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Tag: Harris County Republican Party

  • Charlie Kirk Photos Included in a Cy-Fair ISD Candidates Mailer – Houston Press

    Aren’t school board elections supposed to be nonpartisan?

    That’s the question some Cypress-Fairbanks ISD residents asked when they got postcards in their mailboxes on Thursday featuring a photo of conservative Christian activist and Donald Trump ally Charlie Kirk, who was murdered last month at a Utah college campus.

    “Keep crazy out of our schools!” the mailer states above the following bullet points:

    • Nationwide violence has escalated on the left, to the point of political assassinations.
    • It is the result of the leftist and Marxist takeover of our schools.
    • It is years and years of indoctrinating our kids to accept and normalize radical ideas. 
    • If you wouldn’t vote for a Democrat at state and national elections, why do it locally? 

    It’s an advertisement for incumbent Natalie Blasingame, former board member George Edwards Jr. and retired CFISD administrator Radele Walker, “the only candidates in this race endorsed by the Harris County GOP.” 

    This mailer was distributed to Cy-Fair ISD voters this week. Credit: Screenshot

    The mailpiece was paid for by the CyFair4Liberty Political Action Committee, led by Bill Ely. 

    Ely did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday mornin, nor did the slate of Republican candidates. 

    But those supporting challengers Lesley Guilmart, Cleveland Lane Jr. and Kendra Camarena, all of whom have voted in a Democratic primary but are identifying themselves as a “pro-public education” slate, had plenty to say. 

    “What does Charlie Kirk have to do with a school board election and why are they implying their opponents have something to do with it?” said Odus Evbagharu, a Cy-Fair ISD graduate and Democratic candidate for Texas House of Representatives. 

    The mailer also stirred some strong feelings in hardcore Republicans. 

    A former Harris County Republican Party precinct chair said in a text message to the Houston Press, “This is a new low. How can they desecrate Charlie Kirk and his image/memory? It is disparaging and insulting. I am literally feeling the same feelings I felt when I heard of [Kirk’s] assassination. This is inhumane and insensitive. Have they no morals or ethical boundaries?” 

    This mailer was distributed to Cy-Fair ISD voters this week. Credit: Screenshot

    A post in the Facebook group CFISD Parents for Librarians had more than three dozen comments early Friday morning. 

    “Teachers are not the enemy and to equate them as such and that they are the result of ‘nationwide violence’ is absolutely INSANE,” wrote Ashley Buckner, who posted photos of the mailer. 

    One commenter added, “That sure is a great use of the fear propaganda technique and a testimonial by putting Charlie Kirk on there. If I was still teaching, I would be saving this one as one of the mailers for the kids to analyze when teaching propaganda techniques.” 

    Another commenter pointed out that school boards are supposed to be nonpartisan. “Why do they keep using our children and teachers as the frontlines in their political war?” she asked.

    The Cy-Fair ISD board has been under fire since a conservative Christian majority led by Blasingame began last year supporting book bans, removing chapters from textbooks and trying to get chaplains installed at district campuses, which critics say blur the lines of separation of church and state. 

    In addition to the GOP-endorsed candidates and the pro-public education candidates, board president Scott Henry is also seeking re-election, running for Position 6 against Blasingame and Lane. Henry is backed by trustees Todd LeCompte, Justin Ray and Lucas Scanlon. Elecia Jones is running for Position 7 against Camarena and Walker. 

    The Harris County GOP endorsed the three candidates before the filing period ended and days prior to the publication of a Houston Press story in which Blasingame admitted she’d secretly recorded members of the community, prompting a board policy change that prohibits trustees from taping conversations with community members, district administrators and other trustees without the knowledge of all involved parties. 

    A GOP precinct chair proposed a resolution last month to revoke Blasingame’s endorsement, alleging the trustee brought shame upon the district, but rescinded the motion when she determined she didn’t have enough support from party officials for it to go through.  

    Earlier this week, Cy-Fair Republicans welcomed Gov. Greg Abbott and Senators Paul Bettencourt, R-Houston, and Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, to a Cypress barbecue restaurant. At the event, Abbott said he wanted to turn Harris County “dark red.” Blasingame, Edwards and Walker attended the event, and Blasingame posted on Facebook on the day of the visit that a “YUGE endorsement announcement” would be forthcoming. 

    Abbott didn’t endorse any of the school board candidates but said his top two priorities are to win re-election in November 2026 and to win Harris County — and he’s willing to spend most of the $90 million in his coffers to do so. 

    Early voting continues through October 31. Election Day is November 4. 

    This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2025.

    April Towery

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  • It May Be Just a Formality, But Harris County Political Parties Are Backing Houston ISD Trustee Candidates

    Regardless of who is elected to the Houston ISD board of trustees in November, they won’t have any power — but both major political parties are endorsing candidates in the nonpartisan race, with the Harris County Democratic Party doing so for the first time ever.

    Due to a 2023 state takeover, HISD’s governing authority is a board of managers appointed by the Texas Education Agency Commissioner Mike Morath. The elected panel doesn’t have a vote and can’t sit in on executive sessions.

    Nonetheless, officials with Harris County’s GOP and Democratic Party are making sure voters know which candidates espouse their party’s values when they go to the polls on November 4. The endorsements carry some weight but don’t guarantee victory, according to a Republican Party precinct chair, but the bigger picture is that it appears the religious right and the progressive left are attempting to take over all levels of government, starting at the most local races, where they say it matters most.

