After several lower courts refused to force Houston to allow in-person events in the city due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Texas GOP appealed the rulings to the all-Republican Texas Supreme Court.
This afternoon, the Texas Supreme Court rejected an appeal from the Texas Republican Party, forcing the 64- member governing board, to meet virtually Monday to cancel the three-day event and consider moving the convention online. The vote was 53-4, reports the Texas Tribune.
Last week, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, a Democrat, said he had instructed the city’s lawyers to terminate the contract out of fears the event could not be held safely. He denied it had anything to do with politics, citing the possibility that service workers and first responders would be put at increased risk if the virus spread through Houston’s downtown convention center.
The state GOP party sued the very next day, alleging “breach of contract.” “The Party argues it has constitutional rights to hold a convention and engage in electoral activities, and that is unquestionably true,” the Supreme Court wrote in its opinion, according to ABC News. “But those rights do not allow it to simply commandeer use of the Center.”
Justice John Devine filed a dissenting opinion, while Justice Jeff Boyd did not participate in the decision.
Monday’s ruling came after the Texas attorney general’s office, asked to weigh in on the issue by the high court, filed a brief that argued justices should deny the party’s and Steve Hotze’s petitions. Steve Hotze is a conservative activist based in Houston who also had a petition denied by the Supreme Court today.
The state Democratic Party held an online-only convention in early June.