Legislator aims for Galveston’s support
On a December night at the Galveston Convention Center, a man with a youthful, almost pastoral appearance approaches a lectern in the middle of the room to discuss a controversial plan for a barrier to shield the coast from future mega-storms.
Mayes Middleton, a conservative Republican who was recently elected to represent the 23rd House District in the Legislature, uses his time at the Army Corps of Engineers hearing wisely. He asks for a show of hands of those opposed to the plan, prompting a vast majority of hands to shoot up in the air. Then he urges federal officials not to align the $31 billion project in such a way that would displace any homes or businesses on Galveston Island and Bolivar Peninsula, the two barrier islands that make up a significant part of his district.
“People want to be heard, and this is a really bad, bad plan right now — a bad configuration for our community — and we need to go back to the original intent of it, which is a dune-line protec-
tion plan,” Middleton said, drawing whoops and cheers of approval from the crowd.
Middleton, 37, an independent oil executive and political newcomer, rode a polished conservative message, an endorsement from the governor and an avalanche of personal campaign financing to score an upset primary victory over a well-liked incumbent. Now the Wallisville native appears eager to gain the trust of Galveston County residents who fervently oppose the project, in large part because of concerns that their land will be seized through eminent domain.
“The devil’s in the details. I think we need a coastal barrier system for sure, it’s just got to be one that works for the taxpayers and this district and our area,” Middleton told the Houston Chronicle prior to the Galveston public meeting.
Middleton defeated two-term state Rep. Wayne Faircloth in the March Republican primary but lost the Galveston County portion of his district by a mere 83 votes. A 2,000-vote margin in Chambers County, where he is secretary of the local GOP, carried him to a decisive victory. So Middleton spent weeks during a noncompetitive general election campaign getting to know the part of his district more foreign to him, working to win over skeptics in both Galveston and Bolivar. He handily defeated Democrat Amanda Jamrok by roughly 9,000 votes in November.
“I appreciate his work ethic, he did it right, you get to make relationships when you get to meet people,” said Galveston Mayor Jim Yarbrough, a Democrat. “So I think he’s gonna be successful.”
Connecting with voters
Despite coming from a wealthy background — Middleton took over the Middleton Oil Co., started by his late father, John, which operates numerous oil and gas wells in Webb, Colorado, Liberty and Chambers counties — Middleton takes pride in his ability to connect with voters of all backgrounds. He claims to have knocked on more than 6,000 doors combined during the primary and general election campaigns, which is where he honed a defiant stance on private property rights. He has, for example, committed to capping or reducing property taxes during the coming legislative session.
“I heard people on their front porches saying, ‘Look, I’ve raised my family in this home and I’m gonna have to sell it,’” Middleton said. “Are we a state that’s really standing up for private property rights?”
Middleton’s messaging on property taxes dovetails nicely with that of Gov. Greg Abbott, who tried and failed to further limit increases in local property taxes during a 2017 special legislative session and who last year proposed a 2.5 percent cap on revenue growth from property taxes collected by local taxing agencies, with exceptions for law enforcement and teacher pay raises.
Cities and counties have criticized such measures, saying they limit local control and tie their hands in providing essential services for growing populations.
After Abbott came up short on several priorities in his legislative agenda, he committed to supporting GOP candidates who ran on his issues. And he targeted three fellow Republicans in particular — Faircloth and state Reps. Sarah Davis of West Houston and Lyle Larson of San Antonio — in what political observers saw as calculated payback.
Davis and Faircloth were supporters of Larson’s bill to put a $2,500-per-year limit on how much a donor could contribute to the governor and still be appointed to a state board or commission. The San Antonio ExpressNews reported in January that Abbott’s appointees had given him more than $14 million in campaign contributions. Davis and Larson also happened to be allies of outgoing House Speaker Joe Straus, a moderate who clashed with Abbott repeatedly.
Abbott endorsed primary challengers against all three legislators, including Middleton, a longtime supporter of the governor. Only Faircloth lost.
