Oil tycoons bankroll Paxton defenders

Political activists financed by two billionaire oilmen — famous for backing right wing Republicans — are riding like cavalry to save suspended Attorney General Ken Paxton from a scalping in the Texas Senate.

Billionaires Tim Dunn and Ferris Wilks are arguably the most influential donors to right wing candidates and causes in Texas, funneling tens of millions of dollars to political action committees and candidates that espouse their religious-right and anti-public-school agenda.

Dunn, CEO of drilling company CrownQuest Operating, and Wilks, who sold his fracking company, are the largest donors to Defend Texas Liberty PAC, one of Paxton’s largest campaign financiers, according to public records. The billionaires gave the PAC more than $10 million of the $11 million it has raised from 2020-2022. The PAC passed $1.25 million of that money, along with a loan for $750,000, to Paxton.

Dunn, Wilks and Defend Texas Liberty together also gave former state Rep. Bryan Slaton $223,000 as three of his four largest donors. The Texas House expelled Slaton last month for plying a 19-year-old staffer with alcohol and having sex with her.

Defend Texas Liberty is managed by former state Rep. Jonathan Stickland, who, alongside Republican Party of Texas Chair Matt Rinaldi, was a founding director of another PAC called Texans for Fiscal Responsibility. That group, which is not required to disclose donors, was founded by conservative activist Michael Quinn Sullivan, long considered the enforcer of right wing orthodoxy in Austin. Dunn and Wilks are widely reported to finance Sullivan’s activities.

Stickland, Rinaldi and Sullivan are leading a public campaign to stop the Texas Senate from permanently removing Paxton following his impeachment on 20 corruption charges.

The same group also wants to remove Dade Phelan as speaker of the House.

The day before the debate over impeaching Paxton, Stickland went on Twitter promising a 2024 Republican primary challenger for any official who voted for impeachment.

“There will be one helluva price to pay for voting w/ @DadePhelan and Dems,” he tweeted on May 26. “Wait until you see my PAC budget … A vote to impeach @Ken-PaxtonTX is a decision to have a primary. Can’t wait to see who sides with Democrats.”

After the House heard the overwhelming evidence against Paxton and removed him from office, Sullivan spread his theory that Texas Republicans were in league with national Democrats.

“Make no mistake, Ken Paxton was impeached because he has been effectively fighting the Biden administration, Big Tech and Big Pharma,” he tweeted. “The (Texas Legislature’s) Democrats and RINOs had to stop those attacks.”

Rinaldi used his authority to throw the Republican Party of Texas behind Paxton and against the 60 out of 85 Republican representatives who held Paxton accountable for actions few are disputing.

“The impeachment proceedings against the Attorney General are but the latest front in the Texas House’s war against Republicans to stop the conservative direction of our state,” Rinaldi said in a statement. “This sham impeachment is the result of the Phelan leadership team empowering Democrats, allowing them to hold leadership positions and letting them control the agenda.”

Paxton’s impeachment is the nastiest battle yet between the conservative business faction of the Republican Party and the fundamentalist religious wing. While Phelan and the Republicans who impeached Paxton want to protect the party’s integrity, the religious wing backed by Dunn and Wilks worries about losing power.

Paxton’s alleged crimes create a dilemma for Lt.Gov. Dan Patrick, who owes his ascendancy to the fundamentalist wing and will preside over the impeachment trial in the Senate. Dunn, Wilks and their PACs are important and consistent donors to his campaign and associated PACs.

Dunn has given money to state Sens. Bob Hall, Kelly Hancock and Angela Paxton, Ken Paxton’s wife. Wilks has given to Hall too. Defend Texas Liberty has given to Hall and state Sens. Phil King, Brandon Creighton, Paul Bettencourt and Lois Kolkhorst.

If the beneficiaries of the fundamentalist wing protect their standard-bearer, Paxton has seven of the 10 votes he needs to remain in office.

Patrick has spent years consolidating power by promoting primary challenges and redrawing districts to drive out moderate senators. He can decide how the Paxton trial ends later this summer.

The lieutenant governor is no friend of the business faction. In a recent fireside chat at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, Patrick condemned Phelan’s leadership and called for a more authoritarian operation in the House.

Paxton has been under felony indictment for eight years, his top deputies reported him to the FBI and the House heard strong evidence of corruption. But he may yet return to office thanks to two billionaires from West Texas financing his defense.

Chris Tomlinson, named 2021 columnist of the year by the Texas Managing Editors, writes commentary about money, politics and life in Texas. Sign up for his “Tomlinson’s Take” newsletter at Houston Chronicle.com/TomlinsonNewsletter or Express news.com/TomlinsonNewsletter.twitter.com/cltomlinsonctomlinson@hearstcorp.com