Timothy (Tim) Dunn is a West Texas billionaire oilman and lay minister. Fellow Republicans have called him one of the “most powerful men in Texas politics” and likened him to a Russian oligarch. He has helped push Texas politics to the far right through sizable donations to right-wing candidates, political action committees, advocacy groups, and media outlets. Dunn is known for backing primary challengers to oust conservative Republican Texas legislators who he deems too moderate. He is linked to a network of thousands of local news sites that are easily mistaken for independent news organizations but which critics say exist to “launder” conservative talking points and views, known as “pink slime” websites.
Texas Monthly has even reported, “Dunn has said he believes we’re in the midst of a holy battle that pits Christians against those he refers to as Marxists, who he claims want to control all property and take away freedom.”
Far-right Affiliations
- Empower Texans, Founder and Chairman of the Board
- Now defunct, Empower Texans was described by outlets as a “dark-money conservative group” known for spending heavily (including on ads that prompted a DA complaint) to oust Republicans it deemed too moderate. Empower Texans also advocated for private school vouchers. The organization created projects that later became separate organizations: Texas Scorecard and Texans for Fiscal Responsibility.
- Texas Public Policy Foundation, Board Member (as of August 2026), Former Vice-chair
- TPPF is a right-wing think tank whose policy proposals hold sway among Texas Republican legislators. It has influenced national politics as part of the Project 2025 coalition.
- Defend Texas Liberty PAC, Donor
- Defend Texas Liberty has been funded almost entirely by Dunn and fellow West Texas billionaire Farris Wilks. It bills itself as “the most hated PAC by sellout Republicans in the Lone Star State.” In addition to its spending targeting Republicans who stray from its far-right agenda, Defend Texas Liberty has contributed heavily to the campaigns of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and other influential Republicans. It was engulfed in a scandal over its ties to white supremecist and Adolf Hitler admirer Nick Fuentes and other anti-Semites. The group now calls itself The Texas Freedom Fund for the Advancement of Justice.
- Texans United for a Conservative Majority, Donor
- This group was founded shortly after the scandal linking Defend Texas Liberty PAC to white supremecist Nick Fuentes, and appears to be a spinoff of Defend Texas Liberty, taking up the mantle of targeting more moderate Republicans.
- America First Works, Chairman (as of August 2026)
- America First Works is the lobbying arm of America First Policy Institute, which was founded by former Trump/Pence campaign aides to advance the “America First” agenda. Dozens of former AFPI employees now serve in the Trump administration, and the group claims over 86% of its agenda was enacted or advanced during the first 100 days of Trump’s second term.
- True Texas Project, Donor
- The True Texas Project began as the NE Tarrant Tea Party, but rebranded in 2019 after its founders made comments sympathizing with a mass shooter who murdered 23 Hispanic people at an El Paso Walmart in what he described as “a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas.” Several right-wing speakers pulled out of a conference celebrating True Texas Project’s 15th anniversary after The Texas Tribune publicized that its agenda asserted there is a “war on white America” and urged attendees to embrace Christian nationalism and the Great Replacement Theory. Dunn is one of the biggest donors to the group.
- First Liberty Institute, Boardmember (as of August 2026)
- First Liberty is a legal organization that takes cases related to their interpretation of religious liberty. It successfully represented military members rejecting vaccines, a nurse practitioner refusing to prescribe contraceptives, bakers refusing to bake a cake for a same-sex wedding, and a high school coach leading post-game prayers in the middle of a school football field after being asked by his employer to pray apart from students.
- Midland Classical Academy, Founder and current Board of Trustees member (as of August 2026)
- This non-accredited school is guided by 17 core beliefs, including that “no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he or she is born again.” The school also believes same-sex marriage is contrary to God’s plan, and that God assigns our genders.
- Texas Right to Life PAC, Donor
- Texas Right to Life is an anti-abortion group with close ties to Dunn-funded Empower Texans. The Texas Catholic Conference of Bishops, the Texans for Life Coalition, and the Texas Alliance for Life criticized Texas Right to Life for producing misleading attacks that portray conservative Republicans as unsupportive of anti-abortion efforts.
