[ Report Home | Previous Page | Next Page ] Pay to Play V. Paying To Play B.  Petitioners Supplied Most of the Justices’ Campaign Funds

The 10 justices who sat on the court and faced an election from 1994 through 1998 raised a total of $12.8 million in campaign funds. They received, 52 percent—or $6.7 million—of this amount from the litigants, lawyers and law firms that filed petitions with the court during this same period. Justice Deborah Hankinson relied most on petitioner funds, raising 60 percent of her war chest from petitioners. Justice Priscilla Owen depended least on this funding source, but still received 43 percent of her money from court petitioners.
 
 

		Election Cycle	Money Raised	Petitioner Money	Share of Money
Justice	High Court Tenure	Studied	In Cycle	In Cycle	From Petitioners
*Abbott	01/01/96 – 12/31/04	'96 & '98	$1,997,150	$1,130,457	57%
*Baker	10/03/95 – 12/31/02	'96	$1,004,733	$526,977	52%
Cornyn	01/02/91 – 10/26/97	'96	$1,048,324	$583,764	56%
*Enoch	01/03/93 – 12/31/04	'98	$1,326,654	$709,233	53%
Gonzalez	10/08/84 – 01/13/99	'94	$1,743,167	$860,509	49%
*Hankinson	10/27/97 – 12/31/02	'98	$1,116,709	$671,658	60%
*Hecht	02/02/89 – 12/31/06	'94	$1,767,568	$841,947	48%
*Owen	01/02/95 – 12/31/06	'94	$926,516	$401,307	43%
*Phillips	01/04/88 – 12/31/02	'96	$1,281,661	$664,164	52%
Spector	01/03/93 – 01/03/99	'98	$545,103	$271,008	50%
		TOTAL:	$12,757,585	$6,661,024	52%

* Current justice

These justices faced an election from 1994 through 1998. (Justices Harriet O’Neill and Alberto Gonzales joined the court later; ex-Justices Lloyd Doggett, Jack Hightower and Bob Gammage sat on the court for part of the studied period but they did not stand for election during this time period.)