Every two years, Texas lawmakers gather in Austin for 140 days to do their work. The 86th Session of the Texas Legislature convened at noon today. Here’s what you need to know: Texas politicians cannot accept donations during the session.To avoid the appearance (and reality) of lawmakers being bribed for their votes, Texas legislators and statewide office holders (such as the Governor …

*This article was updated April 2019, to include all transactions from the 2018 Texas election cycle — January 1, 2017 – December 8, 2018 (the end date for the most recent reports on file with the Texas Ethics Commission).  These last few weeks we’ve examined the money in 2018 Texas elections, including a look at …

Discover the top 10 Political Action Committees (PACs) that spent the most on the 2018 Texas elections. 1.  Texas Association of REALTORS PAC ($35,867,910): The Realtors are the powerhouse of money in Texas politics. Yes, you might be surprised to find that your realtor’s professional dues support one of the most powerful — and certainly the most …

Meet Texas’s top 10 donors of the 2018 election season. Each of these heavy hitters has given more than a million dollars to Texas candidates and PACs since August 20, 2017. And these numbers may tell only part of the story. The totals don’t include any political donations these men and women have given to …

Money drives politics, but it’s often hard to understand. With contributions to candidates and PACs in the hundreds of millions, it’s easy for political insiders to throw around big numbers to intimidate citizens. Without context, all those commas and zeros are next-to-impossible to interpret meaningfully. Most people don’t have time to dig into reports on …