Daily Dispatch 4/24/26: Which PACS Spent the Most on TX Elections, and More…
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PACs for the People, or Puffing Pockets?”
Bayliss Wagner at the Houston Chronicle posed a crucial question for the midterm election year: “Ever wondered who runs the state Legislature? Just look at the receipts.” That’s right Hearst Newspapers is out with reporting on the PACs that spent the most on statewide and legislative races, and you’d be surprised (or not) to hear that it comes down to party line spending, and a few particular groups leading in expenditures from Jan 25 to April 26—that’s “on political activities like advertising, consulting, events and campaign contributions.” Go check it out yourself to review the tens of millions of dollars spent in our state, but to recap: the #1 spot at $21.2M was Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC (you know the one with the billboards) “supporting GOP candidates and tort reform.” Meanwhile, the #2 spot went to ActBlue Texas with $20.6M (albeit tied toward small donor transactions instead of direct money to candidates like the #1 spot holder). And the list continues downward, swapping between D v. R dedicated-groups with familiar friendly names like Powered by People, Texas Majority PAC, and the Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC, along with foes we need not name in these ten minutes.
I have to wonder what these numbers will look like in a few months, or even in November. With Rep. James Talarico breaking fundraising records at a whopping $27 million for a Senate candidate in Q1, it looks like the price points for this election are matching with the stakes. Times are not good and the proof is in profits, because really it’s amazing the cash flowing into this state, if only it left the hands of our greedy Governor and his buds, right? We could blow it all on cowboy hats. Or a working public education system, or funded, free, and fair elections, but either way.
More Money in TX Politics, but for the Greater Good?
On the note of PAC spending, Gabby Birenbaum at the Texas Tribune reports that the House Majority PAC (a top Democratic PAC) is targeting the newly vacated seat of Tony Gonzales, along with four other majority-Hispanic seats in South Texas, for their potential to swap a vulnerable Democrat or flip from red to blue. The PAC is dedicating $22 million for advertising against Rep. Henry Cuellar, Rep. Vicente Gonzalez, Rep. Monica De La Cruz, and the newly drawn 35th district in San Antonio.
As someone from San Antonio, I’ll say that we get bunched up with South Texas, and I’ll remind folks that each of these districts will be their own mixed bag of viewpoints to consider, and blanket, uniform ads just translated into Spanish won’t be the saving grace here. BUT, there is a silver lining here, something Bernie tried to teach national groups in 2020, that is: those who want Texas to turn away from authoritarianism need to dedicate time, money, and contact with the largest demographic in the state. Seems simple, but compared to 2024, this group only spent $2.3 million on advertising, making this year’s bump a more than a 850% increase. Big spenders are realizing the importance of the Hispanic vote in Texas, especially this year post-redistricting, and with so much turmoil in increased violence against Hispanic neighbors by ICE. But will it be effective, we’ll have to wait and see…
Voucher Lottery Awards Begin Next Week
And of course, we’re well aware of how some cold-hard-cash in the wrong hands can translate into laws of the land: with our new voucher scam in place. Jaden Edison at the Texas Tribune alerted readers this week about upcoming dates regarding Texas’ voucher system lottery winners.
Edison shared that this week, on April 22, some parents were notified about their children’s ability to participate in the school voucher program (and through today, more than 42,600 students will get their notification). That first round of awardees is designated for children with disabilities whose families make less than $165K a year or less for a family of four; and a second tier begins next week. Those who don’t make the cut get added to a wait list, and if you’re wondering about the metrics there, the first round includes about half of low-income, former public school students, and 43% white—but that’s just the applicants, with acceptance not necessarily guaranteed until students are enrolled in a private school.
You’ll recall the big ticket item for the last several legislative sessions that ensued a millions-of-dollars-spent-retribution-waging-war by Gov. Abbott and billionaire buddies against fairly more moderate-anti-voucher state leaders. They dropped millions on his cherry-picked, pro-voucher candidates as replacements and well it’s worked out for him so far, hasn’t it? Featured on the #6 spot for the PAC list from before at the Houston Chronicle: Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC (associated with and funded by Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks) was one of the biggest funders for the voucher scam back then and with their money, so went our state legislature farther to the right, and now vouchers are in place. Again, might be a good idea to check out the list of folks bankrolling our state leaders and as a result (thank you Citizens United) our state budget, they have some sway (for better or worse).
