It’s pretty common to see a political talking head grandstanding about how a certain big money donor is trying to use his money to force his will on Texas. But a quick look at the money shows a different story. In the last election cycle, the top eight donors collectively gave a little more than …

We’ve promised to explain how political power and political money, particularly big dollar PAC money, is divided in Texas into four tribes. Here’s how we did it: To go beyond the typical Republic vs. Democrat narrative and understand the real story, we took a look at key votes that forced legislators to reveal their true …

The Texas political scene is influenced by more than just the usual two political parties (Democrats and Republicans). It is influenced by four voting blocs or political tribes: Democrats and three groups of Republicans: Liberal Republicans, Moderate Republicans, and Conservative Republicans. Dr. Mark Jones, a well-respected political scientist at Rice University, recognized this political divide …

Texas legislators fall into four political tribes – Democrats, Liberal Republicans, Moderate Republicans, and Conservative Republicans. Interestingly, we found that the big money in Texas politics can also be categorized into the same four tribes. We examined the giving of the most prominent PACs in Texas and found that they consistently gave their largest gifts …

Tribe: Democrat The Texas Trial Lawyers Association (TTLA) is the go-to PAC for plaintiff’s attorneys looking to make an impact on public policy. Because Republicans have held political majorities in Texas for more than two decades, trial lawyers have had a hard time carving out a niche from which to conduct their work. TTLA exists …