Building a winning slate of general election party candidates starts with getting your primary voters to the polls to support your strongest candidates. Letting candidates buy recommendations and endorsements on a pay-to-play basis is no way to determine the strongest, yet that’s what happens all too often in Harris County.

That’s why we in the Houston Young Republicans are working to bring attention to candidate slates endorsed by the so-called Big Three: the Link Letter, the Texas Conservative Review and Conservative Republicans of Harris County (or, alternatively, of Texas). These dubious organizations wield disproportionate influence in Harris County Republican primaries through their misleading mailings to hundreds of thousands of unsuspecting Harris County Republican voters every primary election season. They claim to offer, according a recent mailer, “a listing of the best qualified, most conservative candidates.” What they actually offer is, all too often, paid advertising masquerading as a helpful voter guide.

In fact, the Harris County Republican Party Executive Committee, composed of the party’s precinct chairs, has condemned these deceptive voter guides on three occasions. In its November 2017 resolution, the committee did so to “protect the integrity of the 2018 Republican primary” and “(educate) voters about the negative impact (of) these ‘pay to play’ slates.”

Many candidates endorsed by the Big Three slates are indeed qualified, conservative and did not pay for the privilege. Many are our friends; some are our members. Our goal in part is to help these candidates avoid the appearance of impropriety. Meanwhile, the Big Three’s thinly veiled system of purchased endorsements jeopardizes the Harris County GOP’s strength, standing and responsiveness to voters. We in the Houston Young Republicans intend to do something about it.

For many, the slates appear to offer convenient and reliable information on one of the country’s longest ballots. Offering arguments on behalf of the candidates they endorse, the organizations that run these slates give the appearance of having done their homework, along with assurance that chosen candidates are qualified and share Republican values.

As we understand it, their endorsement process consists of one or two people deciding whom to endorse, often without interviews or questionnaires. The process appears rife with conflicts of interest, vendettas and vetting that includes little more than whether a candidate’s check clears.

The system lets candidates pay to tout their qualifications and values, regardless of truth. That’s why Big Three slate endorsements have helped underqualified candidates win Republican primaries — candidates who then are uncompetitive in the general election. It risks less-than-conservative candidates touted as the “most conservative,” and solid conservatives are portrayed as moderate squishes.

Pay-to-play slates undermine legitimate voter guides compiled by real grassroots organizations, whose members devote time and resources into research and engaging with candidates. Among these are the “C” Club of Houston, the Conservative Coalition of Harris County, the Houston Business Realty Coalition, the Kingwood Tea Party, the Spring Branch Republicans, the Texas Asian Republican Club, United Republicans of Harris County and others. None require candidate contributions, and many refuse to accept them.

We implore Harris County voters to do their own research. Solicit information about candidates from trusted sources, and ask your precinct chairman or chairwoman their opinion.

2018 has the potential to be a banner year for Harris County Republicans. With new tax cuts in effect, a strengthening economy and a governor and senator at the top of the ticket able to turn out their respective bases, Republicans have a reason to be optimistic. It would be a shame if these opportunities went to waste, if grudges and opportunism led to fewer elected Republicans or to fewer qualified Republicans.

Houston Young Republicans have launched a Trash The Slates campaign to let the Big Three know that Harris County voters are on to their game. We encourage voters to share video and photos of themselves disposing of these deceptive mailers with the hashtag #TrashTheSlates. We will be joining you with content on our Facebook page “Trash the Pay-to-Pay Slates in Harris County.” We will also be at the polls during early voting with bright red trash receptacles to encourage voters to put these slates in their proper place.

The Big Three conceal their motivations, place their own interests over qualifications and betray the Republican cause for profit. Their hypocrisy deserves to be brought out into the open.

Rains is president of Houston’s Young Republicans. Bradstreet is the organization’s communications director.