    The Harris County Democratic Party’s picks for HISD include Felicity Pereyra (District 1), Maria Benzon (District 5), Michael McDonough (District 6), Dr. Audrey Nath (District 7), and Myrna Guidry (District 9).

    The candidates “share a commitment to strong public schools, equity in education, and the democratic values that empower Houston families,” said Democratic Party Chair Mike Doyle.

    “At this point, unfortunately, the Trumpsters have turned school districts into an ideological playground and parents, teachers, and families are in a position where, unless they have the most qualified folks identified, they’re not necessarily going to know who [to vote for], so we felt an important need to speak out,” he said.

    Doyle acknowledged that HISD’s “puppet” board of managers has the authority, but said the elected trustees have oversight responsibility.

    “At this point, because of folks basically trying to kill public schools in favor of vouchers, with the takeover, they don’t have the authority to do what they need to do to protect,” he said. “They’re basically just oversight, calling out the worst abuses, so they’re important positions for that.”

    “I think local races are important to every family in Harris County and they have become the place where the worst of the worst in many ways have started to get involved in destroying education,” he added. “It’s reached the point where we’ve got to make sure that folks understand who the ones are who are not the crackpots.”

    The Democratic values espoused by the endorsed slate, according to Doyle, include fully funding and supporting public education, properly paying teachers, and “not just trying to destroy the system in favor of billionaires pushing vouchers for profit.”

    “I think endorsements matter in a school district that is predominantly Democrat-voting,” he said. “I think it matters because it gives voters a really strong guidepost for who the most effective, willing-to-fight-the-takeover candidates are.”

    The Harris County Republican Party endorsed two Houston ISD candidates, Bridget Wade for District 7 and Robbie McDonough for District 5. Harris County GOP Party Chair Cindy Siegel said the party began endorsing school board candidates in 2021 and takes credit for flipping three school boards to a Republican majority.

    “I thought having conservative representation on school boards and city councils — local government — was important because that impacts your life more than what goes on in Austin or D.C.,” said Siegel, a former mayor of Bellaire. “Our process has been fine-tuned and sometimes we’ve done a really great job and other times we’ve learned from it. We continue to try to refine the process.”

    Siegel said the process is fair and transparent, and candidates are fully vetted through interviews and a series of public forums. If precinct chairs don’t like the bylaws, they’re welcome to submit a resolution to change them, she said.

    “We have, more often than not, gotten it right,” she said. “Our job, as party officers, is to try to get Republicans elected, to make your case, whether you’re knocking on doors or talking to friends. Instead of making their case and participating, my frustration was that I felt like some of [the precinct chairs] were like, it’s not going the way I want it to, so I’m going to take my toys and go down the road.”

    April Towery

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  • Cypress-Area Church Backs Candidates in Nonpartisan School Board Race

    A church pastor called forward three people to the altar during a recent Sunday service. The trio wasn’t being baptized or sharing testimonies. They were receiving endorsements in a November school board election.

    Glorious Way Church, east of Cypress, is backing Christian conservatives Natalie Blasingame, George Edwards Jr., and Radele Walker. The announcement came after a sermon in which pastor John Greiner preached on “the importance of signs and wonders.” Greiner then passed the mic to associate pastor James Buntrock.

    Buntrock, the Harris County GOP’s Senate District 7 Chair, a precinct chair, and an advisory board member, also serves as the executive director of the nonprofit MyGodVotes.

    So why would a religious institution tell people how to vote? At least a few of the Harris County GOP precinct chairs are regular attendees of Glorious Way Church and had a hand in the party’s endorsement of the three candidates, which was announced in August. Precinct chairs Bill Ely and Clark Denson came forward when the Cy-Fair ISD candidates were introduced at Glorious Way, offering their support.

    Maybe it’s about control: putting the people who support a party’s agenda at the helm of local decision-making. But maybe, many said this week, it’s because local government, particularly when it involves the education of children, is of the utmost importance. Although this is the first time Glorious Way has endorsed candidates, it’s not uncommon for Houston-area churches to back their favorites in a local race.

    Buntrock couldn’t be reached for comment Wednesday but said in his remarks from the pulpit that “because we haven’t done it right in the earthly realms, the demonic is running rampant in the heavenly realm.”

    “If we just start doing our job, we can turn this thing around,” he said, noting that if the three endorsed candidates are elected, they’ll have a majority on the seven-member board along with trustee Christine Kalmbach, who was in the congregation on Sunday.

    “All authority in heaven and earth is given to Jesus and then he assigned it to us and told us to go to all the world,” Buntrock said. “He talks about those in governing authorities and he calls them ‘God’s ministers for righteousness.’ There’s a purpose. They are God’s ministers for good and when they cease to do good or operate with righteousness, they need to get out. That’s why we have candidates who are up here today.”

    “Assuming you guys get elected, you are there to be an avenger against evil and to defend and protect our kids, to protect our families, to protect the covenant of marriage, and to do God’s work in this place,” he added.

    The associate pastor pounded a gavel and told the trio they were officially endorsed by Glorious Way Church. “We are taking the fight up another level,” he said. “I don’t care what the IRS says about this.”

    Edwards, a U.S. Army veteran and former Cy-Fair ISD board member, mentioned that he’s a church deacon and wants a forensic audit of district finances. Walker, a retired CFISD administrator, quoted scripture and talked about loving one another and being careful about the “antichrist among us.”

    “We have to be careful, because they will tear down what we built,” Walker said. “I ask you to vote for the candidate whose values are shared by you, a candidate who believes that our school district should have traditional values and oppose rhetoric and things that are creeping into our schools that are dividing our nation.”

