| March 30, 2000
March Money Madness
Texas Supreme Court justices again are raising more special-interest money
than necessary—even though their own polls found that:
-
83 percent of Texans say judges are influenced by campaign contributions;
and
-
Just 1 percent of attorneys in Texas say campaign contributions have no
influence on judicial opinions.
| Candidate |
War Chest |
$ Ratio |
Vote |
| Valorie Davenport |
$7,650
|
|
36%
|
| Nathan Hecht |
$554,197
|
72:1
|
65%
|
|
| Rod Gorman |
$515
|
|
42%
|
| Alberto Gonzales |
$538,967
|
1,047:1
|
58%
|
Incumbents Nathan Hecht and Alberto Gonzales raised $1.1 million for
the recent Republican primary. This was 134 times the $8,165 raised by
their opponents—who both lost by margins of more than 15 percentage points.
The Biggest Special-Interest Checks
| Amount |
Source |
Recipient |
| $20,000 |
Texans for Lawsuit Reform |
Gonzales |
| $14,000 |
Hughes & Luce |
Gonzales |
| $10,000 |
Hughes & Luce |
Hecht |
Though the incumbents did not need overwhelming funding advantages to
win, they kept on raising special-interest money. Justice Hecht took 75
percent of his war chest from lawyers as well as tort interests affiliated
with Texans for Lawsuit Reform and the Texas Civil Justice League. Justice
Gonzales took 62 percent of his cash from these interests.
Texans for Lawsuit Reform wrote the biggest single check: $20,000 to
Justice Gonzales. Corporate defense firm Hughes & Luce wrote five-digit
checks to both incumbents. •
|
March Dollar Docket
Cases heard by the Texas Supreme Court in Marchy and the corresponding
contributions to justices from the parties and/or attorneys.
|
March 1, 2000
|
| Sylvester Turner v. |
$3,500
|
| KTRK Television |
$83,650
|
|
|
| Rocor International v. |
$0
|
| National Union Fire Ins. |
$14,400
|
|
|
|
March 22, 2000
|
| Corpus Christi Diocese v. |
$72,813
|
| Dewhurst |
$51,650
|
|
|
| Stringer v. |
$0
|
| Cendant Mortgage Corp. |
$0
|
|
|
| Payne v. |
$5,200
|
| Galen Hospital Corp |
$18,650
|
|
|
| Total for March: |
$249,863
|
|
|
