Fort Worth real estate group to tackle politics
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
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Two recently formed Texas groups are hoping to have an impact in the November elections -- one on local elections, another on the presidential race.
Since March, more than 200 new groups have registered with the Internal Revenue Service for so-called 527 status. The designation gives them the ability to raise unlimited cash from private donors and spend it on influencing elections around the country, according to the IRS.
Locally, the Greater Fort Worth Real Estate Council recently created a 527 group made of high-profile commercial real estate interests.
Directors of the group include former Fort Worth Mayor Kenneth Barr; Trinity River Vision Authority Executive Director J.D. Granger; Mike Berry, president of Hillwood Properties and developer of Alliance Airport; and Phillip Poole, an urban planner who is involved with several projects in and around the Fort Worth Cultural District.
"We thought, 'Well, if we are serving as a voice for the commercial real estate development community, it might be worthwhile to form a PAC so that we can support upcoming local elections,'" said Susan Halsey, a lawyer at Jackson Walker law firm in Fort Worth, a real estate broker and chairwoman of the new 527 group.
The council formed about three years ago to serve as a voice for the commercial real estate interests, including developers, brokers, lenders and title companies, Halsey said. It has taken public positions on issues before the Fort Worth City Council such as street impact fees on new businesses.
Funding for the council's 527 group will come from its members, currently made up of about 225 local companies, Halsey said. The group will focus on local races for now but may expand.
"I think our goal is to start with city races and certainly focus on issues that affect us locally," Halsey said. "Now, if that involves us supporting a candidate on the state level that might affect our area, we're not precluding that."
Save Our Republic
In the heated race for the White House, a group called Save Our Republic wants to influence who makes it across the finish line. The group registered as a 527 with the IRS in March. Based in Seabrook in Harris County, its goal is to sway the presidential election "so that the national security of our Republic, the United States of America, is saved, preserved, and improved," according to the group's filing.
Eric Malroy, a NASA engineer in Seabrook, is listed as Save Our Republic's president and director. He gave $500 to Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee's presidential campaign in February, according to the Federal Election Commission.
The group lists Ohio-based conservative radio host Paul Schiffer as its vice president. Schiffer, who unsuccessfully ran for an Ohio congressional seat in this year's Republican primary, has reportedly said he worked as a literary agent for members of Swift Vets and POWs for Truth, a 527 group that criticized Democrat John Kerry in the 2004 presidential race.
abatheja@star-telegram.com