- Pipeline Media, Managing Director (as of 2020)
- Researchers linked Dunn to this network that appears on its surface to be a group of independent local news sites but promotes right-wing policies and candidates without disclosing its bias and funding, known as “pink-slime journalism.”
- Citizens for Self Governance, Board Member (as of August 2026)
- Citizens for Self Governance files amicus briefs in cases such as United States v. Skrmetti, a case about a ban on gender-affirming care for minors, and other anti-LGBTQIA+ cases. According to Texas Monthly, Citizens for Self Governance wants to give states the power to overturn federal laws, such as environmental regulations, and Supreme Court decisions on issues like same-sex marriage.
Follow the Money
For two decades, Dunn has donated tens of millions of dollars to push Texas politics to the far right. He has utilized both direct donations to politicians and donations to political action committees like Empower Texans.
His most lavish individual contributions have gone to:
Shelly Luther
Luther gained national attention for refusing to close her salon during the COVID pandemic. After two unsuccessful tries she was elected to the Texas House in 2024. A former teacher, Luther questioned why other kids should be punished for making fun of transgender children. In 2020, Dunn and his wife Terri gave Luther over $1.7 million. Since 2015, she has also received hundreds of thousands of dollars from two Dunn-funded PACs.
Tony Tinderholt
As a far-right state representative, Tinderholt filed a bill to criminalize abortion. He also hired a self-described Christian Nationalist who suggested publicly executing people who take children to drag events. He has received over $400,000 from Tim and Terri Dunn since 2015.
Bo French
As of May 2026, Dunn and Wilks had spent roughly $1 million to back French as Railroad Commissioner. French has said Republicans should more openly embrace Islamophobia and used a slur against Native Americans, saying they should be deported.
Bryan Slaton
In 2023, Bryan Slaton was the first member to be expelled from the Texas House since 1927. Slaton, a former youth minister, portrayed himself as a “family values” conservative according to The Texas Tribune. He was a prominent anti-LGBTQ lawmaker and described drag performers as “perverted adults.” He was removed for allegedly serving a young staffer alcohol in his apartment and having sexual contact with her. Slaton received $275,000 from the Dunns directly, and hundreds of thousands more from Dunn-affiliated organizations.
Dan Patrick
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s priorities have included transgender bathroom bans, the state’s abortion ban, and other anti-abortion legislation. He has said “there is no such thing as ‘separation of church and state’ in the U.S. Constitution.” Since 2015, Dunn and his wife have donated over $340,000 directly to Patrick. The group Texans for Dan Patrick received over $1 million from a Dunn-affiliated PAC.
Ken Paxton
Attorney General and Senate Candidate Ken Paxton has been indicted for securities fraud. Though not convicted, he was impeached for using his office to help a donor and friend. He led a legal effort to overturn the 2020 election. He investigated school districts over their bathroom policies and over Ten Commandments signs. Since 2015, Paxton has received $755,000 from the Dunns and $500,000 from a Dunn-funded organization.
Don Huffines
Huffines is a former state senator and current Texas Comptroller, a role which oversees the voucher program. In 2022, Huffines chose to not fire a staff member who made repeated white nationalist comments. The Dunns have contributed over $200,000 to him since 2015, and a Dunn-affiliated group has given him over $300 million.
Christi Craddick
As Railroad Commission Chair, Craddick earned millions of dollars, alongside her legislator father, from the industry they helped oversee. Since 2015, she has received $86,000 from the Dunns.
Bob Hall
Texas Monthly voted Sen. Bob Hall one of the worst legislators in 2021 in part for spreading COVID-19 misinformation. The magazine had earlier faulted him for defending a friend who announced he was a “white nationalist” and for his claims that comprehensive sex education was a tool used by abortion clinics to drum up business. The Dunns have donated at least $80,000 to Hall since 2015.
Mike Olcott
State Rep. Mike Olcott filed a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms. (A similar bill passed into law in 2025.) Since 2015, the Dunns have contributed $50,000 to his campaign.
