Nineteen Texas House members started this session with a tea-party
suicide vote against Speaker Straus (who appointed zero rebels to head
House committees). Campaign data reveal that Austin's business lobby
bankrolled the Straus loyalists who crushed the rebellion.
On
average, rebels raised less money than the loyalists yet overcame more
electoral opposition. With much less support from the institutional
lobby, the rebels got 14% of their money from the intertwined Empower
Texans and Accountability First PACs. The rebels also relied much more
on individual contributors.