    Blasingame, an incumbent who is running against board president Scott Henry, has recently been embroiled in a controversy over her secret recordings of community members. The board adopted a new policy barring trustees from recording conversations without the knowledge of all parties involved, and Blasingame tried to accuse the panel of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act.

    Her recent behavior, and that of her close friend Damon “Bam” Lenahan — who threatened to release the tapes if one of the residents on a secretly made recording didn’t take down a Facebook post endorsing Blasingame’s opponent — prompted a Harris County GOP precinct chair to introduce a resolution rescinding Blasingame’s endorsement.

    The resolution was withdrawn, and the Harris County Republican Party maintained its endorsement of Blasingame. The endorsements of Edwards and Walker were never called into question. The slate is also endorsed by the Texas Republican Party.

    At the September 20 church service, Blasingame said she has done some good work over the past four years as a trustee, “trying to fight some of the culture wars.”

    “This is a spiritual battle, and this group right here can come in with some spiritual authority to take care of things because the thief is real,” she said. “He comes to kill, steal, and destroy, but our kids deserve to have life and life abundantly. That’s what schools should be offering them.”

    Blasingame spoke of an assignment from God she received years ago on an airplane. “He told me that my role was to tear down the over-interpretation of separation of church and state in our schools,” she said.

    A slate of challengers calling themselves “pro-public education” candidates includes Lesley Guilmart, who is running against Walker; Cleveland Lane Jr., who is running against Blasingame and Henry; and Kendra Camarena, who is running against Edwards.

    click to enlarge

    A slate of “pro-public education” candidates, Lesley Guilmart, Cleveland Lane Jr., and Kendra Camarena, are challenging the conservative GOP-backed hopefuls.

    Screenshot

    Buntrock said the Democrats are “very serious about this fight” and want to take the school board “back to a socialist, progressive, leftist, liberal, Marxist evil.”

    The Harris County Democrats did not endorse candidates in the Cy-Fair school board election. Cypress-Tomball Democrats president Jennifer Lorenz said that race should remain nonpartisan, but it’s not stopping her from knocking on doors to remind her neighbors to cast their ballots on November 4.

    “We need to get back to putting kids and teachers first and get away from the hyper-partisan political nature that has appeared on this board,” said Lorenz, who moved to Cypress-Fairbanks ISD 30 years ago because it was a “destination district” with a reputation for good schools. “Our public schools should not be the place to fight hyper-partisan battles. It really does come back to value statements.”

    Lorenz said school board races matter, even for those who don’t have kids in public schools.

    “They matter more than anything,” she said. “If you are unhappy with the federal government, there’s not a whole lot that can be done. I care about every kid’s education, whether they’re mine or not, period. For those who don’t have that same philosophy, if they live in this district, they should care about their appraisal values.”

    “If the district goes downhill, your resale values are going to go with it,” she added. “That’s a fact. School districts mean a lot to communities.”

    In 2021, it came to light that some of the conservative Cy-Fair candidates were being backed by Republican megadonors who added more than $1 million to the candidates’ war chests. That made the Democrats take notice, Lorenz said.

    “So we’ve got outside money from very clear hard-right folks coming into the community. Maybe we need to pay attention,” Lorenz said. “This was not on our radar. We didn’t think we had to be engaged in this fantastic school district. We supported the candidates who made the most sense. We voted for the incumbents because they were doing such a good job.”

    When Blasingame, Henry, and Lucas Scanlon were elected in 2021, followed by Todd LeCompte in 2023, the board gained a 6-1 majority led by Blasingame. The group supported book bans, reduced library services, and eliminated entire chapters from textbooks that referenced climate change and vaccines. They wiped out several bus routes, which led to accidents and prompted the board to reinstate the bus service.

    “We want freedom of religion, which means not pushing a particular religion at the schools,” Lorenz said. “We’ve become very active because of what this current board has done.”

    April Towery

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  • Cy-Fair ISD Trustee Natalie Blasingame’s GOP Endorsement Remains Intact

    The Harris County Republican Party declined to vote Monday night on a proposal to revoke the endorsement of Cypress-Fairbanks school board trustee Natalie Blasingame after the resolution’s author, Precinct Chair Judi DeHaan, withdrew her motion.

    The resolution began circulating among precinct chairs on Friday, citing concerns about Blasingame’s recent actions that have “brought shame upon the district.”

    Monday’s meeting of the Republican Party’s executive committee was closed to the public but DeHaan shared her public comments in an email to the Houston Press.

    “I have been both thanked and vilified for bringing this resolution forward,” DeHaan said at the Republican Party meeting. “And I understand that leadership has made the decision to let the endorsement stand. I do not want others to have to endure this type of repercussions; therefore, I am withdrawing the resolution and wish to thank those who wanted to speak for the resolution to protect HCRP’s integrity.”

    It’s unclear what repercussions she was referring to or whether someone in party leadership encouraged her to withdraw the resolution at the last minute. DeHaan and Harris County Republican Party Chair Cindy Siegel could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday morning. 

    The Harris County GOP endorsed Blasingame, a trustee since 2021, along with retired CFISD administrator Radele Walker and former trustee George Edwards Jr., in late August, before the filing period closed and days prior to the publication of a Houston Press story about Blasingame secretly recording members of the community, including the wife of a fellow trustee.

    The secret recordings weren’t illegal but what happened after Blasingame’s April meeting with community members Jeff Ivey and Bethany Scanlon increased scrutiny around the trustee, who is a Christian conservative and the vice president of the school board.