Jonathan Stickland
The Texas Tribune describes this former state representative as an internet troll in his 20s, who “instead of growing out of it, as many do…would go on to make a career of it.” After serving eight years in the Texas legislature, he became the head of Dunn’s Defend Texas Liberty PAC. During his tenure there, he met with white supremacist Nick Fuentes for seven hours (see below). The Dunns, since 2015, have contributed $214,000 to Stickland’s campaigns. Dunn’s group Empower Texas contributed another $267,000.
Controversies
Dunn Rejects Christian Nationalist Label, but…
Though Dunn rejects the “Christian Nationalist” label, it was widely reported that he once told Joe Strauss, the first Jewish Texas House Speaker, that only Christians should be in leadership positions. Texas Monthly notes that he professes our democracy must be brought into line with biblical laws, and that evangelicals in particular have been given authority to act in the political sphere by God.
A West Texas oilman, Dunn once told a journalist with The Times that oil deposits were created 4,000 years ago by God, not 200 million years ago, as is generally accepted scientific fact.
Dunn is a major donor to the True Texas Project, which recently hosted a pro-Christian Nationalism conference.
Funder of Groups with Links to White Supremacy
In 2023, former state representative Jonathan Stickland, while serving as president of Dunn-funded Defend Texas Liberty PAC, met for 7 hours with avowed white supremecist Nick Fuentes. Stickland, who received hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations from Dunn during his time in the Texas House, eventually resigned amid vocal criticism from fellow Republicans. Dunn called the meeting a “serious blunder.” Yet it was reported that the Fuentes meeting was not the only tie between Defend Texas Liberty and white supremacy. Dunn is a major donor to the True Texas Project, which promotes the racist Great Replacement Theory.
Socialism Fear-mongering
During the pandemic, he co-wrote a letter urging the President to help the United States reopen, claiming that ongoing shutdowns were being used by Trump’s political opponents “to steer the country toward socialism.”
Scorecards: Creating a Legislature More Extreme Than the Average Texas Republican
“They told you point blank: if you don’t vote the way we tell you, we’re going to score against you,” said Bennett Ratliff, a Republican former state representative from Dallas County. “And if you don’t make a good score, we’re going to run against you. It was not a thumb on the scale—it was flat extortion.” This tactic ousted conservative Republicans who failed to score perfectly, for example because they voted against vouchers. It also led to some conservative veterans of the legislature retiring rather than face multiple bruising primaries.
Dunn Described as Oligarch by Texas Senator and Breitbart Editor
In 2022, CNN produced a documentary called Deep in the Pockets of Texas about the control over Republican legislators in Texas by Dunn and another West Texas billionaire, Farris Wilks. State Senator Kel Seliger described their all-or-nothing approach as, “You’re either owned, or you’re not owned.” Of the impact the two billionaires have on Texas politics, he said, “It is a Russian-style oligarchy, pure and simple. Really, really wealthy people who are willing to spend a lot of money to get policy made the way they want it – and they get it.”
Dunn drew similar criticism from the far-right publication Breitbart. Its Texas editor said, “It’s almost like a Russian oligarchy situation where you have a billionaire who doesn’t even live here choosing who’s my leader because the guy didn’t kiss his ring.”
Vouchers Proponent
“He made clear to me that the most important thing to him was public school vouchers,” Representative Kel Seliger said of his first meeting with Dunn. Dun would become an outspoken critic of Seliger, who, despite otherwise taking very conservative stances, rejected vouchers legislation.
Paxton-aligned Group Makes Large Donation Ahead of Paxton’s Impeachment Trial
Dunn-funded Defend Texas Liberty PAC donated a total of $3 million to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick in June of 2023. Around the same time, the Senate was voting on rules for the trial of impeached Attorney General Ken Paxton; a trial over which Patrick would preside. The organization’s director faced questions about whether the donations were meant to influence the outcome of the trial, given that Patrick was not up for reelection until 2026, he already had a war chest of $16 million, and he had never received such a large donation from Defend Texas Liberty. The director said the donations were given in support of Patrick’s efforts during the previous legislative session. At the time, Defend Texas Liberty had been a vocal critic of the impeachment efforts and vowed revenge in the form of primaries for Republican House members who voted to impeach.