“With Faircloth, ideologically there wasn’t as much of an objection. He was pretty much smack dab in the middle of the Republican caucus,” said Mark P. Jones, a political scientist at Rice University. “But with him it was a combination of essentially guilt by association with Davis and Larson in support of that legislation, and there were some Galveston Republicans that were lobbying to get rid of him as well, for more of a personal reason.”
Faircloth, who was videotaped at a Chambers County Republican Party meeting accusing Abbott of making appointments to the University of Texas board of regents in exchange for campaign contributions, said “there’s no way to quantify” if Abbott’s endorsement ultimately sank his reelection campaign.
“What I said was, ‘If (trading appointments for campaign donations) goes on, it shouldn’t,’” Faircloth said. “Being ethical is everyone’s responsibility, it’s everyone’s job.”
Ethics and Austin
Middleton plays down Abbott’s endorsement as a significant factor in his victory, but he acknowledged that he’s known the governor since he was the state’s attorney general and that Abbott “wanted someone to get the job done, and he believed I was the right person to do that.”
Ironically, given that Faircloth’s stance on ethics may have cost him his seat, Middleton said ethics is a pillar of his policy platform. He said he hopes to pass a bill barring elected officials who leaving office from becoming lobbyists for five years. He also is a proponent of more stringent conflict-of-interest disclosures.
Middleton said the grip that the “Austin lobby” has on the Legislature was partly why he pumped $1.1 million of his own money into his primary and general election campaigns combined, including several personal loans totaling $635,000, according to campaign finance records. He donated $476,000 to his campaign after the March primary, records show, though his Democratic opponent, Jamrok, was considered a long shot to win in the GOP-leaning district.
“The Austin lobby did not want to see me elected,” he said. “They did not want someone to come in there that was always gonna put the taxpayers first. They fought me vigorously, and I did what it took to win. I’m not the kind of guy that’s just gonna do the minimum.”
Powerful conservative groups such as Texas Right to Life and Empower Texans also endorsed Middleton’s campaign, with the expectation that he would be a welcome addition to the far-right Freedom Caucus in the House. Middleton has committed to joining the Freedom Caucus as soon as he’s sworn into office, and he intends to vote for Rep. Dennis Bonnen, who represents an adjacent district and coastal community in Brazoria County, as the next House speaker.
But some wonder if Middleton’s alignment with the Freedom Caucus is a sign that he intends to legislate as an ideologue rather than a pragmatist.
“One of his slogans said ‘I will never work with Democrats,’” Faircloth said. “We’ll see how that works out.”
Middleton, who is married and has three young boys, calls himself a “faith, family, fiscal-responsibility and free-enterprise” conservative with plans to legislate on issues such as lowering property taxes. He also plans to help lead the charge on reinstituting prayer in Texas schools.
Property taxes and prayer
“At the end of the day, it is about the values that my constituents believe in, and the core of my values is my Christian faith. And in order to represent that essentially, you’ve got to fight for it,” Middleton said. “Good things don’t happen by accident.”
Middleton also made headlines by calling Texas’ Robin Hood plan — which shifts tax revenues from property-wealthy school districts such as Houston’s and Galveston’s to property-poor districts, even though parts of Houston struggle with poverty and significant achievement gaps — a “socialist redistribution of wealth.” He pointed to wealthy school districts that wield school funding irresponsibly, such as La Joya Independent School District in Hidalgo County, which used money from its general education fund to build a $20 million water park.
“We need to keep that money here,” Middleton said. “That’s property taxes that are collected in Galveston, and frankly, I’m not so certain it’s constitutional because it’s a statewide property tax. You’re taking local property tax money and spending it all over the state.”
And while Middleton was a key part of Abbott’s political chess game of consolidating power within the Texas Republican Party, Middleton has made it clear that, beginning Tuesday, he wants no part of any intraparty conflict. He hopes to make a quick impression among the incoming class of legislators.
Said Middleton: “People are ready for real change, they’re ready for real action and they’re ready for real reform in our government.”