    Blasingame’s close friend, Damon “Bam” Lenahan, told the Press he threatened one of the residents, Scanlon, to take down a Facebook post supporting Blasingame’s opponent or he’d release the tapes. Lenahan also has engaged in combative debate on social media with several members of the Cy-Fair community. Blasingame and Lenahan said they did not conspire and don’t control each other’s actions.

    The Cy-Fair ISD board adopted a policy last week to prohibit trustees from recording conversations with community members, each other, and district administrators without the consent of all parties involved.

    Blasingame has said she records conversations of people who have made false accusations or lied about her. Scanlon, the wife of Cy-Fair ISD trustee Lucas Scanlon, and Ivey, a Cypress businessman, both resigned their positions as GOP precinct chairs amid the controversy.

    Republican Party officials also took notice when, at a September 4 workshop, Blasingame accused the board of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act by discussing in closed session the policy related to secret audio recordings.

    Board attorney Marney Collins Sims pointed out that the board can accept legal advice in closed session on its “duties” and that often such matters are posted for executive session to give trustees an option to speak privately. Blasingame’s accusation put the district in legal jeopardy, Republican Party precinct chairs said at the time.

    The resolution that Harris County GOP officials were scheduled to consider on Monday states, in part:

    WHEREAS, Natalie Blasingame has engaged in actions that have brought shame upon
    her district, the elected office and the Republican Party through her actions unbecoming the office shown in media sources below for [example] and

    WHEREAS, these actions have caused significant reputational damage to both the office and the Harris County Republican Party; and

    WHEREAS, Natalie Blasingame has enjoined district (CFISD) and every citizen in Cy-Fair in her unfounded, libelous and defamatory statements and allegations upon her admission to violating the Congressional Act, Texas Government Code Ch. 551 …

    THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Harris County Republican Party immediately rescinds the endorsement of Natalie Blasingame from the list of endorsed candidates,

    ALSO, BE IT RESOLVED, that Harris County Republican Party reaffirm its commitment
    to supporting candidates who reflect honor, integrity, personal accountability, and the
    values of the Republican Party.

    DeHaan wrote the resolution and submitted it for consideration earlier this month amid rampant concerns that Blasingame’s behavior eroded trust and caused reputational damage to the Cy-Fair community and its school board. Many former and current GOP precinct chairs have said the Harris County Republican Party’s endorsement process is flawed and Blasingame shouldn’t have received the nod without input from all precinct chairs. 

    click to enlarge

    The Harris County GOP endorsed Natalie Blasingame on August 25.

    Screenshot

    School board positions are nonpartisan and unpaid. In Cy-Fair ISD, those elected serve four-year terms at-large, meaning they do not represent specific geographic districts. Although Blasingame currently holds the Position 5 seat, she opted this year to challenge incumbent board president Scott Henry for his Position 6 seat.

    Henry received the GOP endorsement when he ran on a slate with Blasingame and Lucas Scanlon in 2021, but did not get the party’s backing this year, allegedly because he’s not conservative enough. Prairie View University professor Cleveland Lane Jr. is also running for Position 6. Trustees Lucas Scanlon, Todd LeCompte, and Justin Ray are backing Henry.

    The election is November 4, with early voting beginning on October 20.

    According to several sources familiar with the Harris County Republican Party, the endorsement process in Cypress-Fairbanks is controlled by a committee of people predominantly representing a group previously known as the CyFair 4 Liberty Political Action Committee and now operating as the MAGA PAC.

    Far-right Republican Bill Ely is the “ringleader,” sources say. Ely has not responded to repeated requests for comment and continues to personally endorse Blasingame after the concerns about her behavior arose last month.

    “Great group of conservatives,” Ely wrote on a Harris County Republican Party Facebook post announcing the endorsements of Blasingame, Walker, and Edwards. “I am excited to support them any way I can and of course proudly cast my vote for them in November.”

    Former Harris County Republican Party precinct chair Charlotte Lampe, now an election judge, said the party should not endorse before the ballot is finalized, noting that several precinct chairs resigned because they were forced to sign a pledge saying they won’t campaign for or support anyone other than the GOP-endorsed candidates.

    “The HCRP endorsement is not worth the paper it’s written on,” Lampe told the Press last week. “What you’re seeing now is real manipulation and real coercion and things that I will never support. If people are going to talk about let’s keep Democrats honest, well, let’s keep Republicans honest too.”

    April Towery

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  • Harris County GOP Considers Rescinding Blasingame’s Endorsement in Cy-Fair School Board Race

    A resolution to rescind the Harris County Republican Party’s endorsement of Cypress-Fairbanks ISD trustee Natalie Blasingame is expected to circulate Friday among precinct chairs and will be up for a vote at an executive committee meeting Monday night.

    The meeting is set for 7 p.m. September 15 at the Hyatt Regency in Baytown. Harris County Republicans said Wednesday they did not believe the meeting was open to the public. It’s advertised on the party website but no supporting documents, such as an agenda or the resolution on which they’ll vote, are attached.

    The GOP endorsements of Cy-Fair candidates Blasingame, Radele Walker, and George Edwards Jr. were announced in late August, three days before the Houston Press broke the story that Blasingame admitted she’d secretly recorded conversations with community members.

    Both residents Blasingame recorded — Bethany Scanlon and Jeff Ivey — were GOP precinct chairs and have since resigned their positions amid the controversy.

    Blasingame’s action, which she says was to protect herself from people who have made false accusations or lied about her, was not illegal, but school board watchdogs and other trustees have raised a question of ethics and said that trust is broken in the community.

