[ Report Home | Previous Page | Next Page ] Texas PACs 2000 Election Cycle Minor Ideological & Single-Issue PACs:  $708,542

Sixty-six Minor Ideological and Single-Issue PACs spent $708,542 in 2000, up 22 percent from 1998. Although this sector covers such emotional, hot-button issues as guns, homosexuality and abortion, these PACs do not pack much financial wallop. Just two Minor subcategories spent more than $100,000 (Minorities and Environment).

Twenty Minorities & Women PACs spent $185,896, led by the Baptist Ministers Association of Houston, an affiliate of the historically black National Baptist Convention. Next came two gay-rights PACs: Progressive Voters in Action and the Stonewall Gay & Lesbian Democratic Club.¹⁸  The 10 Environment PACs spent $169,021, led by the Texas Sport PAC,¹⁹  which promotes sport fish supplies in the Gulf of Mexico, and the Texas League of Conservation Voters.
 
 

Fists Full of Dollars Two small PACs gave almost exclusively to local politicos who have fought their opponents with their fists. Liberty Hill PAC ($7,645) was the legal defense fund of developer and Liberty Hill councilman Gary Spivey. In July 2000, Spivey assaulted a citizen who advocated curbs on local development.21  The Committee for Safe Streets ($6,415) backed Grayson County Attorney Joe Brown, who was elected in November 2000—the day after he brawled with his opponent’s brother on the streets of Sherman.22

Eighteen Local Government PACs spent $89,916. For Our Children’s Future aggregated small contributions for Corpus school board candidates. Local residents and boating interests gave to the Highland Lakes PAC to protect local water resources. Voters United to Preserve Flower Mound supported city council incumbents who are trying to constrain break-neck development in this affluent Dallas suburb.²⁰

Five Miscellaneous PACs spent $84,330. Dominating this category were two PACs opposing a November 2000 initiative to spend public funds on a $175 million stadium for privately owned Houston sports teams. Campaign for Houston transferred all of its money to The Final Answer is “No.”²³  This PAC, which did not register, spawned yet another successor called the Metropolitan Coalition of Organizations ($3,442).²⁴

Two Green Party PACs made the only expenditures by minor political parties in 2000. The Green Party of Texas accounted for almost all of this money, which it spent on a petition drive to get its candidates on the Texas ballot.²⁵

Four Gun PACs spent $50,740. Pro-gun PACs accounted for most of this money: the Texas State Rifle Association, the National Rifle Association and the Texas Gun Dealers Association ($2,750). Texans Against Gun Violence was the sole gun-control PAC.

Four Tax Revolt PACs spent $31,688. The Homeowner-Taxpayer Association of Bexar County opposed San Antonio’s May 2000 light-rail initiative. Its top donors were highway construction interests, including asphalt contractor Tim Word and Bennett Feinsilber, the retired president of a highway construction firm. Midlands’ Citizens for Fiscal Responsibility fights local tax proposals.

Three Abortion PACs spent $21,612, led by Planned Parenthood of Houston & Southeast Texas and the Texas Abortion Rights and Reproductive Action League ($5,111). The embryonic Richard H. Carr Pro-Life, Pro-Family PAC of Watauga, Texas spent $243.