The 149 representatives who filed financial disclosures in early 2007 spent a total of $4.5 million in that period, or an average of $31,048 apiece. There is no way to know what Rep. Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio) spent. By early January 2008, he still had not filed his July 2007 campaign disclosure, as required by law.
The House Top-25 Spenders
| Rank |
House Member |
Party |
Dist. |
Total Spending
Jan.-June, 2007 |
1 |
Craddick, Tom |
R |
82 |
$453,598 |
2 |
O'Day, Mike |
R |
29 |
$140,266 |
3 |
King, Phillip |
R |
61 |
$115,138 |
4 |
Flores, Kino |
D |
36 |
$110,267 |
5 |
Raymond, Richard |
D |
42 |
$100,126 |
6 |
Pitts, Jim |
R |
10 |
$77,270 |
7 |
Miller, Sid |
R |
59 |
$72,090 |
8 |
Paxton, Ken |
R |
70 |
$70,650 |
9 |
Geren, Charlie |
R |
99 |
$68,777 |
10 |
Branch, Dan |
R |
108 |
$67,299 |
11 |
Lucio III, Eddie |
D |
38 |
$60,779 |
12 |
Coleman, Garnet |
D |
147 |
$59,170 |
13 |
Gallego, Pete |
D |
74 |
$58,482 |
14 |
Rose, Patrick |
D |
45 |
$57,798 |
15 |
Woolley, Beverly |
R |
136 |
$52,367 |
16 |
Keffer, James |
R |
60 |
$51,532 |
17 |
Dunnam, Jim |
D |
57 |
$51,496 |
18 |
Davis, John |
R |
129 |
$51,450 |
19 |
Isett, Carl |
R |
84 |
$48,587 |
20 |
Turner, Sylvester |
D |
139 |
$48,332 |
21 |
Straus, Joe |
R |
121 |
$47,843 |
22 |
Goolsby, Tony |
R |
102 |
$47,247 |
23 |
Eiland, Craig |
D |
23 |
$46,862 |
24 |
Krusee, Mike |
R |
52 |
$44,232 |
25 |
Gattis, Dan |
R |
20 |
$43,477 |
| |
TOTAL: |
|
|
$2,045,135 |
Two atypical members led political spending in the House. The $453,598 spent by Speaker Tom Craddick accounted for one in 10 political dollars that House members spent in early 2007. After Midland-area voters reelected Craddick in November 2006 his House colleagues reelected him as speaker. Yet the 2007 legislative session opened and closed with fellow House members challenging Craddick’s leadership. In this sense, Craddick had a tougher campaign season in early 2007 than he did in 2006.
The House’s No. 2 spender also campaigned in early 2007. Following the death of Rep. Glenda Dawson, voters elected Rep. Mike O’Day (R-Pearland) in a special run-off election on January 16, 2007. O’Day spent $140,266 in the first half of 2007. No such caveats apply to Rep. Phil King (R-Weatherford), the House’s No. 3 spender who burned through $115,138 in early 2007. Meanwhile, Rep. Aaron Pena (D-Edinburg) reported spending just $105 in the first half of 2007. Rep. Frank Corte (R-San Antonio) ran the next-thriftiest operation, spending a total of $1,817.
* View Total Spending For All House Members By Categories
Speaker Craddick’s campaign had $4.2 million in the bank at the end of 2006. His largest single expense was a $43,735 tax payment on interest earned from this nest egg. Craddick plowed 40 percent of his massive expenditures into Staff & Consultants—almost twice the House average for personnel. After his IRS payment, Craddick’s largest expenditures were monthly paychecks to his daughter. The speaker paid Christi Craddick $60,703 in the first half of 2007, accounting for a third of all of his personnel expenditures. The Craddick campaign paid $23,520 for the advice of campaign attorney Ed Shack. It also paid $14,709 in salary to Justin Keener to promote the speaker’s agenda to interest groups and the media. Keener jumped ship in September to head the Austin office of Washington lobby firm Cassidy & Associates, which briefly hired now-imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff when Greenberg Traurig fired him in late 2004.