    After Blasingame met with the community members in April, her close friend Damon “Bam” Lenahan threatened to release the audio unless a Facebook post was removed that he believed was disparaging to Blasingame. The post came down, and the recording has not been released.

    Blasingame did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. The Cy-Fair ISD election is November 4.

    The board adopted a policy earlier this week that prohibits trustees from recording each other, administration officials, or members of the public without the consent of all parties involved.

    A Harris County Republican Party Facebook post last month announcing the endorsements netted almost 100 comments, many of whom say they’re supporting one of Blasingame’s opponents, Scott Henry, also a Republican.

    click to enlarge

    The Harris County Republican Party announced its endorsement of three candidates for Cy-Fair ISD school board before the filing period ended.

    Screenshots

    One user wrote, “Longtime Republican voter here that will vote against these candidates.”

    Ivey responded, “This just shows you are an independent thinker and not a follower like a lamb going to slaughter.” Responding to another comment, Ivey wrote, “Blindly following a flawed process will be the ultimate end to the party. You must stand against these extremist ideologies.”

    Blasingame is a devout Christian who has taken some heat in recent years for what some consider to be extremist values and efforts to censor curriculum and ban books. She made two failed bids for school board before being elected to a four-year term in 2021. At the time, she ran on a conservative slate alongside Scott Henry, who is now the board president, and Lucas Scanlon, the spouse of Bethany Scanlon. All three were elected and had the backing of Republican megadonors Bill Ely and Dr. Steven Hotze.

    Ely did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

    This time around, instead of running for the seat she already holds, Blasingame challenged Henry for his post, telling the Press that the current board has done some good work but new perspectives are needed to move the district forward. The school board positions are at-large, meaning trustees represent the district as a whole rather than the region where they live. The positions are unpaid and nonpartisan.

    Charlotte Lampe was a precinct chair for decades and now serves the Cypress community as an election judge. She said the GOP endorsements are controlled by a handful of people who changed the bylaws so they can back a candidate before the filing period closes.

    “The endorsements should come from the entire body, but they’re not,” she said. “It’s really disingenuous for HCRP to say, we’ve looked at everybody, because they don’t. There’s a lot going on that I’m concerned about. I am mortified that Natalie Blasingame has not disavowed what [Lenahan is] doing. He’s threatening people.”

    By endorsing Blasingame, the Republican Party is also endorsing bad behavior, Lampe added. She hadn’t seen a copy of the resolution and did not know whether the party would consider revoking the endorsements of political newcomer and retired CFISD educator Radele Walker or former board member George Edwards Jr.

    It’s also unknown whether the party would endorse another candidate instead of Blasingame. Henry was previously endorsed by the Harris County GOP but those close to the process said he fell out of favor because he wasn’t conservative enough and did not support having school chaplains, a measure that ultimately failed.

    “The HCRP endorsement is not worth the paper it’s written on,” Lampe said. “What you’re seeing now is real manipulation and real coercion and things that I will never support. If people are going to talk about, let’s keep Democrats honest, well, let’s keep Republicans honest too.”

    “This is out of line,” she said. “I’m a Republican but I’m never going to not call out people that I think are doing a very bad thing. I hope HCRP does the right thing and pulls the endorsements from the whole slate, to tell you the truth. It’s not being done the way it should be done, where everyone is judged on what they can bring to our community.”

    April Towery

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  • More Accusations Revealed As Cy-Fair ISD Prepares for Vote on Its Audio Recording Policy

    In the wake of accusations that a Cypress-Fairbanks ISD board member secretly recorded community leaders, the school board is set to update its standard operating procedures this week.

    If approved, the new policy would prohibit trustees from recording conversations with members of the public, administration officials including the superintendent, and other board members without the consent of all involved parties.

    After the school board’s vice president Natalie Blasingame admitted she recorded a fellow trustee’s wife and a former Harris County Republican Party precinct chair without their knowledge, several residents came forward saying they were more concerned about threats from Blasingame’s “best friend” Damon Lenahan to release the audio and potentially harm the reputations of community leaders.

    Numerous Cy-Fair parents have also shared examples of Lenahan’s combative Facebook posts under the name “Bam Lenahan,” which say things like, “I don’t want to ruin or destroy you.”

    The Cy-Fair ISD board meets at 6 p.m. Thursday, September 4, for a workshop and will vote on its standard operating procedures September 8. The board’s current operating procedure manual, last updated in May 2024, does not reference audio recordings.

    Blasingame said last week she’s sure the initiative is targeting her but she doesn’t have a problem with it. She said she records conversations with people who have made false accusations about her or lied about her, in order to protect herself.

    She surmised that the standard operating procedures item was placed on the agenda by Scott Henry, the board president and Blasingame’s opponent in the November 4 election. When reached for comment, Henry said a few trustees expressed concerns about being recorded without their knowledge.

    “The Governance Committee reviewed the issue and recommended updating our Board Operating Procedures to address it,” Henry said in an email last week. “It’s unfortunate that this step is necessary, but it’s important we set clear expectations, so our board members remain professional and respectful to each other and the public.”

    A third opponent is challenging incumbents Henry and Blasingame in the Place 6 race for trustee. Prairie View A&M University professor Cleveland Lane Jr. thought he’d only be running against Henry, but Blasingame surprised everyone when she abandoned her current position, Place 5, and decided to run against another incumbent, saying last week that she thinks a slate of GOP-endorsed candidates that does not include Henry is best suited for the challenges ahead.

    click to enlarge

    From left, Scott Henry, Natalie Blasingame, and Cleveland Lane Jr. are running for Place 6 in the Cy-Fair ISD school board election.

