PIRG: Mortgaged House: Alien Contributors

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Mortgaged House

A. Alien Contributors: Most Money Comes From Outside the District

House members raised a staggering 80 percent (more than $10 million) of their $100-or- larger contributions outside their districts. Eighteen House members took more than 95 percent of these contributions from such alien sources. Rep. Senfronia Thompson, raised an astonishing 100 percent of her money outside of her district.⁴ Four other members who raised 99 percent of their major contributions from alien sources are Democratic Reps. Pete Patterson and Speaker Laney, and Republican Reps. John Culberson and Talmadge Heflin. While Rep. Patterson’s relative dependence on such money is extreme, he only raised $12,825.

Dependency On Out-of-District Money

(Contributions of $100 or more)

Most-Dependent Members
Dist.	Member	Party	%
141	Senfronia Thompson	D	100%
3	Pete Patterson	D	99%
130	John Culberson	R	99%
149	Talmadge Heflin	R	99%
85	Pete Laney	D	99%
88	Warren Chisum	R	98%
139	Sylvester Turner	D	98%
105	Dale Tillery	D	98%
145	Diana Davila	D	97%
95	Glenn Lewis	D	97%
128	Fred Bosse	D	97%
131	Ron Wilson	D	97%
124	Christine Hernandez	D	97%
116	Leo Alvarado	D	96%
93	Toby Goodman	R	96%
29	Tom Uher	D	96%
96	Kim Brimer	R	96%
150	Paul J. Hilbert	R	96%

Least-Dependent Members
Dist.	Member	Party	%
14	Bill Roman	R	7%
69	John Hirschi	D	9%
6	Ted Kamel	R	33%
49	Elliott Naishtat	D	36%
27	Dora Olivo	D	38%
57	Jim Dunnam	D	41%
40	Juan Hinojosa	D	42%
108	Carolyn Galloway	R	44%
71	Bob Hunter	R	49%
26	Charlie Howard	R	49%
51	Glen Maxey	D	49%
7	Tommy Merritt	R	50%
140	Kevin Bailey	R	53%
15	Thomas Williams	R	54%
34	Hugo Berlanga	D	55%
92	Todd Smith	R	59%
90	Lon Burnam	D	60%
28	Robert Cook	D	60%

Only 11 House members raised more than half of their major campaign contributions in their districts. Reps. Bill Roman and John Hirschi depended least on alien sources, taking less than 10 percent of their money from outside of their districts.

Dialing for Dollars:
Where Money Rolls for Pols

City Zip Amount

Austin 78701 $2,805,815

Austin 78767 $1,232,353

Houston 77056 $676,885

Austin 78768 $330,525

Dallas 75201 $280,766

Austin 78704 $232,591

Houston 77002 $206,586

Ft. Worth 76102 $157,902

Dallas 75221 $152,882

Total $6,076,305

These alien contributions raise questions about where such money originates. A 1996 study found that 13 Texas Senate Committee Chairs got half of their money from just 25 zip codes.⁵ The fact that these zip codes are concentrated in a few central business districts confirms the extent to which PACs and businesses—rather than average Texans—finance Texas’ political process.

House contributions are even more concentrated. House members reaped $6,076,305 from just nine zip codes; this money accounts for 48 percent of the value of all contributions of $100 or more.

Although there are 2,618 zip codes in Texas, just three Austin zip codes supplied $4,368,693 in major contributions, or 35 percent of the value of all major House contributions. Austin’s two leading zip codes service its law and lobby firms around the Capitol and its downtown post office boxes. Central business districts and their corresponding postal boxes also were the hot spots in Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth.

⁴ None of Rep. Thompson’s itemized contributions were in district, not even those of less than $100.

⁵ “Money With Interest: Campaign Contributions to the Standing Committee Chairs of the Texas State Senate,” by Lynn Tran, Center for a New Democracy, Austin, June 1996.