HOUSTON (Talk1370.com) -- A federal appeals court has stayed a ruling that would have allowed the Republican Party of Texas to hold an in-person convention in Houston.
The decision, made early Saturday morning, is the latest development in the battle over whether party officials could proceed with their plans for an in-person convention at Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center.
Earlier Friday, Judge Lynn Hughes ruled the convention center must be made available to the party for its convention needs, after attempts at a virtual convention ran into technical difficulties.
"The City of Houston and Houston First appealed the ruling of Judge Lynn Hughes allowing the State Republican Party to proceed with an indoor convention," Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner said in a tweet. "The Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals has stayed Judge Hughes ruling. In the middle of a pandemic, the doors remain locked."
Turner and Houston First Corporation, which operates the convention center, canceled the party's contract for its convention last week in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Friday evening, party chairman James Dickey said the party would proceed with its online convention, only using the convention center as a fallback measure if technical difficulties continued. The party is under a deadline to complete two key items of essential business - electing delegates to the Republican National Convention, and selecting electors who would vote in the Electoral College should President Donald Trump win the state of Texas.