The Texas Attorney General’s Office sided with Mayor Sylvester Turner in a legal dispute over the state Republican Party’s in-person convention, arguing that the Texas Supreme Court at a hearing set for Monday should reject the party’s attempt to proceed with the event.
In a brief filed Saturday with the Supreme Court, Solicitor General Kyle Hawkins, the state’s top appellate lawyer, said that despite the party’s “troubling factual allegations,” the court should deny its petition for failing to “properly invoke (the court’s) mandamus authority.”
The legal proceedings began earlier last week after Turner ordered Houston First Corp., the city nonprofit that manages the convention site, to cancel the event over concerns about the COVID-19 pandemic. The Republican Party sued Turner and Houston First, but a Harris County judge denied the party’s request for a temporary restraining order that would have blocked Turner from canceling the event. The party then filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the Texas Supreme Court.
