The latest campaign finance reports reveal that the Texas Democrats who broke quorum collected $491,000 between their July 12 departure and the end of the first special session. Over 25 percent of that money came from out-of-state donors.

For the last two years, the most fiercely fought contest in Texas politics has been the Democrats’ effort to take control of the Texas House. Buoyed by flipping 12 seats to their column in 2018 and believing they could ride a demographic wave to increased power, Democrats and their PACs spent tens of millions of dollars in this effort. 

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 stripes. Several political organizations publish legislative score cards which rank legislators on votes important to their cause. Texas Right to Life, for example, scores legislators on votes related to life issues. There are also non-partisan scorecards, such as the liberal-conservative index compiled by Dr. Mark Jones of Rice University. While these are instructive, often a legislator’s final vote doesn’t reveal his or her true intentions.