Craddick spent 15 percent of his funds on Food, Drinks & Events, well above the House average. His largest Food expenditures were paying $7,165 to Word of Mouth Catering, $6,382 to the Headliners Club and $6,148 to Littlefield Hospitality. The speaker racked up a $25,217 bill at HEB grocery stores, 17 keeping Nadine Craddick hopping in the kitchen of the newly remodeled speaker’s apartment.18 Mrs. Craddick got the night off on May 26, when Craddick placed the mother of all Plucker’s orders for $1,766 of chicken wings.19
Travel & Lodging consumed another 15 percent of Craddick’s funds. The speaker’s largest Travel expenditures were payments of $27,953 to an entity called Texas Aviation Professional Services at a Giddings postal box 28, which also corresponds to the Giddings Country Club (a Craddick spokesman said the payments were for aircraft leases). Craddick also paid $23,061 to Basin Aviation in Midland. The speaker spent $3,320 on Southwest Airlines and made $3,585 in unspecified “travel” payments to pilot Al Sidaras of Salado. Craddick’s largest hotel bill was the $1,825 he paid Washington’s Willard Intercontinental on January 14.
The speaker’s seldom-seen sensitive and artistic sides emerge in the $32,887 that he spent on Gifts/Charitable Contributions. In six months Craddick ran up a $24,933 florist bill. His single largest gift was a $5,000 donation to the Texas Archive of the Moving Image, a non-profit that preserves Texas’ film heritage.
Craddick spent $27,567 on Administrative/Office expenditures, paying $4,785 of this money to Keel Systems, the computer firm of Thornton Keel. In 2004 Thornton Keel lost his bid to be a Travis County constable, even as Austin-area voters retired his brother, Patrick Keel, as a state district judge. Two years later, another brother, then-Rep. Terry Keel, lost his bid to sit on the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The Keels fared better with Craddick than voters. The Legislative Audit Committee that Craddick co-chairs appointed cousin John Keel as state auditor in December 2004. When House Parliamentarian Denise Davis resigned over Craddick’s autocratic control of the House in May 2007 Craddick replaced her with Terry Keel—a former treasurer of the Craddick-aligned Stars Over Texas PAC.
Elected in a special election in mid-January, Rep. Mike O’Day spent $140,266 in early 2007. Rep. O’Day devoted 42 percent of this money to Staff & Consultants, or almost twice the House average. O’Day’s two largest expenditures went to J2 Strategies, the consulting firm also used by Attorney General Greg Abbott. A $32,600 J2 payment for “consultation” was classified under Staff & Consultants Expenditures. A $35,299 payment to J2 for “advertising” was classified as a Campaign-Related Expenditure. O’Day spent a third of his money on this category, three times the House average. He also paid Delisi Communications $2,394 for marketing. O’Day spent 11 percent of his money on Rent Payments, led by the $13,800 that he paid Signature Accommodations in Austin for an apartment during the session.
The $115,138 spent by Rep. Phil King, chair of the House Regulated Industries Committee, was the largest expenditure by a House member not facing opposition in 2007. Yet King spent money as if it was in full campaign mode. He spent disproportionately high shares of its funds on Staff & Consultants and relatively low shares on such soft categories as Rent Payments, Gifts/Charitable Contributions and Travel & Lodging.
Rep. King spent 50 percent of his campaign money on Staff & Consultants—twice the House average. Chief of Staff Trey Trainor received the largest chunk of this money: $27,750. King sunk 15 percent of his money into Administrative/Office Expenditures, led by $3,730 in web-hosting payments to the Patriot Group. King spent 10 percent of its money on Rent Payments. King’s largest expense in this category was the $8,032 he paid Austin’s Gables at the Terrace. King spent 9 percent of its money on Gifts/Charitable Contributions, led by the $1,730 that he spent at Cabela’s for committee gifts.
Rep. Kino Flores was the top Democratic spender in the House, dropping $110,267 in the first half of 2007. After Rep. Flores backed Craddick as speaker, Craddick appointed Flores as chair of the House Licensing Committee. Flores now faces harsh criticism from a primary opponent, who has suggested that Craddick’s interests are irreconcilable with those of this Rio Grande Valley district.
Flores spent 43 percent of his funds on Campaign-Related Expenditures, four times the House average. His largest Campaign-Related payments were $26,892 to Mission-based MG Advertising and $15,081 for billboard ads to Kem Texas of San Antonio. Flores spent 18 percent of his money on Staff & Consultants. His top expenditures in this category include a total of $5,184 to Mauricio Flores and $4,700 to Houston-based Partida & Associates, which specializes in reaching Hispanic voters.