    Screenshots

    Lane said he was disappointed in the situation. He said he has a bond with his teammates — the “pro-public education” slate of Lane, Lesley Guilmart, and Kendra Camarena — to make sure the district continues to move in a positive direction.

    “We’re going to put the trust back in trustee,” he said. “The community has to believe in us. We’re representing the people of the community, and we have a very diverse community. We have to be able to communicate.”

    Blasingame confirmed last week that she’d recorded a conversation with Bethany Scanlon, the wife of CFISD trustee Lucas Scanlon, and Jeff Ivey, a former Harris County Republican Party precinct chair, without their knowledge. She did that, she said, because she believes the Scanlons have made false accusations against her and Ivey actively campaigned against her in a previous election.

    Months after the trio met in a coffee shop, Lenahan — Blasingame’s “best friend,” or boyfriend, as he’s known in the community — sent threatening text messages to Bethany Scanlon strongly suggesting she remove a Facebook post that referenced her support for Henry in the November school board race.

    Scanlon took down the post after Lenahan gave her a countdown and said he was going to release the audio from the coffee shop meeting and a second recording from a phone conversation with Blasingame. Text messages to Ivey also threatened that the audio recording from the coffee shop meeting would be released.

    Lenahan told the Houston Press last week that he sent the texts because he wanted people to stop disparaging Blasingame, whom he referred to as “an amazing human being” and the “darling of the district.” He said Blasingame didn’t ask him to do it and can’t control him.

    “I think sometimes she wishes I would shut up on social media,” Lenahan said with a laugh.

    “You know what’s really disturbing? That all of these people care more about the secret recordings than why the recordings happened in the first place,” he added. By perpetuating “lies and false allegations” against Blasingame, “They’re the ones making it public, not us, which is why I gave them the chance to take that bullcrap down,” he added.

    “The only reason Natalie hasn’t [fought] tooth and nail at this is because she didn’t want to drag the district through this,” Lenahan said. “She wanted to have a fair election, win or lose. Instead, they chose to reassert allegations that are known to be lies and false.”

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    Cypress-Fairbanks ISD board elections are set for November 4.

    Photo by April Towery

    Ivey told the Press that the audio recordings don’t incriminate anyone and he doesn’t care if they’re released. He added that Blasingame might have to answer some tough questions if she releases the recordings in full because of the language she used and the opinions she expressed. He said he didn’t want to be involved in the matter and resigned his position as a GOP precinct chair last week.

    Ivey said Blasingame invited him to join her and Bethany Scanlon for coffee in mid-April to discuss her re-election campaign. Ivey, whose wife is a Cy-Fair teacher, has two children in the district and runs a conservative Facebook group. He said he’s open about his beliefs and isn’t concerned about anything he said during the meeting with Blasingame.

    But the former precinct chair, who’s supporting Scott Henry in the November election, said it would be difficult for board members to continue functioning when trust is broken.

    “You want harmony on the board,” he said. “You want a cohesive board that can work well with the administration. It’s disingenuous if you’re really trying to work together for the common good, which is for the students in Cy-Fair ISD. To have Natalie run in the same race as Scott … you have two incumbents running in the same exact same race against a well-qualified individual, Dr. Lane. The best outcome is that they’re going to split the vote. It’s almost like you don’t care about the good of the board.”

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    Several Cy-Fair parents came forward last week and shared what they say are disturbing online interactions with an associate of CFISD board vice president Natalie Blasingame.

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    Cy-Fair ISD parent Kris Schweighardt said the problem many community members have with Blasingame is more about Lenahan’s threatening text messages and Facebook comments, not the recordings. Because of the contentious political climate, members of the public often record audio at candidate forums and public events to hold their officials accountable, she said. What they don’t do is threaten to release the tapes and “take people down.”

    Schweighardt said Lenahan is a bully and acted like a bouncer at a Tea Party meeting held at a restaurant, telling people they couldn’t be there. She says he commented on one of her Facebook posts, “I don’t want to ruin you or destroy you.” She says she replied with the same phrase. That post may have been removed by an administrator or buried within one of the many Cy-Fair Facebook groups; the Press was unable to find it. Lenahan’s behavior has been reported to CFISD police, Schweighardt added.

    Lenahan’s LinkedIn page says he’s a conceptual engineer, technology consultant, and founder of TYGGO Inc. A link to the TYGGO website is broken. The Facebook profile he frequently uses to engage with other CFISD parents, “Bam Lenahan,” lists his current city as Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, indicating that portions of his social media profiles may be fake or not updated.

    Harris County Republican Party Election Judge Charlotte Lampe, who has grandchildren in the Cy-Fair district, said she’s been attacked by Lenahan on Facebook. She said it appears that Blasingame is providing information that Lenahan can use to try to blackmail people. “He told me he was going to release all kinds of stuff about me and my quote was, ‘Do it now.” I have nothing to hide. You go for it, dude,” she said.

    “I just really feel like, if you vote for Natalie, you get this guy, and that gives me pause,” Lampe said. “For Natalie to act like she doesn’t know it’s happening, I find that hard to believe.”

    It’s not lost on anyone that accusations are being hurled as an election looms in November. On the ballot are Terrance Edmond, Lesley Guilmart, and Radele Walker for Place 5; Blasingame, Henry, and Lane for Place 6; and Elecia Jones, Kendra Camarena, and George Edwards for Place 7.

