State
Senate Candidate Says Fraudulent Donation to Speaker Phelan Made in His Name
Texas State Election Code states “A person may not knowingly make or authorize a political expenditure in the name of or on behalf of another” without their knowledge.
Pfizer Injects Funds Into Texas Lawmakers Campaign Coffers
Lawmakers and political action committees made their latest campaign finance disclosures this week, and one big pharmaceutical company’s political giving was in the spotlight.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton Endorses More House Challengers
Paxton says that Texas must fight to protect conservative values from “liberal Republicans.”
Disgraced Speaker Joe Straus Sends Campaign Cash to Rep. Glenn Rogers
While Straus’ PAC reported over $150,000 in expenditures during the most recent report, Rogers is the only direct recipient of cash from the PAC.
State Archive
Burton: Why I Oppose Tax-Funded Lobbying
Texas taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to pick up the tab for Austin lobbyists working against them, says a state senator who has banned tax-funded lobbyists from entering her office. State Sen. Konni Burton (R-Colleyville) has succinctly articulated the ethos behind...
Patrick Fights to Keep Tuition Affordable
On Monday, just before the primary election, the University of Texas Board of Regents voted to increase student tuition for the first time in several years. Now Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick is fighting back in an effort to keep tuition affordable for Texas students. In a...
Attacks on Massengale Assume Ignorance of Voters
A discredited Houston political slate is attacking Michael Massengale, a conservative justice on the Houston Court of Appeals who is running for Texas Supreme Court. The attacks – leveled on behalf of the incumbent, Debra Lehrmann – are absurd and assume voters are...
“He’s a senator and he wants to kill me!”
“He’s a senator and he wants to kill me!” Those are the chilling words of the ex-wife of Texas Sen. Carlos Uresti calling 9-1-1 to report an episode of domestic violence. The audio of the 9-1-1 call was released by the American Phoenix Foundation after a long fight...
Establishment’s All-New Low
This week the tactics of the Austin political class reached an all-new low. On Thursday, WFAA broke news that police are investigating violent threats that were made against conservative Rep. Tony Tinderholt, his wife, and their unborn child. Instead of condemning the...
Straus Facts #12: Joe Straus Enables Cronyism
When not using his committee assignments to empower Democrats, House Speaker Joe Straus uses his appointments to empower cronyism by his loyalists. Download the Empower Texans PAC mailer Jim Keffer, Straus’ Natural Resources chairman, has used his time in office to...
Straus Facts #11: Joe Straus Killed Spending Caps
In 2012, 94 percent of Republicans voted in favor of a proposition calling for a strong state spending cap based on the combined growth of population and inflation. This session, the Texas Senate responded, passing Senate Bill 9. The bill would have put the Republican...
Straus Facts #10: Joe Straus Defends Late-Term Abortions
When pro-life conservatives were successful on the House floor this session, Texas House Speaker Joe Straus took the victory away from them. Rep. Matt Schaefer, a conservative from Tyler, worked against House leadership to successfully amend a must-pass Health and...
Straus Facts #9: Joe Straus Attacked Gov. Abbott’s Agenda
It was clear from the start of the recent legislative session that Speaker Joe Straus opposed Gov. Greg Abbott’s agenda—even going so far as to attack reform proposals the governor campaigned on. Most notably, Straus told an audience at the University of Texas at...