The largest shares of overall House expenditures went to: Staff & Consultants (23 percent); Rent Payments (12 percent); Gifts/Charitable Contributions (12 percent); Administrative/Office Expenditures (12 percent); Campaign-Related Expenditures (10 percent); Travel & Lodging (10 percent); and Food, Drinks & Events (9 percent).
House members spent an average of 23 percent of their money on Staff & Consultants. Rep. Anna Mowery led the House in this department, spending 84 percent of her funds on personnel. Mowery’s largest payments in this category were $7,500 to Mark Mowery and $5,000 to Tim Mowery. The “campaign work” payment to her son Mark in April was notable. Not only was Rep. Mowery not campaigning at the time but she announced her retirement from the House just two months later. Mark Mowery then resurfaced as campaign manager for GOP candidate Bob Leonard, whom Rep. Mowery endorsed for her seat (Leonard lost that special election in November).
Rep. James Keffer spent 79 percent of his funds on Staff & Consultants. His top expenditures in this category were $15,000 to the Eppstein Group and $13,500 to Keffer aide Ky Ash. Rep. Sid Miller spent 69 percent of his funds on Staff & Consultants, dominated by payments of $48,740 to Todd Smith & Associates.
The average House member spent 12 percent of his or her political funds on Rent Payments, while four members spent well over half of their funds on this expense. Rent Payments accounted for 80 percent of the comparatively modest $7,049 that Rep. Fred Brown spent in the first half of 2007. His largest expenditure was the $3,277 he paid to Riverside Square Apartments in Austin. Rent Payments absorbed two-thirds of the campaign money spent by Rep. Allan Ritter, who paid Austin’s Silver Creek Apartments $7,230. Rep. Betty Brown spent 59 percent of her money on Rent Payments, led by $5,688 in rent to Austin’s Gables at the Terrace. Rep. Todd Smith (not to be confused with the political consultant of the same name) spent 58 percent of his money on Rent Payments, led by $6,962 to the Gables West Avenue Apartments in Austin.
House members spent 10 cents out of every campaign dollar on Travel & Lodging. All of the $105 that Rep. Aaron Pena spent in early 2007 went for a stay at the Clarion Inn in Austin. Rep. Delwin Jones spent 60 percent of his money on Travel & Lodging, led by a hefty $4,608 in payments to Southwest Airlines “to be reimbursed later by the state.” Jones paid $5,005 to Clarion Motel in Austin. Jones also racked up $2,249 in vehicle expenditures, led by $1,333 in payments to Empire Auto Repair. Rep. Michael O’Day paid $3,900 to the Hampton Inn in his hometown of Pearland.
Reps. Juan Garcia and David Farabee each spent 48 percent of their funds on Travel & Lodging. Garcia’s largest travel expenditure was $1,252 for airfare to speak at Harvard’s Latino Law and Public Policy Conference in May. He also paid $1,200 to Garcia Bus Tours to shuttle constituents at the start of the session. Farabee spent heavily on mileage reimbursements, reimbursing aide Thure Cannon $7,139 and Rep. Farabee himself $1,220.
Administrative/Office Expenditures consumed an average of 12 percent of House spending. Rep. Kevin Bailey spent 58 percent of his funds on Administrative/Office stuff, led by a total of $3,669 on “campaign phones.” Rep. Terri Hodge reported spending half of her campaign funds on Administrative/Office Expenditures, led by the $8,658 she reportedly spent on Target “cell phone minutes.”
House members also spent an average of 12 percent of their political funds on Gifts/Charitable Contributions. Gracious Rep. Joe Crabb spent 73 percent of his funds on this category. His biggest charitable donations were $5,000 to Alabama-based Grace Campus Ministries and $1,500 to the Crosby Fair & Rodeo. Rep. Alma Allen spent 53 percent of her funds on Gifts/Charitable Contributions, led by $1,000 contributions to the American Red Cross and the South Houston Concerned Citizen Coalition.
