After scandal, will Empower Texans donors hurt or help in this Tarrant County race?
With the primary a month away, the race to replace state Rep. Jonathan Stickland in House District 92 got an infusion of cash from conservative West Texas donors who have sought to influence races in Tarrant County before.
According to the most recent campaign finance reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission, Jeff Cason, the former Bedford city councilman and candidate endorsed by Stickland, received $75,000 each from Tim Dunn, the Midland oil magnate who has long bankrolled Empower Texans, and Farris Wilks, who made billions with his brother Dan Wilks from building Frac-Tech Holdings into one of the largest fracking companies in North America.
With the roughly $180,720 Cason raised in January, he reported about $119,245 on hand — far more than his Republican opponents in the March 3 primary and rivaling that of Jeff Whitfield, the Democratic candidate with the most cash available.
“We are very excited that Jeff Cason’s conservative message has resonated not only with his fundraising, but also on the ground in District 92 with thousands of voters in the community,” said Luke Macias, a GOP consultant advising Cason’s campaign. “I think he’s very well positioned in this race.”
While Dunn and the Wilks brothers may not be household names, they’re the top donors behind the conservative political advocacy group Empower Texans. The group made headlines last summer after its CEO, Michael Quinn Sullivan, brought about House Speaker Dennis Bonnen’s downfall with a secret recording.
The recording largely supported Sullivan’s allegations that during a June meeting Bonnen propositioned Sullivan to target certain Republican House members and, in exchange, extended the possibility of granting long-sought-after press credentials to writers of Empower Texans’ news site, Texas Scorecard.
Following the recording’s release, Bonnen announced he would not seek re-election as House Speaker or to the Texas legislature amid a wave of calls for his resignation from both Republican and Democratic lawmakers.
Three Republicans are running for the District 92 seat, which stretches across Northeast Tarrant County, and encompasses Hurt, Euless and Bedford. Meanwhile, Democrats are aiming to flip the seat blue. Will support from Empower Texans’ biggest benefactors, hurt or help?
James Riddlesperger, a political science professor at TCU, said Empower Texans’ role in Bonnen’s downfall showcased the group’s “raw political power,” but may have also made some Republicans wary of their “gotcha politics” that sowed discord within the party.
“Obviously, Speaker Bonnen was burned by Empower Texans on the one hand,” Riddlesperger said. “But on the other hand, he kind of brought it on himself. It’s not a clear line as to how this might affect Texas politics moving forward.”
This year, Cason is one of only six Texas House candidates to receive the endorsement of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, a conservative political advocacy group affiliated with Empower Texans. It’s far fewer than the 38 endorsements of Texas House candidates the group made in 2018.
Observers say the support of Cason isn’t surprising, noting that Dunn, the Empower Texans PAC and Farris Wilks and his wife Jo Ann were Stickland’s biggest donors over the years, contributing nearly $968,500 to his campaigns, according to the National Institute on Money in Politics.
“Republican primary voters, as well as general election voters in District 92, oppose corruption in the Texas House, and they want strong fiscal conservatives who are going to oppose property tax increases,” Macias, Cason’s consultant, said.
The scandal that roiled the Texas House last summer probably wasn’t on the radar of the average voter, said Rebecca Deen, an associate professor and chairwoman of UTA’s political science department.
“Republicans in Tarrant County, generally — but especially in this particular district — the last thing that they want is to see the district go over to Democrats. But also, they want to make sure that the voice that they send is their brand of conservatism,” Deen said.
Empower Texans has long backed challengers to Republican lawmakers that don’t align with the group’s views, including Tarrant County’s own lawmakers, such as Republican state Reps. Charlie Geren and Giovanni Capriglione.
Also running in the Republican primary to represent House District 92 are former Bedford Mayor Jim Griffin and small-business owner Taylor Gillig. According to the most recent campaign finance reports, Griffin’s nearly $22,000 on hand, is far more than Gillig’s roughly $2,500. Both amounts pale in comparison to Cason’s campaign war chest.
Craig Murphy, a GOP consultant and spokesman for Griffin’s campaign, stressed that Griffin’s local support will resonate more with voters than Cason’s contributions from donors in West Texas.
Donors related to Empower Texans have given money in every election, Murphy said. “The results are mixed,” he said. “Mostly they lose, but some they win. But I think Jim’s situation, where he’s got the support of so many people in the communities that make up this district, is more valuable than the contribution from far outside the district.”
Ultimately, Republicans are working to keep a seat that Democrats want to flip. In 2018, Steve Riddell, the lone Democrat to challenge Stickland that year narrowly lost, claiming 47.43% of the vote to Stickland’s 49.8%.
Stickland, who was first elected to the seat in 2012, announced his plans to not run for reelection in June. He was often viewed as a political bomb-thrower, and Deen, the UTA associate professor, said it remains to be seen what effect his absence will have on whether the seat flips in a county where demographics are shifting.
“Stickland almost lost last time. But you have to wonder, is that a function of his bombastic personality? Or the voters? Or both?” Deen said. “It’s probably both. But what’s the proportion?”
Macias said the Democrats’ fundraising has made it clear they’re taking District 92 seriously. Jeff Whitfield, an attorney who is one of two Democrats running, has roughly $120,300 on hand, while Riddell, who is running again for the seat, has nearly $17,600.
Riddlesperger, the TCU professor, said the district appears to be at a turning point, but the outcome is not certain.
“Any of us who think we have crystal balls probably are deluding ourselves to some extent because the voters have a funny way of choosing who they want,” he said.
