Texas Lawmakers Go Out of District

News Release

Texans for Public Justice, 609 W. 18th Street, Suite E, Austin, TX 78701, PH:(512) 472-9770, FAX:(512) 472-9830 E-Mail: tpj@tpj.org , http://www.tpj.org

For Immediate Release:
June 26, 2002

Contact: Craig McDonald, Andrew Wheat
512-472-9770

Texas Lawmakers Go Out of District
For 75 Percent of All Campaign Dollars

Just 9 Legislators Got More Than Half of Their Money In-District

Austin, TX: Texas lawmakers went outside of their home districts for 75 percent of the $42.5 million that they raised for the 2002 election, according to a new Texans for Public Justice analysis¹. The state’s 150 House members raised $24.7 million, getting just 21 percent of it from constituents in the districts they were elected to represent². Representing much larger districts, Texas’ 31 senators raised $17.8 million, of which just 30 percent came from within the recipient’s district.

**Legislators' In-District Money**
**(2002 Election)**
	House Members		Senate Members
In-District Money (%)	No.	Percent	No.	Percent
< 10%	43	29%	2	6%
10%-20%	44	29%	6	19%
20%-30%	21	14%	13	42%
30%-40%	22	15%	6	19%
40%-50%	14	9%	1	3%
> 50%	6	4%	3	10%
TOTALS:	150	100%	31	100%

“Texans who lack a voice in the capitol will not be shocked to learn that 95 percent of our lawmakers go outside their home districts for most of their campaign money,” said Texans for Public Justice Director Craig McDonald. “This system has two classes of constituents—those who vote and those who pay for the campaigns. Those who pay get the access.”

Just six Representatives (4 percent of the House) and three Senators (10 percent of that chamber) raised more than half of their money in-district. Yet one in four lawmakers (two Senators and 43 Representatives) raised more than 90 percent of their money outside their home district. Rep. Miguel Wise, D-Weslaco, did not report a single in-district contribution. The contributions of Rep. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston, could not be analyzed because—in violation of state law—he failed to report his donors’ zip codes. Five other House members (including House Speaker Tom Craddick and predecessor Pete Laney) raised just 1 percent of their money in-district.

The zip codes of just 10 business districts in Austin, Houston, Dallas and Fort Worth accounted for 36 percent of all lawmaker money. In fact, Austin’s premiere lobby zip code, 78701, accounted for 19 percent of all the money that lawmakers raised.

Given the power of the Austin lobby, it is not surprising that the two lawmakers who raised the greatest share of money in-district represent lucrative central Austin districts. Austin Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos, D, raised 70 percent of his money in-district, while 65 percent of Democratic Rep. Elliott Naishtat’s money came from his Austin district.

In the House, Republicans got 22 percent of their money in-district compared to 20 percent for House Democrats. In the Senate, in-district money accounted for 29 percent of all Republican money and 34 percent of Democratic money.

This analysis applied here grants legislators the benefit of the doubt. If any part of a zip code fell within a lawmaker’s district, every donation from that zip code was treated as in-district. For in-district figures on every Texas lawmaker, see http://www.tpj.org/press_releases/outofdistrict_append.html

¹ Texas law does not require candidates to itemize the source of contributions of $50 or less; this study could not and did not analyze contributions of unknown origins.
² By comparison, in-district money accounted for 20 percent of the $14.6 million that House members raised for the 1996 election (see TPJ’s Mortgaged House, January 1998).

In-District Texas House Money

**House's Best In-District Fundraisers**
Recipient	Dist.	All Money Raised	% In- Dist.
Elliott Naishtat (D)	49	$111,480	65%
Daniel Branch (R)	108	$419,032	63%
Eduardo Rodriguez (D)	51	$93,001	57%
Ismael 'Kino' Flores (D)	36	$60,365	56%
Geanie Morrison (R)	30	$96,155	54%
Carter Casteel (R)	73	$291,141	52%
Elizabeth Jones (R)	121	$236,025	50%
Rob Eissler (R)	15	$182,365	49%
Myra Crownover (R)	64	$73,186	47%
Vicki Truitt (R)	98	$155,597	46%

**House's Worst In-District Fundraisers**
Recipient	Dist.	All Money Raised	% In- Dist.
Miguel Wise (D)	39	$48,950	0%
Ron Wilson (D)	131	$52,700	1%
Robert Puente (D)	119	$98,201	1%
Senfronia Thompson (D)	141	$251,075	1%
James 'Pete' Laney (D)	85	$832,176	1%
Tom Craddick (R)	82	$1,095,536	1%
Lois Kolkhorst (R)	13	$63,546	2%
Joe Nixon (R)	133	$52,290	2%
Harold Dutton (D)	142	$61,250	2%
Timoteo Garza(D)	80	$48,100	2%

Note: Rep. Kevin Bailey's money could not be
analyzed because he failed to report donor zip
codes.

In-District Texas Senate Money

**Senate's Best In-District Fundraisers**
Recipient	Dist.	All Money Raised	% In- Dist.
Gonzalo Barrientos (D)	14	$1,067,283	70%
Teel Bivins (R)	31	$451,700	67%
E. Jeff Wentworth(R)	25	$1,125,451	58%
Juan Hinojosa (D)	20	$1,014,123	40%
Craig Estes (R)	30	$1,110,678	38%
Todd Staples (R)	3	$346,992	33%
Kip Averitt (R)	22	$1,085,347	33%
Troy Fraser (R)	24	$502,480	32%
Rodney Ellis (D)	13	$472,155	32%
Royce West (D)	23	$404,708	30%

**Senate's Worst In-District Fundraisers**
Recipient	Dist.	All Money Raised	% In- Dist.
Robert Deuell (R)	2	$1,056,661	5%
Frank Madla (D)	19	$331,351	9%
James Jackson (R)	11	$246,534	10%
Chris Harris (R)	9	$317,661	14%
Eduardo Lucio (D)	27	$328,073	16%
Kenneth Armbrister (D)	18	$539,094	17%
Stephen Ogden (R)	5	$251,773	18%
Kenneth Brimer (R)	10	$725,860	19%
Kyle Janek (R)	17	$1,088,416	20%
Leticia Van De Putte (D)	26	$354,143	20%

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Texans for Public Justice is a non-profit, non-partisan research and advocacy
organization that tracks the role of money in Texas politics.

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