Conservative megadonors backed Fort Worth-area candidates. They earned the most votes.
Conservative West Texas donors poured hundreds of thousands of dollars into two Fort Worth area races for the Texas House, and the Republican candidates they supported gained the most votes in their primaries — with one avoiding a runoff altogether.
In House District 92, former Bedford city councilman Jeff Cason beat back his opponents in the contested Republican primary for outgoing Rep. Jonathan Stickland’s seat. Cason avoided a runoff by securing more than half the vote, with 54.09%, according to the Secretary of State’s unofficial results with all polling places reporting.
To the west of Fort Worth in the four-way race for House District 60, the two frontrunners, Cisco businessman Jon Francis and veterinarian and rancher Glenn Rogers, are headed to a May runoff. The two were separated by a little over 700 votes, according to the Secretary of State’s returns, with Francis earning 45.9% of the vote to Rogers’ 43.78%.
The megadonors that backed Cason and Francis are also some of the top financial supporters of the conservative political advocacy group Empower Texans. The group made headlines last summer, after its CEO released a recording that led to House Speaker Dennis Bonnen announcing he would not run for re-election.
House District 92
In the race to represent House District 92, which stretches across Northeast Tarrant County, and encompasses Hurt, Euless and Bedford, Cason had the most cash, the earliest start and the backing of the outgoing incumbent.
Speaking to supporters at his election night watch party Tuesday, Cason recounted a flier that attacked him during the campaign.
“It said I came out of nowhere, so I became the nowhere man,” Cason said.
But he touted his campaign’s work to change that, knocking on thousands of doors in the district to meet voters.
Cason also outraised his opponents — former Bedford Mayor Jim Griffin and small-business owner and veteran Taylor Gillig — bringing in roughly $280,000 over the course of the campaign. More than half of that had come from two conservative West Texas megadonors who were among Stickland’s top donors.
In January, Cason 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 Fort Worth-based Frac-Tech Holdings into one of the largest fracking companies in North America, according to campaign finance reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission.
“I’m grateful to our donors that helped make this happen too, because this doesn’t happen for free. It takes a lot of money, a lot of resources,” Cason told supporters Tuesday night.
Cason and Francis were also two 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.
Griffin had run on a more traditional Republican platform, while Cason had stressed he would fight for conservative values.
In a push a month ahead of the primary, Griffin had received nearly $90,000 worth of in-kind donations in the form of campaign fliers and TV advertisements from the Associated Republicans of Texas, a nonprofit that works to maintain a Republican majority in the Legislature, and nearly $13,000 worth of campaign fliers from the Texas Alliance for Life PAC, the political arm of the statewide anti-abortion group, according to campaign finance reports.
But it wasn’t enough to beat Cason, with Griffin earning 36.62% of the vote to Cason’s 54.09%.
It remains to be seen if the seat will flip like Democrats hope, and Cason will face Democrat and attorney Jeff Whitfield in November.
“We’re that close now,” Cason said Tuesday night, pinching his fingers together, “and there’s a lot of work left to do.”
House District 60
While Cason managed to avoid a runoff by securing more than 50% of the vote, the hundreds of thousands that conservative donors poured into Francis’ campaign wasn’t enough to avoid one.
In the race to represent the sprawling House District 60 that stretches across eight predominately rural counties, including Hood and Palo Pinto, Francis’ family ties had become a point of contention.
Out of the nearly $800,000 Francis had raised, $650,000 had come from his in-laws, conservative megadonors Farris and his wife, Jo Ann Wilks.
Francis’ campaign war chest had eclipsed his opponents’, with Rogers raising a little over $250,000 ahead of Super Tuesday. But despite the difference in resources, the two had come within 712 votes of each other, with Francis earning 15,418 votes over Rogers’ 14,706.
The two have pitted themselves against one another over the course of the campaign, with Francis labeling Rogers as the choice of “the Austin lobby,” while Rogers previously said he would represent the entire district, “not just a few wealthy families.”
Francis vowed he would win in the May runoff in a Facebook post Tuesday, and noted in a post the next day that despite entering into the race last, he finished first in the primary.
“This race is between the Austin establishment and grassroots conservatives. The distinction will be evident, and the choice for voters to make will be abundantly clear,” Francis wrote.
In a statement Wednesday, Rogers was pointed about Francis’ campaign funding and said that “we can’t be bought.”
“I’ve outworked all of my opponents. That’s not debatable. My opponent used his family’s money, outspending my campaign nearly five to one. We’ve earned our votes the old-fashioned way — meeting people face to face, understanding their issues, and discussing solutions,” Rogers said.
The runoff election is May 26, and early voting runs from May 18-22.
This story was originally published March 9, 2020 at 6:00 AM.
