One national Democratic super PAC is saying it plans to pump $15 million into what they see as key state-level legislative races around the country—$6.2 million of which is projected to flow into Texas House elections.
Forward Majority’s Purpose
Forward Majority is an organization self-described as focusing “exclusively on states that have the biggest impact on gerrymandering and voter suppression.” In other words, targeting key state-level races where the outcome is likely to affect redistricting.
Redistricting is the process of redrawing the boundary lines of state districts to more accurately represent the population, and it will ultimately play a huge role in the makeup of the legislatures on the state and federal level.
The Texas House candidates who prevail this November will have an outsized impact on the political landscape in Texas for the next ten years. In the wake of redistricting, Texas stands to add two, possibly three, Congressional seats to its current count of 36, depending on the results of the 2020 Census. Redistricting is one of the most hot-button issues when it comes to state-level races in 2020, and Forward Majority is one of several PACs pumping money into this battle.
What are the numbers so far?
As of June 30, reports show that no money from Forward Majority’s Texas PAC has gone directly to support any individual campaigns. The $973,000 in reported contributions so far is all from their national arm, and has been used mostly to pay consultants and on independent expenditures like media and ad buys. We’ll know more when the next reports are released in early October — 30 days from election day — but, according to the group itself, these are the 18 Republican seats in the Texas House that Forward Majority intends to target with that $6.2 million:
Targeted Texas House Races
- House District 26 (open seat): retiring State Rep. Rick Miller, Sugar Land
- House District 28: State Rep. Gary Gates, Richmond
- House District 29: State Rep. Ed Thompson, Pearland
- House District 54: State Rep. Brad Buckley, Killeen
- House District 64: State Rep. Lynn Stucky, Denton
- House District 66: State Rep. Matt Shaheen, Plano
- House District 67: State Rep. Jeff Leach, Plano
- House District 92 (open seat): retiring State Rep. Jonathan Stickland, Bedford
- House District 93: State Rep. Matt Krause, Fort Worth
- House District 94: State Rep. Tony Tinderholt, Arlington
- House District 96 (open seat): retiring State Rep. Bill Zedler, Arlington
- House District 97: State Rep. Craig Goldman, Fort Worth
- House District 108: State Rep. Morgan Meyer, Dallas
- House District 112: State Rep. Angie Chen Button, Richardson
- House District 121: State Rep. Steve Allison, San Antonio
- House District 126: State Rep. Sam Harless, Spring
- House District 134: State Rep. Sarah Davis, West University Place
- House District 138 (open seat): retiring State Rep. Dwayne Bohac, Houston
Transparency USA empowers you to find your own answers in state-level politics. Once the next reports are released in early October, every dime spent by Forward Majority Action Texas — along with all the other money in Texas politics — will be at your fingertips . Join us to be notified when the latest data becomes available.