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Most states have some form of campaign contribution limits, but not so in Texas. Despite calls for caps, the issue hasn't been put up to vote.

While President-elect Barack Obama's march to victory was heralded by some as a testament to the power of small-dollar campaign donors, the 2008 elections in Texas showed that plenty of power still lies with those who bring the big bucks.

Interest groups lined up to support candidates for the Texas House of Representatives with five- and six-figure checks from their most generous donors. The candidates use the money to spread their campaign messages.

Such lavish giving would not be allowed in campaigns for federal offices. Contributors to federal campaigns for president and Congress usually cannot give more than $4,600 to a candidate or $10,000 to a political action committee per election cycle. (A candidate who ends up in a runoff can accept an additional $2,300 per donor.)

Most states have some form of campaign contribution limits, but no such limit exists in Texas. As a result, interest groups that would be limited to $10,000 at the federal level might collect $1 million or more from a single donor and spread it around the state.

Among the biggest contributors to those groups:

• Fred Baron , a Dallas trial lawyer who died in late October, gave $3.1 million to the Texas Democratic Trust , which he set up to support Democratic candidates and causes.
• Houston Texans owner Bob McNair gave $500,000 to Texans for Lawsuit Reform , which promotes limits on jury awards, and $100,000 to Stars Over Texas, which supports Republican candidates for the Texas House.
• Charles Butt , chairman of the H-E-B grocery chain, gave $785,000 to the Texas Parent PAC , a group that opposes school vouchers and supports what it considers pro-education policies, such as more spending on schools.

The PAC supports Democrats and Republicans.

"On the Democratic side and the Republican side, the folks who raise the most money have the greatest access," said state Rep. Mike Villarreal, a San Antonio Democrat who has pushed for limits on campaign contributions. "And some folks may argue with that. What I don't think you can argue with is the perception problem, and perception is often reality. If the average Texan believes their contribution into a campaign is not going to be drowned out by individual large donors, they're more likely to participate."

How it's done in Texas

In Texas, money from big donors often flows through political action committees that dole it out to the candidates in the toughest election fights.

For example, among the donors to Texans for Insurance Reform were three law firms that contributed a combined $930,000. The PAC used that money to support a variety of candidates, including Diana Maldonado , a Round Rock Democrat who on Tuesday captured the House seat of retiring Republican Mike Krusee. Texans for Insurance Reform spent $74,000 to send out mailings supporting Maldonado.

Meanwhile, Bryan Daniel, the Republican candidate whom Maldonado defeated, received $258,000 in cash and in-kind help from Texans for Lawsuit Reform.

In addition to the $500,000 it got from McNair, Texans for Lawsuit Reform took in a combined $1.35 million from Dallas billionaire Harold Simmons, West Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens and Houston homebuilder Bob Perry over the past two years.

Maldonado and Daniel also did plenty of fundraising on their own. She raised $760,000, and he raised $920,000.

But Maldonado won by 847 votes, so every dollar mattered.

Sometimes big money flows directly to candidates. Perry this year gave $50,000 to state Sen. Kim Brimer, R-Fort Worth, while Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn gave the same amount to Brimer's Democratic opponent, Wendy Davis, who beat Brimer.

Each contribution was more than 10 times what any single donor can give a candidate for president.

Villarreal and Rep. Mark Strama, D-Austin, have pushed in recent years for a $100,000 cap on the total amount of contributions that any one donor can make to candidates and political committees in a two-year period.

The donor would be allowed to give all of that money to one candidate or spread it across several candidates and PACs.

Committee leaders in the House have refused to bring up their measures for votes.

"Any time you try to do political reform, you're trying to change the system that by definition has benefited people who are being asked to change it," Strama said. "If they hadn't benefited under that system, they wouldn't be here."

New power brokers

Of course, contribution limits only go so far. Donors win favor with presidential candidates these days by rounding up checks from other donors, a process known as bundling.

"The bundlers are kind of the new power brokers of this campaign," said Mary Boyle of the watchdog group Common Cause. "As we see in almost every election, people find ways to give the big chunks of money. The ultimate solution is public financing."

Michael Sullivan of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility, a group that advocates limited government and uses a PAC to support like-minded candidates, said contribution limits aren't necessary.

"Freedom of speech should not be limited to someone who buys their ink by the barrel," Sullivan said, referring to the news media. "In Texas, we have the best possible campaign finance system because it's very transparent; you know who's giving, what they're giving, what they do for a living."

Strama said he did not rely on big-dollar donations in his re-election campaign this year because he did not need to. But as long as the current rules are in place, he said, he won't hesitate to accept six-figure contributions if an opponent does so.

"You just don't take a switchblade into a gunfight," Strama said. "But the rules should create a level playing field where neither of us can do it."

James Embry (jembry@statesman.com; 202- 887-8329), Austin American-Stateman
11/10/2008

Source: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/region/legislature/stories/11/10/1110legemoney.html  

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