AUSTIN — A looming dogfight over “school choice,” fast emerging as a litmus test issue within the Texas GOP, has triggered a rush of huge campaign contributions in the run-up to the March primary.
Most of the money is flowing to legislative candidates who favor voucherlike programs that proponents say will rescue some Texas families from ill-suited public schools – and to committees such as those controlled by Gov. Greg Abbott that are bent on defeating “school choice” opponents.
Republican House lawmakers who oppose Abbott’s proposed education savings accounts as a potentially budget-busting entitlement are receiving some financial help to ready their defenses, according to new campaign finance reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.
Generating applause and protests was Abbott’s receipt late last year of $6.25 million from Wall Street billionaire Jeff Yass, an options trader who lives in the Philadelphia suburbs.
Yass, a longtime crusader for voucherlike programs, also gave $500,000 last month to AFC Victory Fund, a new entrant in the Texas school voucher wars. Its parent, the American Federation for Children, has long been associated with former U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
“The richest man in Pennsylvania may want a school voucher program in Texas, but Texans don’t,” said Nicole Hill of AFT Texas, referring to Yass. Hill’s union represents 66,000 teachers and support personnel in Texas school districts, along with higher education employees.
“They’ve showed that year after year, special session after special session,” Hill said. She referred to the House’s defeat of education savings accounts, or ESAs, in last year’s fourth overtime session of the Legislature.
Abbott has vowed to help defeat fellow Republicans who tanked his ESA proposal. While the three-term Republican governor has restored his war chest to nearly $39 million, he hasn’t begun spending in the House primary battles taking shape — at least, as of Dec. 31, according to his reports, which covered the last six months of 2023.
In addition, the AFC Victory Fund had nearly $3.3 million in cash. It and other pro-school choice PACs are expected to open their checkbooks soon.
Meanwhile, the seven-month-old Family Empowerment Coalition PAC, a pro-ESA group cofounded by Dallas businessman Doug Deason, showered $175,000 on Republican insurgents trying to unseat seven of the House GOP incumbents who defied the governor.
Speaker Dade Phelan, who remained neutral in last fall’s fight over using public money to help subsidize private school for certain families, is defending incumbents, including the “rural 16″ who defied Abbott.
Of the 21 Republicans who joined Democrats in killing ESAs in November, 16 are seeking reelection. Most are from rural districts, though some hail from suburbs.
Phelan purchased $942,950 worth of polling to help House GOP incumbents and gave $15,000 to each of seven of the embattled voucher opponents.
H-E-B grocery magnate Charles Butt of San Antonio, a longtime opponent of vouchers, gave $20,000 to each of the 16 Republican representatives who refused to bend.
Some of the targeted House incumbents reported huge cash advantages over their challengers, such as Rep. Reggie Smith of Sherman, who had about $262,000. Challenger Shelley Luther, a Dallas hair-salon owner who defied COVID-19 edicts, had less than $7,000 as of Dec. 31, her report showed.
But Rep. Gary VanDeaver of New Boston was behind one of his opponents, Linden grocery store owner Chris Spencer, in cash, thanks to a $300,000 loan by Spencer to his campaign.
GOP Rep. Glenn Rogers of Graford, with $71,000 in cash, was running behind his opponent Mike Olcott of Aledo, who loaned himself $140,000, while GOP Rep. Steve Allison of San Antonio had about the same amount of cash on hand as his challenger, Marc LaHood.
University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus said the rural 16 have to be concerned.
“We’re seeing more incumbents with multiple challengers, which is dangerous territory for sitting legislators,” he said. “A key conservative talking point, a huge pile of money, and several challengers to dilute the vote leads to runoffs where incumbents might fare worse.”
Turnout in the March 5 Texas primary could dwindle if former President Donald Trump sweeps the early-voting states in the Republican presidential contest, Rottinghaus said.
“That crystallizes the power a few dedicated groups may have to move the needle on school choice,” he said.
North Texas business leaders are supporting Abbott in the fight. Last summer, Deason, a conservative activist on criminal-justice issues, joined former conservative Democratic state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. of Brownsville and longtime Houston GOP activist Leo Linbeck III to create the Family Empowerment Coalition PAC, or FECPAC.
