Controversial Religious Right Group, Free Pac, Has Cozy Relationship With Candidates Across State
March 8, 2002Republican office holders and candidates across Texas have denounced the extremist Religious Right group, Free Enterprise PAC, for its mailers targeting moderate Republicans with primary opponents backed by the Religious Right. Governor Rick Perry called the mailings “divisive and unacceptable.” Lt. Governor Ratliff denounced FreePAC and the group’s financial supporters.
However, FreePAC’s contributions directly to 18 legislative candidates across the state have gone relatively unnoticed.
Campaign finance reports on file at the Texas Ethics Commission reveal that 18 House and Senate candidates have received campaign contributions from FreePAC in 2001-2002. These candidates include: (FreePAC’s conservative candidate rating in parentheses for candidates with Republican Primary opponents)
H.D. 2 – Dan Flynn, $5000 (100%)
H.D. 4 – Betty Brown, $1000
H.D. 15 – Jeff Van Fleet, $2500
H.D. 20 – Dan Gattis, $2500 (57%)
H.D. 24 – Larry Taylor, $5000 (100%)
H.D. 56 – Walt Fair, $1000 (80%)
H.D. 60 – Charles Luke, $5000 (100%)
H.D. 66 – Fred Moses, $2000 (100%)
H.D. 70 – Ken Paxton, $15,000 (89%)
H.D. 72 – Scott Campbell, $5000 (100%)
H.D. 89 – Jodie Laubenberg, $2500 (100%)
H.D. 96 – Bill Zedler, $2500 (91%)
H.D. 107 – Bill Keffer, $2500 (100%)
H.D. 128 – Tom Butler, $5000 (78%)
H.D. 130 – Corbin Van Arsdale, $5000 (100%)
H.D. 134 – Mark Cole, $2500 (89%)
H.D. 138 – Dwayne Bohac, $2500 (91%)
S.D. 10 – Karen Lundelius, $20,000 (100%)
Several State Representative candidates made donations in return from their campaign funds to help fill the FreePAC coffers in 2001-2002. These include:
Dan Flynn Campaign Fund, $2000
Fred Moses Campaign Fund, $2000
Bill Zedler Campaign Fund, $2000
For information about other donors to FreePAC, go to: http://www.tpj.org/Lobby_Watch/freepac.html.