    The pro-public education slate is Guilmart, Lane, and Camarena. The GOP-endorsed candidates are Walker, Blasingame, and Edwards. That leaves Henry as an outlier, along with political newcomers Terrance Edmond, a CFISD graduate and small business owner, and Elecia Jones, an accountant. Henry has been endorsed by fellow board members Lucas Scanlon, Todd LeCompte, and Justin Ray.

    Edmond announced in a statement over the weekend that he is suspending his campaign and supporting Radele Walker for Place 5.

    Cy-Fair parent Bryan James Henry, who is not related to Scott Henry and founded the nonprofit Cypress Families for Public Schools, said in a blog post that he has concerns about Walker and Edwards “hitching their wagons” to Blasingame’s slate while she has served as a “constant source of distraction and extremism” during her four years on the board.

    Bryan Henry called attention to text messages from Lenahan to Bethany Scanlon, published in the Press last week in which Lenahan cautions Bethany Scanlon to be aware of “not just the legal ramifications but the social impact that [conspiring to take down Blasingame] will have on you, your child and your husband.”

    “George Edwards and Radele Walker should seriously consider cutting ties with Blasingame, whose supposed boyfriend threatened a sitting trustee’s child (think about that),” Bryan Henry wrote. “Natalie Blasingame should resign and let Cy-Fair ISD get back to the business of serving students.”

    Lampe said she didn’t realize until recently that so many people — Republicans, Democrats and those who haven’t publicly stated a party affiliation — have been subject to online bullying. The common denominator, she said, is that they’ve mentioned Blasingame in a less-than-flattering way.

    “It’s very creepy,” Lampe said. “We’re seeing something, and we’re saying something. I’m surprised that Natalie has not disavowed this guy. That troubles me. Recordings are one thing, but then giving them to somebody to use as a leverage of ‘if you don’t do this, I’ll do that,’ shows complicity and I do not want that kind of individual on a school board with that much responsibility to our community.”

    April Towery

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  • Cy-Fair ISD Trustee Natalie Blasingame Admits Secretly Recording Community Members

    As if the Cypress-Fairbanks ISD school board races weren’t contentious enough, new accusations against the board’s vice president arose this week, as community members, including the wife of a trustee and a former GOP precinct chair, have accused Natalie Blasingame of secretly recording conversations they believed were private.

    While the recordings are not illegal, CFISD trustees have signaled that trust is broken. The board will discuss its standard operating procedures at a September 4 workshop and vote on it the following week. They’ll specifically be addressing audio recordings, said Blasingame, who said she thinks she’s being targeted by the proposal but is fine with it. Agendas for the upcoming meetings had not been posted at press time.

    Blasingame admitted to taping the conversations, saying she records people who have falsely accused her or lied about her in the past.

    “When there’s evidence and proof that [people] have lied about me, then I do that to protect myself,” she said. “I never intend to share them, but if I have to, I can. I was the one who admitted I taped, remember? I said I taped. I’ve only recorded people who have falsely accused me and admitted to lying.”

    Filed under the “you can’t make this stuff up” category, the saga doesn’t end with the recordings. Damon Lenahan, who describes himself as Blasingame’s best friend, said that after the secretly taped conversations, he sent threatening text messages to the people who were recorded.

    “Natalie has never threatened anybody,” he said. “I made the threats that [the recordings] would be made public because they were making public the false allegations that they’d already [denounced as false].”

    As a result of one of those threats, Bethany Scanlon, the wife of CFISD trustee Lucas Scanlon, removed a Facebook post that said she was no longer supporting Blasingame in her bid for re-election.

    On Wednesday, Blasingame said she didn’t direct Lenahan to send the texts or have any knowledge of his doing that until after the fact. In that phone interview, Blasingame talked a lot and she talked fast. She was pleasant, wanting to discuss childhood literacy and underserved populations rather than party politics and taped conversations.

    “Let’s do the business of the school district, which is educating our children,” she said. “All of this is smoke and mirrors and a distraction from getting the work done.”

    Since Blasingame, a Christian nationalist, was elected to a four-year unpaid term in 2021, she’s led charges to remove sections of curriculum that refer to vaccines and climate change. She’s supported book bans. She’s fought to have chaplains in classrooms. Until recently, she’s been largely supported by her fellow board members, who typically vote in lockstep with her in a 6-1 conservative majority.

    Historically, the Texas Education Agency has not looked favorably upon school boards that are known for public infighting, citing open discord among Houston ISD trustees as part of their assessment of the district prior to the state takeover in 2023.

    Signs that the Cy-Fair board was fracturing were revealed when candidates began filing for a November 4 election.

    Instead of running for the seat she currently holds, Blasingame filed to challenge board president Scott Henry, who had been an ally on the board but lost the Harris County GOP endorsement this year because, according to a district parent, he didn’t support school chaplains. Prairie View A&M University professor Cleveland Lane Jr. has also joined the Place 6 race, running on a pro-public schools slate hoping to oust the “extremist” incumbents.

    Blasingame said she believes the board did some good work together following her election in 2021 and when new conservative members were elected in 2023 but now the district’s challenges should be tackled by the candidates who are up for the task: the three endorsed by the Harris County Republican Party, Radele Walker for Place 5, Blasingame for Place 6, and George Edwards for Place 7.

    “I think the people who are elected officials in leadership in the area have given their vote of confidence to the three of us,” Blasingame said. “I feel like I have the best chance to win against another incumbent, because I’m also an incumbent. I chose to take the harder race on.”

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    Three current board members have endorsed Scott Henry for CFISD’s Place 6; the Harris County Republican Party is endorsing Henry’s opponent Natalie Blasingame.

