Texas Republican leaders have called on a Galveston County party official to resign after a text message surfaced in which she used a racial slur in reference to another party member.

The message, which has been obtained and verified by the Houston Chronicle, was sent to party secretary Alicia Youngblood by Yolanda Waters, the chairwoman of the Galveston County Republican Party. Waters has called it an “unfortunate typo.”

In the March text thread, Waters complained about J.T. Edwards, a former Galveston precinct chair and the state Republican executive committeeman for Texas Senate District 11. Waters said Edwards had solicited a loan from her husband to travel to Austin for a monthly meeting of the state Republican Party.

Waters said in the message to Youngblood that she told Edwards, who is African-American, “our personal money tree has dried up,” and to not call her husband again for any money. When Youngblood responded asking whether Edwards has a job, Waters responded by calling him a “Typical Nig.”

Galveston County precinct chairs said Youngblood publicized the existence of the text message in November after she had a falling out with Waters. Youngblood showed the text to Edwards, who said he was “stunned” that Waters used that language.

“Bigotry and racism has no place in the Republican Party at all,” Edwards said. “When you have a party leader speaking in this manner about another senior party leader, that’s something that has to be addressed.”

Edwards added that the loan referenced in Waters’ text message was a campaign solicitation, “a small nominal amount” for conducting party business.

The existence of the text message began circling among state party officials shortly after it was publicized to Galveston County party officials in mid-November, according to Shawn Byars, a county precinct chair. Byars said the county and state party have been trying for weeks to encourage Waters to resign.

“There’s been several efforts to get her to resign since this came out and she dug her feet in the whole time and refused and has been defiant,” Byars said. “It’s a big old mess.”

James Dickey, chairman of the Republican Party of Texas, confirmed in a statement that the party has requested Waters resign as county party chairwoman.

“The Republican Party of Texas does not tolerate racist remarks and actions,” Dickey said in a statement. “Texas is a diverse state and Texans deserve leaders who stand strong for our Republican values — including respecting Texans of all backgrounds, ethnicities and creeds. We have asked Ms. Waters to resign and look forward to the new positive leadership Galveston County deserves.”

A spokesman for Gov. Greg Abbott said he was made aware of the text message weeks ago and asked Waters to resign from a position on a state-appointed board on Nov. 25 and she resigned two days later. Abbott appointed Waters in April to the Texas Board of Criminal Justice on Offenders with Medical or Mental Impairments, a citizens committee that advises a division of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

“Her remarks are absolutely abhorrent,” said John Wittman, a spokesman for Abbott. “There is no place for that in the Republican Party and there is no place for that in the public discourse.”

Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush chimed in Saturday on Twitter, saying there is “no excuse and no room in our party for racist comments.”

The news about Waters’ text message comes days after state Rep. Rick Miller was forced to retire Tuesday rather than seek reelection after Republicans rebuked him for saying that two GOP candidates are running against him in the primary because they’re “Asian.” Abbott rescinded his endorsement of Miller after those comments.

Additionally, Galveston County Republican Party members called an informal meeting Saturday, in which 16 precinct chairs formally signed a letter calling on Waters to resign.

Waters did not respond to a request for comment. She told the Galveston County Daily News, which first reported the existence of the text message Saturday, that the racial slur in question was “an unfortunate typo.”

“I usually type very fast, and in this case, I moved too fast to see that the word was there,” Waters told the paper. “I made the typo because I did not proofread my text.”

Waters called herself “a highly educated Latina/African American woman,” and is “saddened and hurt that anyone believes I am ‘racist’ against my own people.”

Tom Dickens, an attorney for the county party, issued an opinion calling the informal meeting Saturday “defective and therefore void,” and further suggested Waters “file suit and ask the Court to enter a Temporary Restraining Order” against the precinct chairs who called the meeting.

Daniel Surman, a precinct chair for the county party, said there is no formal mechanism for removing a party chair in a situation like this. He said county party officials had already recruited somebody to run against Waters in the 2020 primary election. Monday is the deadline for 2020 primary election candidates to file.

Waters was elected chairwoman of the county party in August 2018 as a result of internal strife among warring factions within the party. Her predecessor, Carl Gustafson, resigned after a legal battle with a group of precinct chairs that attempted to oust him and take control of the party's bank account.

nick.powell@chron.com