 23. The voting was along party lines and it has now been sent to Gov. Abbott for his signature. The new Congressional map, with a projected five-seat GOP gain, is nearly across the finish line. That said, as soon as the Governor signs the bill, Democrats have vowed to file suit challenging the map, and then the fun really begins. I will not attempt to go through the details and strategy behind each of the redrawn districts, as there are a lot of "unknowables" at this point. What can be said is that, in drawing the map, Republicans primarily used the 2024 presidential election results to craft five new districts across the state that would result in GOP "pick-ups". President Trump won each of these newly created districts by at least ten points in 2024, although when averaged out over all statewide results, the two redesigned southern districts were much more competitive.

As expected, Gov. Gavin Newsom of California has taken the initiative to begin a redistricting process in his state in order to flip five US House seats from red to blue. His process is a bit more complicated in that California Democrats will have to seek permission from California voters via approval of a Constitutional Amendment in order to redraw districts along partisan lines. A bill placing the question on the ballot in November passed the legislature earlier this month. Early polls show a divided California electorate on the issue: 48% in favor; 36% in opposition; 20% are undecided.

Meanwhile, on Monday, August 24, President Trump ordered the DOJ to sue the state of California to halt Gavin's effort to redraw a new Democratic leaning Congressional map, although no grounds for his suit were given. Newsom promptly responded via social media: "Bring It". The irony of the situation is palpable, in that it was President Trump's ordering of the Texas mid-decade redistricting effort that ignited Gov. Newsom's initiative in the first place. It is entirely possible that other states, red and blue, will be drawn into this fray. Think Ohio, Indiana, Missouri and Florida for the GOP and Illinois, New York, and New Jersey for the Democrats. In Texas, the bottom line is that the maps will be redrawn and we will lock in a Washington delegation that reflects the reality in Texas.

The debate over the motives behind this effort and the impact on voters is raging and will continue. Republicans say mid-decade redistricting ensures that Washington looks as much like Texas as possible-and that means GOP from top to bottom. Democrats say it sets a dangerous precedent where politicians can redraw maps to pick their voters before every election, leaving citizens with no real say at all. How this will end is not clear at the moment. Some refer to it as "a race to the bottom". No matter what, my sincerest hope is that the average voting citizen is not the ultimate victim here. To be continued.

One last quick note. U.S. Representative Chip Roy, representing Texas Congressional District #21, which includes a portion of south Austin, has just announced his candidacy for the office of the State of Texas Attorney General, replacing Ken Paxton, who is challenging Senator John Cornyn in the March 2026 GOP primary. He will enhance the already crowded GOP primary field comprised of State Senator Joan Huffman, State Representative Mayes Middleton and former U.S. Asst. Attorney General for Legal Policy Aaron Reitz. Reitz was also the former Chief of Staff for Senator Ted Cruz. This will add to an already fascinating election cycle for Texas voters in 2026.

We look forward to seeing you at our luncheon meeting on Tuesday, September 16th.

Warm Regards,

Timothy Toler-President

Lake Travis Republican Club