The first six months of 2007 were about as off-season as it gets for Texas political campaigns. The dust had settled from the November 2006 elections. The so-called “late-train” period for post-election contributions had expired, giving way to a prohibition on campaign contributions that extended throughout the 2007 legislative session until 20 days after the session closed on May 28.

Yet political spending did not grind to a halt. During the first half of 2007, the campaign committees of six top statewide officeholders and every state lawmaker but one1 reported 23,304 expenditures totaling $9.5 million. While this marks a considerable drop from the $83 million that the same campaigns spent during the preceding election year, it is real money. This report analyzes how politicians blew $9.5 million off-season.

The accompanying graph shows total spending over time for all reporting legislative offices and for the six statewide offices. The 2005 data are straightforward. They cover spending by the officeholders who held these offices in 2005. The data for 2006 and 2007 require a bit more explanation. They include spending by individuals who held these offices throughout 2006 and 2007, but they also include spending by campaign committees of individuals who won one of these offices in the November 2006 election. As such, some of the 2006 spending came from successful 2006 candidates who did not assume one of the offices tracked here until January 2007. 

 

Spending by Selected Campaigns, Jan. 2006 Through June 2007

 

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 Time Period
Spending By Selected Campaigns
 Jan.-June 2005
$10,516,485
 July-Dec. 2005
$16,631,551
 Jan.-June 2006
$29,777,458
 July-Dec. 2006
$52,952,709
 Jan.-June 2007
$9,523,921
TOTAL:
$119,402,124

 

Note: Data cover expenditures by office, not individual. For example, the 2005 Agriculture Commissioner expenditures are those of then-Commissioner Susan Combs—not her successor.
 

 

Political spending varied by office. The six statewide officeholders studied spent an average of $381,955 apiece in early 2007. The average senator spent $84,064 and House members spent an average of $31,048 apiece.

 

Expenditures By Office Type, January Through June, 2007

Type of
Official
No. of
Officials
Expenditure
Total
Average
Spending Total
 House
149*
$4,626,201
$31,048
 Senate
31
$2,605,991
$84,064
 Statewide
6
$2,291,729
$381,955
TOTAL:
186
$9,523,921
 
*Rep. Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio) had not filed his July 2007 report as of early January 2008.

 

Texas state officials enjoy broad discretion in how they spend political contributions. While Texas campaign law makes a technical distinction between campaign and officeholder expenditures, no such difference exists in practical terms. The main legal restriction on political contributions is that they “may not be converted to the personal use of a [current or former] candidate, officeholder.”  A “personal use” is one that “primarily furthers individual or family purposes not connected with” the official duties of a candidate or officeholder. Political contributions also cannot be used to buy or rent real property from a candidate or officeholder’s family members. Otherwise it’s open season—even during off-season.

 


1As of early January 2008, Rep. Jose Menendez (D-San Antonio) had not filed his July 2007 report, as required by law.