It gave $25,000 each to seven of the 16 House Republicans who in November voted with Democrats to strip ESAs from a school-funding bill: Allison, Ernest Bailes of Shepherd, DeWayne Burns of Cleburne, Travis Clardy of Nacogdoches, Drew Darby of San Angelo, Hugh Shine of Temple and VanDeaver.
Also emerging as a North Texas donor in the ongoing fight over vouchers is Joe Popolo, chief executive of Dallas-based Charles & Potomac Capital, a private investment firm. Last week, Popolo, who gave $125,000 to FECPAC, posted on social media about a new national poll by the DeVos-backed American Federation for Children. It showed wide support for school choice.
“Politicians should listen to their voters! @TXlege,” he wrote.
Popolo, who formerly ran Farmers Branch-based Freeman Co., a live events firm, gave $50,000 to AFC Victory Fund.
Rockwall GOP Rep. Justin Holland, whose district includes part of southern Collin County, voted against ESAs.
Holland, a Phelan lieutenant, raised $407,000 in the last half of 2023 and had a cash balance of about $288,000.
Challengers Katrina Pierson, a former tea party activist who served as a national campaign spokeswoman for former President Trump, raised just $48,000 and had about $22,000 in cash; and Dennis London, a California transplant who lives in Rockwall, raised $37,000. London entered the year with a balance of about $21,000.
Rottinghaus, though, said it’s dangerous to read too much into the early fundraising tallies.
“There is a lot of soft ground to traverse in these primaries so, with two months until the election, much can happen,” he said.
Ken Paxton’s impeachment revenge
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is campaigning against numerous Republican incumbents in the House who voted for his impeachment in May. While the powerful Republican has endorsed several challengers, Paxton’s support has not translated to a cash windfall.
With few exceptions, the targeted incumbents outraised Paxton-backed opponents and maintained significantly more cash than the attorney general’s preferred candidates, according to the new campaign finance reports.
Those included four of the five Republican incumbents in Paxton’s backyard of Collin County. For instance, Allen Rep. Jeff Leach, once a close ally who argued forcefully for Paxton’s removal from office, had more than $500,000 in his campaign war chest at the end of 2023. His challenger, Allen City Council Member Daren Meis, had about $57,000, Ethics Commission records show.
McKinney Rep. Frederick Frazier’s campaign finance report showed he had slightly more cash than his Paxton-backed challenger, Keresa Richards of McKinney. However, Richards raised more money in the last half of 2023.
Frazier’s reelection campaign has been dealing with controversy after he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanor charges of attempting to impersonate a public servant and was dishonorably discharged from the Dallas Police Department.
Phelan, who has been speaker since 2021, contributed to many of the incumbents Paxton wants tossed from the House. Phelan, R-Beaumont, is also facing a Paxton-backed challenger in David Covey. Phelan dwarfed his opponent’s campaign cash with more than $5.3 million, compared with Covey’s $23,674.
Paxton’s finance report shows his campaign did not donate directly to his preferred House candidates in the last six months of 2023, though he has been on the campaign trail for some, including at an event Tuesday in Rockwall for Pierson, one of the challengers to Holland.
Senate races around Dallas
In Dallas-area state Senate races, the finance reports showed Dallas Democratic Sen. Nathan Johnson had a significant advantage over his primary opponent, state Rep. Victoria Neave Criado, D-Dallas. Johnson had more than $820,000 in cash on hand, compared with Neave Criado’s $58,268.
Meanwhile, Republican Senate hopeful Brent Hagenbuch loaned his campaign more than $1 million, giving him far more spending cash than the three other Republicans in the race.
Defend Texas Liberty
The reports showed Defend Texas Liberty, a conservative political action committee, all but ceased action in the aftermath of a Texas Tribune report that revealed its former head met with an avowed neo-Nazi for hours in October.
The organization received less than $2,000 in small donations and received no cash from oil magnates Tim Dunn and brothers Farris and Dan Wilks, whose big spending previously made the organization a major player in Republican politics.
The political action committee made only three contributions to candidates since the Tribune report. It gave $10,000 to Republican Brent Money, who is running in a special election to replace former Rep. Bryan Slaton. Slaton was also backed by Defend Texas Liberty but was expelled from the House after an investigation found he gave alcohol to a 19-year-old staff member before having sex with her.
Defend Texas Liberty also gave $10,000 to Rep. Steve Toth, R-The Woodlands, and $5,000 to Edgewood Republican Sen. Bob Hall. The organization did not return a message seeking comment.
