Governor Greg Abbott made headlines recently with his endorsement of Susanna Dokupil, the Houston-area businesswoman challenging incumbent State Representative Sarah Davis. While Abbott has gotten involved in primary races before, it’s usually to give his stamp of approval to incumbent legislators he believes should return to Austin. Rarely, if ever, does a sitting governor endorse against …

Texas House Speaker Joe Straus’ recent announcement that he will not seek reelection in 2018 naturally brings up questions for both the political insider and the casual observer. Who will be the next Speaker of the Texas House? Will one of Straus’ close allies take the reins? What sort of say will Democrats have? How …

Yes, ten million. That’s how much money Texas Speaker of the House Joe Straus has in the bank. As of the most recent reports, Speaker Straus has approximately $10,039,844 in his campaign account. Straus announced today he will not seek re-election as Speaker or to the Texas House of Representatives. More than 75 county GOP …

To prevent the appearance (or reality) of politicians getting paid to vote a certain way, they are not allowed to accept campaign donations during the biennial regular legislative sessions. But it’s not uncommon for political donations to pour into campaign accounts after a legislative session. As usual, legislators raised vast amounts of money from individual …

Would you be surprised to find out the Chief of Staff for one of the most conservative governors in the nation gave money to a group dedicated to helping elect Democrats? We were. At Transparency Texas, we routinely examine the political giving (and taking) of elected officials. And for good reason – these men and …