In his campaign for state representative, Justin Holland may have Rockwall roots, but he’s relying on Austin suits with big lobby dollars.
Throughout his campaign against Frisco City Councilman John Keating, Holland has sought to make the race for House District 33 about electing someone from Rockwall, rather than a proven conservative from Collin County. To help spin his narrative, Holland has taken a whopping $225,000 from liberal lobby groups located outside of the district.
Among them are longtime foes of the conservative movement, such as HEB grocery mogul Charles Butt, a major donor to Democrat Wendy Davis. Much to the ire of conservatives, Butt has also spent large sums of money against Republican policy goals such as defunding sanctuary cities and passing open carry.
In addition to a $15,000 contribution to Holland personally, Butt has also enlisted his anti-school choice lobby organization, the deceptively named Parent PAC, to fund Holland as well. The move shouldn’t be a surprise. When responding to a questionnaire by Teach the Vote, an education administration lobby organization, Holland indicated he did not support expanded parental choice in schools.
Asked about the issue directly, Holland said, “I currently do not support a school voucher program (i.e. school choice, parent choice, etc.)”
Holland isn’t only supported by liberal education organizations, he’s also backed by the big business lobby as well. While conservatives have generally been allied with business groups, the Texas Association for Business (TAB) has lined up against them with increasing frequency.
Last year, TAB CEO Bill Hammond worked to defend crony capitalism instead of tax cuts, undermine religious liberty legislation, and thwart conservative efforts to repeal in-state tuition for illegal immigrants.
With conservatives pushing for the issues to be discussed next year, Hammond is already lobbying against them. Recently, the TAB even sent a representative to a Rockwall City Council meeting to speak against Mayor Jim Pruitt’s so-called “Bathroom Bill.”
Contributions from these and other lobby organizations, public sector unions, and Obamacare supporters dominate Holland’s contribution report so much that a mere four percent of his fundraising comes from within the district. Indeed, there can be little doubt that if elected Holland will be a loyal ally of the Austin suits rather than a representative of the citizens and taxpayers of HD 33 and Rockwall County.
