Koch-backed PAC sets sights on Texas races

WASHINGTON — A conservative super PAC is planning an unprecedented push into Texas in 2020, throwing its support behind a slew of mostly Republican candidates and expecting to spend millions as Democrats also commit more resources to the state ahead of November elections.

Americans For Prosperity Action, a super PAC affiliated with the nonprofit funded by billionaire Charles Koch, announced plans last week to spend heavily to support Republicans in three key congressional races in the suburbs of Houston, San Antonio and Dallas. The group also plans to spend seven figures defending U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, for whom it has already spent more than $700,000 on ads, as Democrats try to win their first statewide race in a generation. And it’s supporting a dozen Republicans — and one Democrat — in state

House races.

“Texas has led the nation in advancing smart on crime, soft on taxpayers criminal justice reforms, cutting taxes on hardworking families, and innovating to ensure more Texans have access to quality, affordable health care,” said Mack Morris, a senior adviser for Americans for Prosperity.

The group says it has never spent this much money in Texas. In 2018, it spent $68,000 supporting one candidate: U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, a West Texas Republican. As of Wednesday, the group was actively engaged in more races in Texas than any other state in the nation.

The Koch money comes as national groups aligned with Democrats have started pouring millions into Texas in an effort to capitalize on momentum gained in the 2018 midterm elections. Though the PAC plans to spend heavily on Republican candidates in Texas, the state is home to some of the first Democrats the group has supported.

“We know we must continue to build broad-based policy coalitions — not focus on partisan majorities — in order to continue leading,” Morris said. “That’s why we’re focused on robustly supporting lawmakers and candidates that will be leaders in Austin and in Washington to keep advancing policies that make it easier for Texans to pursue their American dream.”

All that attention marks a big shift for GOP-dominated Texas, which for decades has seen political dollars leaving the state because competitive races were rare.

Now, national money is flowing to a slew of Democratic candidates, including congressional candidates Wendy Davis, a former state senator, and Gina Ortiz Jones, as well as incumbent freshmen Democratic Reps. Lizzie Fletcher and Colin Allred. But Republican candidates are also benefiting from the state’s new reputation as a battleground — both by collecting checks from out of state and by keeping Texas Republican money here instead of watching it being exported to fuel campaigns across the nation.

The national spending includes more than $8 million that gun violence prevention groups say they’re planning to put into races, as well as hundreds of thousands from the National Democratic Redistricting Committee, a Washingtonbased group headed by former Obama administration attorney general Eric Holder aiming to seize the nine seats needed to take back the Texas House.

The Congressional Leadership Fund, a super PAC dedicated to winning a Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, plans to spend at least $3 million on ads in Houston. And the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has an office in Austin and a list of seven newly targeted districts across the state where it is likely to spend, as well.

Americans For Prosperity Action says it plans “robust” spending in three of those races: U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, a Central Texas Republican facing a challenge Davis; Wesley Hunt, an Army veteran challenging Fletcher in the west Houston suburbs; and Genevieve Collins, a Dallas business executive running against Allred.

That support will include ads, direct mail and efforts to reach voters through text messages, phone calls and virtual events.

The group says it has already spent more than $700,000 supporting Cornyn. It plans to run digital ads supporting the Texas Republican constantly through the election, as well as larger ad buys, such as $500,000 it spent on ads just after Super Tuesday.

While the group is mostly throwing its support behind Republicans, it is backing one Democrat this cycle: Longtime state Sen. Eddie Lucio, Jr., locked in an unexpected runoff to hold onto his Brownsville district against Sara Stapleton Barrera, who ran at him from the left.

Earlier this year, the PAC spent thousands defending South Texas U.S. Rep. Henry Cuellar — the first Democrat it had ever supported in a federal race — in a tight primary race against progressive Jessica Cisneros.