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    According to Bethany Scanlon, she and Jeff Ivey, both Republican Party precinct chairs, met with Blasingame in mid-April to discuss the candidate’s re-election campaign.

    It’s unclear what exactly was said during the mid-April meeting at a coffee shop but Bethany Scanlon said she thought it was a casual conversation among friends. About two weeks after the gathering, some CFISD trustees said Blasingame “admitted that she secretly recorded the conversation at the meeting with Bethany and Jeff without their knowledge.”

    In August, Bethany Scanlon posted on Facebook that she could not support Blasingame’s re-election bid and would instead be endorsing Scott Henry.

    “I regarded Natalie as a friend (she ran on a Republican slate in 2021 with my husband) but because of some behaviors towards my family and as a Trustee, I cannot support her for re-election,” Bethany Scanlon wrote in a now-deleted social media post. “This is not a choice I take lightly. I have shed many tears over this horrible situation.”

    Later that day, Bethany Scanlon claims she received a series of text messages from Lenahan, who is known in the community as Blasingame’s boyfriend. Lenahan demanded she remove the social media post, referring to her “and her cohorts” as “pieces of crap,” and said he’d encouraged Blasingame to press charges.

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    Damon Lenahan says he sent several text messages to the wife of a CFISD board member demanding that she remove a Facebook post that he believed was disparaging to trustee Natalie Blasingame.

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    “Do you understand I will post this communication and have everyone I know circulate it on social media so that everyone knows what horrible character the Scanlons have?” one message states. “You do realize God cannot and will not tolerate what you have done and are doing to Natalie?”

    Lenahan said he sent the message because its author was bringing up false allegations.

    “They were alluding to it,” he said. “They weren’t coming out and saying it exactly. What that tells you is that they had already perpetuated this lie in the community and they were keeping it alive — and the person who was keeping it alive was the person who called up and said it was a lie. They’re doing it for the purpose to discredit Natalie.”

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    Pictured in back from left are Cy-Fair ISD board members Todd LeCompte and Christine Kalmbach, Superintendent Douglas Killian, and board members Julie Hinaman and Lucas Scanlon. In front from left are board members Natalie Blasingame, Scott Henry, and Justin Ray.

    Photo by Cypress-Fairbanks ISD

    Lenahan said Blasingame is a darling of Cy-Fair ISD, a retired educator who has held administrative positions in Houston, Spring Branch and Alief ISDs, but she’s drawn some negative attention from people who don’t like her exposing corruption and asking questions about excessive spending in the district.

    Lenahan added that when someone makes what he believes to be a false allegation against an elected official, they should be prepared to be called out in public.

    “If you’re going to do that, I’m going to defend and show what the truth is by that person’s own words,” he said.

    Three additional people reached out to the Press on Wednesday after hearing that this story was in the works, saying they had received threatening comments from Lenahan on their Facebook posts. 

    When reached for comment, Bethany Scanlon said she felt like she was ambushed during her meeting with Blasingame.  She emailed the following statement on the matter to the Houston Press,  published in its entirety.

    I have been told I was recorded. Those recordings have not been shared with me. I cannot authenticate if it was me on the recordings or not. I believe a Trustee recording me multiple times without my knowledge is a breach of trust. How many people has Trustee Natalie Blasingame recorded without their permission? My opinion is that Natalie’s boyfriend is threatening to use those recordings against my family because he wants to create a false narrative in order to win a campaign for his girlfriend.

    In the text message exchange with Ivey, dated August 8, Lenahan asks if Scott Henry is running for school board even though he wasn’t chosen by the precinct chairs. Ivey repeatedly asks, “Who is this?” and after Lenahan answers with his name, Ivey asks, “Who are you?”

    “A concerned citizen of CFISD who is going to save you some trouble,” Lenahan replies. “I think you may want to talk to me because you are involved in something that may become quite public soon. Your choice. One chance. Yes or no. No hiding behind a keyboard anymore.”

    Ivey then messaged, “I am not a good one to threaten. Do whatever you think is best. I don’t care.”

    Ivey said in a phone interview Wednesday that he doesn’t understand why he’s been dragged into this. He resigned his position with the Harris County Republican Party earlier this week. “I don’t want to be a part of it,” he said. “I think it’s a circus.”

    There’s nothing that Lenahan could make public that would harm him, Ivey said.

    “I welcome the tape to be released, and I want the entire tape to be released if they’re going to do it,” he said. “I think that [Blasingame] would have to answer for some of her opinions and some of the words that she used and it may be uncomfortable for her.”

    There’s a certain amount of trust that is extended in personal and professional relationships, Ivey added.

    “If I was a member of that board and I had somebody recording my conversations that I didn’t know about and I had confided in them, maybe my intentions or how my campaign was going to run, any kind of a strategy that I want to keep confidential, as a respected peer, I think that loss of trust would cause disharmony on the board,” he said. “I think it would cause everyone to be guarded and I think it would cause the board to really not be able to operate as a well-oiled machine.”

    Texas is a “one-party consent” state, meaning it is not illegal to record a conversation if at least one person involved in the discussion approves. This is true both in person and over the phone, according to the Texas State Law Library.

    Blasingame said the effort by trustees to alter procedures on audio recordings isn’t necessarily direct evidence that there’s a rift or a lack of trust among board members. A rift already existed, she said.

    “If you look at the voting in the past, it’s very clear who votes together,” she said. “It’s very clear that the women have been sidelined. This isn’t about a rift. This is about the work of the district getting done and me fighting for the things I believe in.”

    April Towery

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