Our Leadership

President

Rafael is a native Houstonian, having received his bachelor’s degree in international relations, affairs and political science from the University of St. Thomas, followed by a master’s degree in global affairs from Rice University.
Rafael has extensive political experience. He was the Communications Director for the Houston Young Republicans and now serves in the same capacity for the Texas Young Republicans.
Rafael previously worked as a Grassroots Field Associate for Americans for Prosperity and as a Regional Field Director for Texas Latino Conservatives, and currently serves as a Digital Communications Strategist for Winning Tuesday.

Vice President

Vanessa is currently the Executive Director of the Harris County Republican Party. One of her major accomplishments as Executive Director was playing a leading role in executing the Harris County Republican Party 2023 Lincoln Reagan Dinner with keynote speaker Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, resulting in raising a record-breaking amount of $1,000,000 and having 1,400 guests in attendance, making it the most successful Lincoln Reagan Dinner ever in Texas. She has also coordinated multiple legislative efforts to get key pieces of legislation passed in the Texas legislature during the 88th session.
Before getting promoted to Executive Director, Vanessa was the Harris County Republican Party Political Director. In this role, she consulted Republican candidates across Harris County running at every level of public office. Most notably, in the 2022 cycle, she managed the Harris County GOP Joint Judicial Campaign for 68 judicial candidates resulting in the first countywide wins since 2014.
Before working at the Harris County Republican Party, she worked on many campaigns, ranging from local to federal levels. She is also on the board of the Magic Circle Republican Women's Club.

Political Director

Chris Halbohn attended Tulane University for both his undergraduate and law school studies. He currently practices law with the Dhillon Law Group, the firm started by Republican legal giant Harmeet Dhillon, where he focuses on commercial and employment litigation, civil liberties issues, and election law matters.
When he’s not practicing law, he serves as President of Log Cabin Republicans Houston and on the young professional’s board for KIPP Texas public charter schools.
He is also a Republican precinct chair and is active within the Houston Young Republicans.
As a break from all things political, he spends time doing anything outdoors with his dog, Belle.

Secretary

Shiva was born and raised in Oklahoma, but she came to Texas as fast as she could. She moved to Houston in 2017 to attend the University of Houston, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science.
Shiva works as State Senator Brandon Creighton’s Deputy District Director and Scheduler and has served in this role since 2021. She represents Senator Creighton across Senate District 4, which includes parts of 5 counties: Harris, Montgomery, Chambers, Galveston, and Jefferson.
Prior to working for Senator Creighton, Shiva managed the successful re-election campaign of State Representative Jim Murphy in West Houston. She also worked for the Harris County GOP as a Field Representative and served as a Precinct Chair.
Shiva has proudly volunteered for various leadership positions over the years. She previously served as Communications Director of Houston Young Republicans, President of Coogs For Life at UH, and Chief of Staff of UH College Republicans. She is in the Leadership Montgomery County Class of 2024, and she currently serves as the Co-Team Lead for the Business Advocacy Council at The Woodlands Area Chamber of Commerce.
Shiva attributes her values and work ethic to her family, who fled to the United States from Iran after the 1979 Revolution. She currently resides in the City of Houston within Montgomery County. In her free time, she enjoys playing ultimate frisbee, singing, and two-stepping.

Treasurer

Communications Director

Sam is a Houston native and has been here basically most of his life, except for when he went off to college, where he got his B.S. in Political Science at Texas A&M. He has interned with Congressman Bill Flores in his district office and then Congresswoman Nancy Mace in her D.C. office.
Upon graduation, Sam immediately went to work as a political associate at Blakemore & Associates, where he learned the ins and outs of campaigns. After his time there, Sam moved over to the Harris County GOP, where he has been for two years as the Deputy Communications Director and now Communications Director. In this role, he primarily deal with media strategy and relations, content management and production, website development, email and social media marketing, and more.
Most recently, Sam was appointed Press Secretary for the Texas Young Republicans, where he is working on developing TYR’s media presence across the Lone Star State.
In his free time, Sam enjoys getting outdoors and spending time with his Australian Shepard, Fin.

President Emeritus