THE WEST TEXAS BILLIONAIRE
BUYING TEXAS
Texas’ most extreme politics are driven by a billionaire from West Texas and a group of PACs he supports. Here’s how he's doing it.
WILKS IS BUYING POLITICIANS TO PUSH A RADICAL POLITICAL AGENDA AT ODDS WITH MOST TEXANS’ VALUES
Wilks, his brother, and their PACs have spent $6 million in direct contributions to 2018 Texas Legislature House and Senate campaigns as of July 2018
THESE POLITICIANS HAVE RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING SHARES OF THEIR 2018 CAMPAIGN DONATIONS FROM THE WILKSES AND THEIR PACS
Sen. Bob Hall
SD-2 Rockwall
Sen. Konni Burton
SD-10 Colleyville
Angela Paxton
SD-8 Plano
Sen. Don Huffines
SD-16 Dallas
Pete Flores
SD-19 Pleasanton
Rep. Cole Hefner
HD-5 Mount Pleasant
Rep. Matt Shaheen
HD-66 Plano
Rep. Matt Schaefer
HD-6 Tyler
Rep. Jeff Leach
HD-67 Plano
Rep. Matt Krause
HD-93 Fort Worth
Rep. Tony Tinderholt
HD-94 Arlington
Deanna Metzger
HD-107 Garland
Jonathan Boos
HD-113 Richardson
Steve Toth
HD-15 The Woodlands
Rep. Mike Lang
HD-60 Granbury
Rep. Kyle Biedermann
HD-73 Fredericksburg
Rep. Jonathan Stickland
HD-92 Bedford
Rep. Bill Zedler
HD-96 Arlington
Jared Patterson
HD-106 Frisco
Lisa Luby Ryan
HD-114 Dallas
Rep. Matt Rinaldi
HD-115 Farmers Branch
Rep. Valoree Swanson
HD-150 Spring
Rep. Briscoe Cain
HD-128 Richardson
Attorney General Ken Paxton
$2,051,000
since 2014
(including $1m loan, 2014 AG primary runoff)
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick
$1,458,000
since 2014
(including $300k loan, 2014 Lt. Gov. primary runoff)
The percentages above are calculated as publicly reported funds received from Farris & Dan Wilks and their PACs as of October 2018, as a percentage of overall funds raised in the 2018 campaign cycle.
These numbers will be updated after each new campaign filing deadline.