The Billionaires in Texas Politics
Forbes released their 2024 list of the Richest People in the World. I thought it would be interesting to see how many are investing in Texas politics, how much, and to who.
And turns out the answers are a lot, a lot, and mostly Republicans.
Tim Dunn (TX)
1,496 on the Richest in the World list - $2.2 Billion
$14,192,090 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Jeff Yass (PA)
64 on the Richest in the World list - $27.6 Billion
$10,250,000 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans and Vouchers
George Soros (NY)
409 on the Richest in the World list - $6.7 Billion
$8,119,574 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Democrats
Miriam Adelson (NV)
53 on the Richest in the World list - $32 Billion
$7,400,000 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does she give? Mostly to Texas Sands PAC, which gave the majority to Republicans, a few Democrats
Farris Wilks (TX)
1,694 on the Richest in the World list - $1.9 Billion (Brother Dan Wilks is 1,623 on the list - $2 Billion)
$6,812,767 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Charles Butt (TX)
344 on the Richest in the World list - $7.6 Billion
$6,504,059 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Mostly to a Public Education PAC, which gave the majority to Republicans
H Ross Perot (TX)
871 on the Richest in the World list - $3.7 Billion
$6,147,648 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Kenny Troutt (TX)
1,851 on the Richest in the World list - $1.7 Billion
$3,962,606 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Edward Roski (CA)
385 on the Richest in the World list - $7.1 Billion
$2,765,000 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Jeffery Hildebrand (TX)
156 on the Richest in the World list - $12.6 Billion
$5,020,698 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Reed Hastings (CA)
712 on the Richest in the World list - $4.4 Billion
$2,461,000 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Charter Schools and “School Choice”
Robert Rowling (TX)
278 on the Richest in the World list - $8.9 Billion
$3,592,500 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Ken Fisher (TX)
292 on the Richest in the World list - $8.7 Billion
$3,132,325 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Richard Uihlein (IL)
581 on the Richest in the World list - $5.2 Billion
$3,132,325 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans and Vouchers
Drayton McLane (TX)
1033 on the Richest in the World list - $3.2 Billion
$2,133,500 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Tilman Fertitta (TX)
256 on the Richest in the World list - $9.4 Billion
$2,223,391 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans (and a few Democrats tossed in)
Kelcy Warren (TX)
486 on the Richest in the World list - $6 Billion
$2,055,000 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Darwin Deason (TX)
2,287 on the Richest in the World list - $1.3 Billion
$1,810,920 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans and Vouchers
Trevor Rees-Jones (TX)
624 on the Richest in the World list - $4.9 Billion
$2,780,800 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Dan Friedkin (TX)
432 on the Richest in the World list - $6.4 Billion
$1,794,759 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Richard & Nancy Kinder (TX)
317 on the Richest in the World list - $8.1 Billion
$1,591,000 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where do they give? Republicans (and one or two Democrats)
Tench & Simone Coxe (CA)
734 on the Richest in the World list - $4.3 Billion
$2,591,915 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where do they give? Democrats
Ronald Lauder (NY)
686 on the Richest in the World list - $4.6 Billion
$3,132,325 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Paul Foster (TX)
1,945 on the Richest in the World list - $1.6 Billion
$1,207,866 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
Jay Adair (TX)
1,623 on the Richest in the World list - $2 Billion
$1,050,000 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans (and trying to dodge lawsuits)
Lynn Schusterman (OK)
697 on the Richest in the World list - $4.5 Billion
$1,023,000 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does she give? Democrats
Stephen Mandel (CT)
1,330 on the Richest in the World list - $2.5 Billion
$1,500,580 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Democrats
Ray Hunt (TX)
373 on the Richest in the World list - $7.2 Billion
$1,834,600 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans (and $25k to Jay Kleberg)
Jim Walton (AR)
18 on the Richest in the World list - $78.4 Billion
$1,425,270 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Charters and “School Choice”
Jerry Jones (TX)
137 on the Richest in the World list - $13.8 Billion
$930,073 into Texas state level races / PACs since 01/01/2021
Where does he give? Republicans
WHEW! That’s a lot of billionaires. 30 of them to be specific. If we turn all 30 into one pie chart…
$109 million in the last election cycle and the current cycle up through the primaries. And the money is accelerating.
When you look above at the top 10 recipients of the 30 billionaires’ money, it makes up 71% of the $109 million. And there is only one, the Texas Justice & Public Safety PAC, which is focused on District Attorney races, that is focused on giving a majority to Democrats. The vast majority of billionaire money is focused on Republicans. But yet the fear mongering is about democrats. The narrative being pushed is nonsense. Now you have the numbers and data to…
See it. Name it. Fight it.
This is by far the best information I've seen about where the $ are coming from to fund Republican politics in Texas. Thank you. Also fascinating is the description of "source" on each donor's profile. I never knew damaged cars could be so profitable.
We really need campaign finance reform in Texas, and it isn't going to happen as long as Republicans are running the show.