Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, when Texas and 13 other states host primary elections. The Democratic presidential primary candidates have been getting all the attention, but you’ll also find other national, state, and local candidates on the ballot. Transparency Texas can help you make informed decisions about the Texas state-level elections. Our site is your one-stop search tool for all Texas House Reps and Senators, state-wide elections like the Texas Railroad Commissioners’ race, and Texas judges. Find out who’s giving them money and how they’re spending it.

At Transparency Texas, our mission is to provide you the answers you need about the money in Texas politics. Rhetoric can be deceiving, but the money often provides a clearer picture of a candidate’s allegiances and priorities. Here are some simple ways you can use Transparency Texas before you vote to see who’s really on your side:

Start by searching any candidate’s name, or scroll through a list of all Texas candidates.

Look at the pie chart representing the candidate’s contributions.

The “entities” portion represents money from PACs and other organizations. Having lots of donations from entities and fewer from individuals, for example, can mean a candidate is more loyal to Austin PACs and lobbyists than to the voters in his or her district.

Check out the list of the candidate’s donors.

It can be very telling to see who is backing someone. Candidates generally aren’t “bought” by donors. Rather, donors tend to support candidates who share their ideology. This means the donor list can indicate how others think the candidate will vote. Basically, the donor list tells you who is on the candidate’s “team.” Want to go deeper? Click on the donor name to see all the other candidates supported by that donor.

Pay special attention to the PACs listed on the donor page.

You should expect to see more PAC support going to incumbent candidates rather than newcomers/challengers because PACs generally want to curry favor with those in power. But what does it mean when you see a PAC on a candidate’s donor list?

We studied the most politically active PACs in Texas and broken them down into categories according to the type of candidates they typically support. We used Dr. Mark Jones’ nonpartisan ranking of Texas legislators to put politicians in categories, and then we examined which PACs typically support which category of politician. We found that PACs had political tribes, just like politicians. There are exceptions to every rule, but once you understand the political tribes of PACs, you can start to draw informed conclusions about the likely political leanings of the candidates they support. 

Conservative Republican PACs – Texas Right to Life, Texas Homeschool Coalition, Texas Values, Young Conservatives of Texas, and Empower Texans.

Moderate/Liberal Republican PACs – Texans for Lawsuit Reform, Associated Republicans of Texas, Texas Alliance for Life, and Texas Leads.

Liberal Republican/Democrat PACs – Texas Realtors PAC, Texas Medical Association, and Texas Forever Forward 

Democratic PACs – ActBlue Texas, Texas Trial Lawyers Association, Border Health PAC, Texas NOW PAC, and Annie’s List

Browse the “Payees” tab on the candidate’s page to see where he or she is spending their campaign donations.

Expect to see consultants, lawyers and campaign staff, but sometimes you’ll find interesting personal expenditures. While it’s legal for a candidate to spend this money on campaign expenses, travel, and living expenses while in Austin, some candidates tend to push the limits. If a candidate isn’t a good steward of their campaign contributions, can you trust them with your tax dollars? Use the data to draw your own conclusions about this and other common political narratives.

Other resources

Ballotpedia.org offers a useful Sample Ballot Look-Up Tool. Find polling locations here. Polls are open tomorrow from 7 a.m.  7 p.m.

Get informed, go vote, and then join us after the primaries as we begin our focus on the November general elections.