Before moving on from this update, let’s note that some of that sway has led to extremely racist, Islamophobic rhetoric and actions, including in this fight against public education: where Kelly Hancock and Ken Paxton sought to exclude Muslim students by blocking the addition of Islamic schools to the program.
“Othering” Anyone at this Point
That pivot from Republicans scapegoating Hispanic Texans to Muslim Texans, seems to me, to be a signifier that they are pulling back on the fear-mongering of one group and swapping for another test subject for messaging: amid massive backlash to the abductions of our neighbors and heinous treatment by ICE and against those in detention facilities (with an Egyptian family released from Dilley this week, the Texas Tribune reports). Sarah Bahari discusses this rise in racist rhetoric from Republican candidates, and especially online in her newest from the Dallas Morning News on “How Frisco became ground zero for wave of hate against Indian Americans.” Definitely recommend for a deep dive that pertains to the entire state, especially in the attempts to normalize xenophobia and Texas immigrants.
ICE Detains Texas Resident
Speaking of, yesterday eyes were on Houston as Mayor John Whitmire caved to Gov. Abbott in giving more power to ICE in Houston, further ingratiating the federal agency with Houston’s police department. This ordeal, which resulted in Abbott threatening to pull hundreds of millions in state funding, sprouted out of a city ordinance essentially prohibiting officers from detaining people at traffic stops for too long because of warrants issued by ICE.
Lo and behold, another story from the Texas Tribune states that ICE deported a man after a traffic stop in Central Texas. Uriel J. García and Alejandro Serrano report that Brian José Morales García has a birth certificate showing he was born in Denver, and yet he was detained after a traffic stop near Fredericksburg where he couldn’t provide proof of citizenship, then deported to Mexico earlier this month. An interesting piece of this story, reminding me of the implications of the SAVE Act, is that Morales’s birth certificate has a different spelling of his first name and date of birth, between his American birth certificate, and dual-citizenship Mexican identification. He was pulled over for a window tint violation and officers called ICE (likely because he spoke Spanish, a reason enough for ICE to detain someone now). Despite lawyers showing a hospital record of him being born in Denver, and clerical errors or discrepancies between records being commonplace especially for dual citizens according to an Ohio State University professor and immigration attorney, despite these facts ICE agents are more emboldened than ever to arrest US citizens like Morales claims he is, they’re enabled to racially profile, and violate civil rights. U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said in a statement that he’s advocating for Morales’ return to the U.S. Castro has consistently advocated for those detained by ICE under unfair conditions, and even visited detention facilities, in my eyes that’s the kind of leadership we need as ICE becomes empowered to embed themselves in our communities. More servant leadership and on-the-ground work from those representing us, and less dollars from Tim Dunn affiliates please and thank you. More to come as that story develops, and we move into next week.
You Look Cute When You Vote
There are not one but TWO Texas elections on the radar right now: local, city-level elections on May 2, and the statewide primary runoffs on May 26. Early voting in those local elections is underway now. For the midterm runoffs, your registration deadline is April 27th, and early voting will begin on May 18. More on all of this at our carefully-crafted voting information website, Govotetexas.org, and there’s a nice online tool from the Texas Tribune that shows you exactly who will be on your runoff ballot based on your address and party.
Come See Us LIVE!
We have not one but two live events on the calendar right now, in both Dallas and Houston. Houston’s first as we gather at the very cool Creekwood Grill for a live podcast taping with new Cy-Fair ISD board members to discuss their plans to reinstate textbook chapters and other learning materials undermined by their MAGA predecessors. We want you there but seating is limited and an RSVP is required to attend. This happens on the evening of Wednesday May 20, see the show notes for a link to get registered.
We’re also getting ready for our 16th anniversary celebration in Dallas with drinks, light bites, and a fun review of the highlights of our successes over the last few years! Save the date which is Tuesday June 16 and see the link in the show notes to reserve your spot.
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I’m Tatum Owens, thanks for reading, and we’ll see you later.