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How two Texas megadonors have turbocharged the state's far-right shift
CNN ^ | July 24, 2022 | Casey Tolan, Matthew Reynard, Will Simon and Ed Lavandera

Posted on 07/25/2022 6:54:37 AM PDT by karpov

Gun owners allowed to carry handguns without permits or training. Parents of transgender children facing investigation by state officials. Women forced to drive hours out-of-state to access abortion.

This is Texas now: While the Lone Star State has long been a bastion of Republican politics, new laws and policies have taken Texas further to the right in recent years than it has been in decades.

Elected officials and political observers in the state say a major factor in the transformation can be traced back to West Texas. Two billionaire oil and fracking magnates from the region, Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks, have quietly bankrolled some of Texas' most far-right political candidates -- helping reshape the state's Republican Party in their worldview.

Over the last decade, Dunn and his wife, Terri, have contributed more than $18 million to state candidates and political action committees, while Wilks and his wife, Jo Ann, have given more than $11 million, putting them among the top donors in the state.

The beneficiaries of the energy tycoons' combined spending include the farthest-right members of the legislature and authors of the most high-profile conservative bills passed in recent years, according to a CNN analysis of Texas Ethics Commission data. Dunn and Wilks also hold sway over the state's legislative agenda through a network of non-profits and advocacy groups that push conservative policy issues. Critics, and even some former associates, say that Dunn and Wilks demand loyalty from the candidates they back, punishing even deeply conservative legislators who cross them by bankrolling primary challengers. Kel Seliger, a longtime Republican state senator from Amarillo who has clashed with the billionaires, said their influence has made Austin feel a little like Moscow.

"It is a Russian-style oligarchy, pure and simple," Seliger said.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: Texas
KEYWORDS: caseytolan; cnn; edlavandera; farriswilks; matthewreynard; timdunn; willsimon
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CNN is horrified, but I think this is an interesting article on how conservatives can gain power. CNN does not mind the big donations of people like Soros.
1 posted on 07/25/2022 6:54:37 AM PDT by karpov
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To: karpov

Adherence to Constitutional principals is “far-right”?


2 posted on 07/25/2022 6:56:22 AM PDT by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either opinion, or satire, or both.)
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To: karpov
new laws and policies have taken Texas further to the right in recent years than it has been in decades.

That must explain the incredible inflows of new people moving there.

3 posted on 07/25/2022 6:56:45 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: karpov

“It is a Russian-style oligarchy, pure and simple,” Seliger said.

The Left is sure obsessed with Russia, aren’t they? And not at all concerned about China. This tells me all I need to know.


4 posted on 07/25/2022 6:58:01 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (We live in a time where intelligent people are being silenced so stupid people won’t be offended)
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To: karpov
Gun owners allowed to carry handguns without permits or training. Parents of transgender children facing investigation by state officials. Women forced to drive hours out-of-state to access abortion.

This is Texas now

It reads like an advertisement for why you should move to Texas.

5 posted on 07/25/2022 6:58:53 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (We are already in a revolutionary period, and the Rule of Law means nothing. It's "whatever".)
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To: karpov
Gun owners allowed to carry handguns without permits or training. Parents of transgender children facing investigation by state officials. Women forced to drive hours out-of-state to access abortion. This is Texas now. . .

From where I sit in the Northeast, it sounds like the cure for so many ills.

6 posted on 07/25/2022 7:01:02 AM PDT by SamuraiScot
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To: karpov

Check out the authors up above. It took the efforts of 4 fags to put this piece together


7 posted on 07/25/2022 7:02:24 AM PDT by dennisw
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To: karpov; All

Wait a minute, I thought Texas was fixing to turn blue? All the lefties said so, could they have been wrong, or even lying? (Hopefully sarcasm tag not necessary)


8 posted on 07/25/2022 7:02:37 AM PDT by notdownwidems (Washington D.C. has become the enemy of free people everywhere!)
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To: karpov

And those evil oil barrons Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks are bursting our Beto dream! Super Soros needs to pump a few more million to keep that big ‘ol “S” on his chest! (//sarc - trying to mimic a liberal thought process- it is difficult.)


9 posted on 07/25/2022 7:03:10 AM PDT by silent majority rising ( )
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To: karpov

Mega donors only make CNN’s news when they donate to the wrong party.


10 posted on 07/25/2022 7:04:18 AM PDT by skeeter
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To: karpov

Now do far-left MEGA donors, to all of the deprived leftist candidates and policies, CNN.

Too many to mention??

You’re right...they’re horrified that their leftist infiltration is being stymied and (hopefully) blocked, here in TX and other states.


11 posted on 07/25/2022 7:04:42 AM PDT by Jane Long (What we were told was a “conspiracy theorybe” in 2020 is now fact. 🙏🏻 Ps 33:12)
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To: karpov

CNN is horrified, but I think this is an interesting article on how conservatives can gain power. CNN does not mind the big donations of people like Soros.

It took 4 people to write this sludge? The more contributors, the bigger the lie.


12 posted on 07/25/2022 7:05:01 AM PDT by rxh4n1
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To: karpov

Change the state to California and the donors to Soros and Gates and it becomes an article you’ll never see written


13 posted on 07/25/2022 7:06:14 AM PDT by VeniVidiVici (Vote Democrat and stay on the plantation!)
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To: karpov

If I must choose one or the other..a prog/commie
...I guess I’m an “ right wing extremist”


14 posted on 07/25/2022 7:06:17 AM PDT by Leep (Hillary will NEVER be president! 😁)
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To: karpov
They are livid that they can't steal Texas.

No Dominion machines there!

We need to oust as many RINOs in the state legislatures every cycle and replace them with MAGA people. Purple and red states with RINO-controlled legislatures are where the Steal happened.

Don't blame Democrats for the woke clown world we live in. It was RINO-controlled state legislatures of PA, GA, AZ, and MI who handed it to them on a platter by turning a blind eye to their cheating and refusing to investigate/prosecute it.

15 posted on 07/25/2022 7:08:06 AM PDT by HandBasketHell
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To: BenLurkin
Adherence to Constitutional principals is “far-right”?

Considering how far left they are, it's probably quite difficult to see across the distance from them to the Constitution, so they do consider Constitutional principles to be far-right.

16 posted on 07/25/2022 7:09:10 AM PDT by ShadowAce (Linux - The Ultimate Windows Service Pack )
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To: karpov

Translation of their first three points:
Supporting the 2nd amendment bad
Killing babies good
Mocking God required


17 posted on 07/25/2022 7:10:10 AM PDT by KierkegaardMAN (I never engage in a battle of wits with an unarmed man.)
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To: karpov
CNN does not mind the big donations of people like Soros.

Don't forget Zuckerbucks, which probably swayed outcomes in several states in 2020. How much concern has CNN expressed about that?

18 posted on 07/25/2022 7:11:04 AM PDT by Steely Tom ([Voter Fraud] == [Civil War])
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To: PapaBear3625

Russia is the new Trump.


19 posted on 07/25/2022 7:11:34 AM PDT by EEGator
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To: karpov

The far left bozos like der kleine Fuhrer Soros and the Hollowoody elitists like Gwyneth Paltrow have taken over buying government jobs for the far left RAT candidates in Texas.


20 posted on 07/25/2022 7:12:13 AM PDT by FlingWingFlyer (The House is supposed to represent the people, not the friggin' Federal government. )
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