Burnt Orange Report

TAB Releases Direct Mail Content

By Karl-Thomas Musselman

The Statesman reports that the Texas Association of Business (co-owner of the Texas Republican Party) has released the contents of it's multi-million dollar direct mail campaign for the 2002 elections after being ordered to do so by the Texas Supreme Court (owned by the Texas Republican Party).

For tactical reasons, Wood did not seek the identity of the corporate donors, avoiding a showdown over that issue — and whether the names are protected by the First Amendment guarantee of freedom of association — for now.

The association's answers, however, gave a glimpse of the scope of its mailing effort that touted Republican candidates and criticized their Democratic opponents.

The documents show 42 donations given to the association between February and November of 2002.

Some of the corporations might have given more than once, and their total contributions might exceed the single largest donation of $250,000.

The money came from both members and non-members of the business group. Fourteen of the 42 donations, including the $250,000 contribution, were from non-members. Three donations accounted for almost one-third of the $1.9 million spent on mailers.

Wood also noted that the total spent on mailers exceeded the association's $1.5 million budget. He argued that it shows the association was operating as a de facto political committee.

"It confirms our theory of the case," Wood said. "These answers clearly show large amounts of money were solicited from a small number of for-profit corporations."

Drip. Drip. Drip.