Texans for Judicial Integrity

This article is Part 4 of a four-part series demonstrating how the money in a lobby sector can impact state politics and legislation. Read the first three articles here, here, and here.

Cries for “Campaign Finance Reform” come from both sides of the political aisle. It’s popular for candidates and interest groups to claim that we need to “get money out of politics” — and that limiting the amount of money citizens can donate to politicians and political causes is the way to do it.

The Texas Election Code prohibits incorporated entities – that includes businesses as well as non-profits – from donating to candidates or to political committees that may, in turn, donate to candidates. But other types of businesses, such as partnerships and LLC’s, are generally not subject to that prohibition. So, for example, a review of a judicial candidate’s campaign finances will often show donations from law firms which are organized as limited partnerships. This is allowed under Texas law.