A new non-profit Texas PAC started by a conservative mobile company was formed in January 2022 with the purpose of keeping Republicans in control of Tarrant County, and after less than a year, they are claiming victory.
Patriot Mobile, which touts itself as being “America’s only Christian conservative wireless service provider,” formed Patriot Mobile Action (PMA) “to go on the offensive to save Tarrant County” from turning blue, the Texas PAC’s website stated.
Over the past several election cycles, the Democratic Party has attempted to chip away at the red wall Republicans built in the South. Texas was on the top of a list of states the party wanted to flip. Despite recent high-profile Democratic party wins, PMA felt with enough support, Republicans could reverse the momentum, according to Leigh Wambsganss, vice president of government and public affairs with Patriot Mobile and the executive director of PMA.
Patriot Mobile Action’s Efforts Help Clinch Tarrant County Victories and Keeps the Most Conservative County in the Nation Red
“TEXAS IS NOT FOR SALE,” said Leigh Wambsganss, Executive Director of Patriot Mobile Action.
— Patriot Mobile Action (@PMAction) November 15, 2022
Wambsganss told the Daily Caller that the Texas non-profit was launched in Tarrant County to stop Democrats from taking more ground, starting first with school board races. (RELATED: Republicans Need To Wake Up And Play A Different Game, Or They’re Bound To Lose)
Tarrant County is one of the largest Republican counties in the U.S., but after the 2016 election, when former President Donald Trump won the county by 9 points, it began trending blue. After Trump’s win, GOP candidates, including Republican Sen. Ted Cruz in 2018 and Trump in 2020, struggled to beat Democrats.
“PMA’s first victory was winning 11 of 11 Tarrant County school board races, securing conservative majorities in four school districts, impacting over 100,000 north Texas students,” the Texas PAC’s website stated.
Wambsganss said PMA used a $500,000 donation from Patriot Mobile to support the 11 school board candidates for Texas’ May 7 elections and that these races would begin a trend of Republican gains. “Patriot Mobile Action needed to go on the offensive to save Tarrant County,” according to the company’s website. “With 40 electoral votes, if Texas turns blue, there could be no Republican president in 2024.”
PMA also sent hundreds of thousands of mailers and digital messages to Tarrant County voters, according to the Texas PAC’s website. Wambsganss said PMA endorsed 54 candidates running for state, county, and local races spending around $800,000 between May and November on electing conservative candidates.
Wambsganss told the Daily Caller that when people asked why the PAC focused on Tarrant County, she pointed to its massive size. “2.3 million people live in Tarrant County. It’s a larger campaign from a population perspective than 15 states, so it’s a huge first undertaking,” Wambsganss stated.
Going forward she said PMA will continue to focus on elections, like local school board races, in Tarrant county in 2023 with plans to expand its reach for the 2024 Texas elections because Democrats need to understand that “Texas is not for sale.”
“In Texas, most, not all, but most of our local elections –school boards, city council– most of those are in May of every year. So we are definitely going to revisit what school boards could use our help,” Wambsganss said. “We did just win eleven races but there are 500 other schools in our county.”
PMA will also be keeping a close eye on any Constitutional ballot measures included on the general ballot in 2024.