Another 10 percent of the average House campaign went into Campaign-Related Expenditures. The $35,000 personal loan that Rep. Susan King’s campaign repaid to this lawmaker fell into this category, accounting for almost all of that campaign’s spending in early 2007. Campaign-Related Expenditures accounted for 86 percent of Rep. David Leibowitz’s spending. He spent $20,000 at Austin-based Kelly Graphics and another $2,546 on postage. Two-thirds of Rep. Joaquin Castro’s money went into Campaign-Related Expenditures in his hometown of San Antonio. Castro paid $7,497 for phone banking to Election Support Services and $1,436 for mailings to MinuteMen Pre.
House members spent an average of 9 percent of their funds on Food, Drinks & Events. Yet Rep. Borris Miles spent half of his money on a remarkable, $12,941 feast to celebrate the start of the session. The day dawned with $732 of Shipley donuts to fortify the troops on the “buses to Austin.” The same day Miles spent $3,937 for “high school kids” at the Capital Grill, $3,500 for “seniors” at the all-you-can-eat Golden Corral and $3,771 at Jason’s Deli for the office. Expenditure reports suggest that the Miles campaign fasted or ate leftovers for the rest of the session. Rep. Corte spent 43 percent of his modest campaign expenditures on refreshments for opening day and for committee, caucus and legislative staff. Rep. Eddie Lucio was the only member with the cojones to cop to the fact that he spent $69 “meeting with constituents” at Hooters.
Miscellaneous expenditures accounted for 6 percent of all House spending. Rep. Ken Paxton pushed 82 percent of his spending into this column by writing himself a $56,436 check to reimburse himself for the following grab-bag of expenditures: “Taste of Texas tickets postage Crate & Barrell CapGiftShop out of pocket exp.” Miscellaneous expenditures accounted for 29 percent of Rep. Scott Hochberg’s spending, led by a $723 tax payment to the IRS on campaign interest income.
Unspecified Loans accounted for 2 percent of all House expenditures. The $30,000 that Rep. Mark Strama’s campaign repaid to this lawmaker accounted for 82 percent of its expenditures. The $5,000 that Rep. Debbie Riddle repaid to this lawmaker’s spouse accounted for more than half of her campaign spending. Richard Raymond’s campaign made $37,350 in loan payments to the International Bank of Commerce and repaid another $10,000 to the lawmaker himself. These loan payments accounted for almost half of his total expenditures.
House members recycled 2 percent of their expenditures into Political Contributions to other campaign committees. Rep. Robert Talton redistributed 36 percent of his political expenditures, transferring $3,500 to the Harris County Republican Party and $2,500 to Randy Weber, a failed candidate for House District 29. Rep. Scott Hochberg recycled a quarter of his political expenditures, led by $1,500 in contributions to Melissa Noriega’s successful campaign for Houston City Council.
Unknown expenditures accounted for 1 percent of all House spending. Dominated by unspecified reimbursements to the Committee on House Administration, 58 percent of Rep. Yvonne Davis’ funds were Unknown. Due to his $5,471 payment to undisclosed “Characters,” 14 percent of Rep. Rafael Anchia expenditures were Unknown. Eleven percent of Rep. Eddie Lucio’s expenditures were Unknown, led by $3,284 in unspecified reimbursements to aide Ruben O’Bell.
Unitemized Credit Cards accounted for just 1 percent of all House expenditures. Rep. Mike Hamilton spent half of his funds on this category. Hamilton paid four credit-card bills of more than $1,000 apiece, citing unspecified travel and office expenditures. This category accounted for 42 percent of Rep. Garnet Coleman’s campaign expenditures. Coleman reported four credit card bills exceeding $4,000 apiece. He attributed the charges to a laundry list of payments to undisclosed vendors for the likes of travel, flowers Christmas ornaments and fundraising. Rep. Rick Hardcastle spent 27 percent of his campaign funds on unitemized credit-card bills, including three that exceeded $1,000 apiece.
17Including HEB’s Central Market stores.
18 HEB magnate Charles Butt contributed $10,000 in recent years to Craddick, despite the speaker’s support for school vouchers—which Butt opposes.
19This double-entendre is dedicated to the plucky, late Molly Ivins, whom the New York Times reportedly fired in 1980 for describing a mass chicken slaughter in a New Mexican community as a “gang pluck.”
