In litigation filed at 1 a.m. Thursday, a group of conservative Republicans has asked a court to step in and undo the cancellation of the Texas Republican Convention in Houston.

The in-person political convention was set to take place July 16-18 in Houston's George R. Brown Convention Center, but the entity that operates the center told the Texas Republican Party late Wednesday afternoon that it was canceling its contract because of a force majeure event, according to the petition in Hotze v. Turner, filed in Harris County district court.

The plaintiffs are represented by Houston attorney Jared Woodfill, who has represented scores of plaintiffs suing the government over COVID-19 orders and shutdowns.

In a separate lawsuit filed mid-afternoon on Thursday, the Republican Party of Texas filed a similar lawsuit against the same defendants, plus the city of Houston.

"Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner's use of the Force Majeure clause is just a pretext to his intent to treat the Republican Party of Texas differently than other groups, such as those we have seen from recent protests in the city of Houston," the party said in a statement. "It should go without saying that a political viewpoint cannot be the basis for unequal treatment."

Woodfill, founding partner in the Woodfill Law Firm in Houston, said the convention cancellation shows viewpoint discrimination at its worst.

"It's a highly partisan mayor who appreciates the significance of a state convention—being a former state representative himself—-waiting till the last minute to call off a convention he had given the green light to for many, many days now. He appreciates the impact he can have to a party's ticket by throwing their state convention into a state of disarray," Woodfill said. "This is partisan politics at its worst."

Woodfill added that he plans to schedule a hearing on the plaintiffs' request for a temporary restraining order today as early as 4 p.m. He anticipates that the party that loses the hearing may immediately appeal to the Texas Supreme Court, because of the timeliness of the issue.

But Turner, who has stated the convention needed to be canceled because of the high risk that COVID would spread widely there, said in a press conference that the Republican Party's contract for the event stated that a pandemic counted as a force majeure event under the agreement.

"It's ironic they are going to the courthouse that in many cases is hearing and seeing cases virtually to ask them to allow 6,000 people to meet in person, when even the judicial community—-the U.S. Supreme court, I believe—is hearing cases virtually," Turner said.

The plaintiffs alleged that Houston First Corp. which runs the convention center, terminated its license agreement with the Republican Party of Texas because the city's Democratic mayor, Sylvester Turner, was exerting political pressure to cancel the convention.

Turner, also a defendant, has held press conferences and contacted the Republican Party to try to compel them to cancel the convention, alleged the petition. But the party's executive committee voted to proceed with the in-person convention. Turner also sent the party a list of requirements such ask mask-wearing and social distancing, and record keeping for contact tracing, that it would have to comply with to proceed, the plaintiffs claimed.

On Wednesday, Turner said he asked the city's legal department to work with Houston First to review the Republican Party's contract, said the petition. Next, Houston First sent a letter to the party that terminated the contract, claiming a force majeure event, alleged the petition.

The plaintiffs alleged the city is involved in selective enforcement of its own COVID-19 rules. The city has treated the Republican Party differently than other political assemblies during the pandemic, such as marches in protest of George Floyd's death, said the petition. It added that Turner in a press conference supported those marches while telling people to wear masks, use hand sanitizer and keep their distance.

"However, when the [Republican Party of Texas], an organization rivaling Mayor Turner's political party, sought to convene and exercise those same rights, he chooses to quash them," the petition said. "Canceling the Texas Republican Convention is a severe limitation of plaintiffs' political speech."

The plaintiffs include Dr. Steven Hotze, who's been a lead plaintiff in multiple high-profile COVID-19 lawsuits, and Republican Party Secretary Josh Flynn, Cathie Adams, Rick Hotze and Greg Blume.

They allege that the public officials involved in the dispute have acted outside of their authority in violation of the law, and seek declaratory relief. They claim their right to free speech is being violated because the city has curtailed their speech due to its content that Turner does not support. Among other things, another claim is their constitutional freedom of association has been violated.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Read the lawsuit: