Cy-Fair ISD Trustee Keeps GOP Endorsement Amid Concerns She Brought Shame on the District

The Harris County Republican Party declined to vote Monday night on a proposal to revoke the endorsement of Cypress-Fairbanks school board trustee Natalie Blasingame after the resolution’s author, Precinct Chair Judi DeHaan, withdrew her motion.

The resolution began circulating among precinct chairs on Friday, citing concerns about Blasingame’s recent actions that have “brought shame upon the district.”

Monday’s meeting of the Republican Party’s executive committee was closed to the public but DeHaan shared her public comments in an email to the Houston Press.

“I have been both thanked and vilified for bringing this resolution forward,” DeHaan said at the Republican Party meeting. “And I understand that leadership has made the decision to let the endorsement stand. I do not want others to have to endure this type of repercussions; therefore, I am withdrawing the resolution and wish to thank those who wanted to speak for the resolution to protect HCRP’s integrity.”

It’s unclear what repercussions she was referring to or whether someone in party leadership encouraged her to withdraw the resolution at the last minute. DeHaan and Harris County Republican Party Chair Cindy Siegel could not immediately be reached for comment Tuesday morning.

Update: 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, September 16, 2025: Following publication of this story, Siegel, a former mayor of Bellaire, said she was surprised that DeHaan withdrew the resolution. She supports Blasingame’s endorsement, she said.

“I don’t live in that district and I don’t know all the issues,” she said. “I do support our endorsement. We have, more often than not, gotten it right. I’d heard, and I’d read your article in the Houston Press about the taping. There’s always two sides to every story.”

“When I first got on the Bellaire City Council many years ago, it was a very divisive city council,” she added. “That’s an unfortunate situation to be in and it’s very difficult when you can’t — it’s not that you need to agree but you feel like you can’t trust the other people.”

The Harris County GOP endorsed Blasingame, a trustee since 2021, along with retired CFISD administrator Radele Walker and former trustee George Edwards Jr., in late August, before the filing period closed and days prior to the publication of a Houston Press story about Blasingame secretly recording members of the community, including the wife of a fellow trustee.

The secret recordings weren’t illegal but what happened after Blasingame’s April meeting with community members Jeff Ivey and Bethany Scanlon increased scrutiny around the trustee, who is a Christian conservative and the vice president of the school board.

Blasingame’s close friend, Damon “Bam” Lenahan, told the Press he threatened one of the residents, Scanlon, to take down a Facebook post supporting Blasingame’s opponent or he’d release the tapes. Lenahan also has engaged in combative debate on social media with several members of the Cy-Fair community. Blasingame and Lenahan said they did not conspire and don’t control each other’s actions.

The Cy-Fair ISD board adopted a policy last week to prohibit trustees from recording conversations with community members, each other, and district administrators without the consent of all parties involved.

Blasingame has said she records conversations of people who have made false accusations or lied about her. Scanlon, the wife of Cy-Fair ISD trustee Lucas Scanlon, and Ivey, a Cypress businessman, both resigned their positions as GOP precinct chairs amid the controversy.

Republican Party officials also took notice when, at a September 4 workshop, Blasingame accused the board of violating the Texas Open Meetings Act by discussing in closed session the policy related to secret audio recordings.

Board attorney Marney Collins Sims pointed out that the board can accept legal advice in closed session on its “duties” and that often such matters are posted for executive session to give trustees an option to speak privately. Blasingame’s accusation put the district in legal jeopardy, Republican Party precinct chairs said at the time.

The resolution that Harris County GOP officials were scheduled to consider on Monday states, in part:

WHEREAS, Natalie Blasingame has engaged in actions that have brought shame upon
her district, the elected office and the Republican Party through her actions unbecoming the office shown in media sources below for [example] and

WHEREAS, these actions have caused significant reputational damage to both the office and the Harris County Republican Party; and

WHEREAS, Natalie Blasingame has enjoined district (CFISD) and every citizen in Cy-Fair in her unfounded, libelous and defamatory statements and allegations upon her admission to violating the Congressional Act, Texas Government Code Ch. 551 …

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Harris County Republican Party immediately rescinds the endorsement of Natalie Blasingame from the list of endorsed candidates,

ALSO, BE IT RESOLVED, that Harris County Republican Party reaffirm its commitment
to supporting candidates who reflect honor, integrity, personal accountability, and the
values of the Republican Party.

DeHaan wrote the resolution and submitted it for consideration earlier this month amid rampant concerns that Blasingame’s behavior eroded trust and caused reputational damage to the Cy-Fair community and its school board. Many former and current GOP precinct chairs have said the Harris County Republican Party’s endorsement process is flawed and Blasingame shouldn’t have received the nod without input from all precinct chairs. 

School board positions are nonpartisan and unpaid. In Cy-Fair ISD, those elected serve four-year terms at-large, meaning they do not represent specific geographic districts. Although Blasingame currently holds the Position 5 seat, she opted this year to challenge incumbent board president Scott Henry for his Position 6 seat.

Henry received the GOP endorsement when he ran on a slate with Blasingame and Lucas Scanlon in 2021, but did not get the party’s backing this year, allegedly because he’s not conservative enough. Prairie View University professor Cleveland Lane Jr. is also running for Position 6. Trustees Lucas Scanlon, Todd LeCompte, and Justin Ray are backing Henry.

The election is November 4, with early voting beginning on October 20.

According to several sources familiar with the Harris County Republican Party, the endorsement process in Cypress-Fairbanks is controlled by a committee of people predominantly representing a group previously known as the CyFair 4 Liberty Political Action Committee and now operating as the MAGA PAC.

Far-right Republican Bill Ely is the “ringleader,” sources say. Ely has not responded to repeated requests for comment and continues to personally endorse Blasingame after the concerns about her behavior arose last month.

“Great group of conservatives,” Ely wrote on a Harris County Republican Party Facebook post announcing the endorsements of Blasingame, Walker, and Edwards. “I am excited to support them any way I can and of course proudly cast my vote for them in November.”

Former Harris County Republican Party precinct chair Charlotte Lampe, now an election judge, said the party should not endorse before the ballot is finalized, noting that several precinct chairs resigned because they were forced to sign a pledge saying they won’t campaign for or support anyone other than the GOP-endorsed candidates.

“The HCRP endorsement is not worth the paper it’s written on,” Lampe told the Press last week. “What you’re seeing now is real manipulation and real coercion and things that I will never support. If people are going to talk about let’s keep Democrats honest, well, let’s keep Republicans honest too.”