As a self-professed conservative, Gov. Greg Abbott is planning to do a fundraiser that puts him in with some very strange bedfellows.
On March 23rd, Gov. Abbott will be the featured speaker at a fundraiser held by Friends of the University PAC “in recognition of his dedication and assistance to The University of Texas at Austin and Higher Education.” The attraction for such an organization to headline a fundraiser with the state’s head executive is an obvious one — but one can’t help but wonder why the Governor would help an organization raise money that will, without question, be spent against conservatives in the upcoming general election.
A cursory glance at Friends of the University PAC’s most recent filings with the Texas Ethics Commission isn’t very encouraging: $10,000 to Texans for Joe Straus — the notorious war chest for establishment sycophants — and $2,500 to State Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston).
That’s just so far this year.
If history is any indicator they’ll be spending much more against conservatives.
Throughout 2014, Friends of the University PAC reported $151,249 in total expenditures, roughly two-thirds of which were direct contributions.
While Democrats hold just one-third of the seats in the House and Senate, almost half of the UT PAC’s contributions went to Democrats. A whopping $7,500 went to notorious legislative bully Rep. Trey “Ferdinand Frank” Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) who, ironically enough, that same year referred to Abbott as “El Diablito” (meaning ‘little devil’) via a set of childish trading cards he distributed at the Democrat’s biennial convention.
Unfortunately, the Republican ranks of the UT PAC’s beneficiaries don’t inspire much confidence in their priorities, either. That list is entirely populated by liberal loyalists of the Straus cartel, including State Reps. Charlie Geren (R-Ft. Worth), Byron Cook (R-Corsicana), and Sarah Davis (R-West University Place). The 2014 reports can be found in full uninspiring detail here and here.
The support of left-leaning Republican incumbents is less than surprising — plenty of PACs stick to this as their model of buddying up with those in power. But one has to wonder…
Why is Greg Abbott helping raise money that will inevitably be handed to Democrats?
Abbott’s office has not return calls seeking comment. The article will be updated if a comment is offered.
