Dick fined $30K over mailers in council race
Eric Dick, who ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2019, was behind a deceptive endorsement mailer during that campaign that falsely suggested a group of Black Democrats had endorsed him and a slate of other candidates, the Texas Ethics Commission has ruled.
The commission voted last month to fine Dick $30,000 for the mailers, which it said violated the Texas Election Code because they did not include the required disclosure showing who paid for them and misrepresented the true source of the material.
It also found Dick filed misleading campaign finance reports, suggesting he had spent more than $125,000 in the final stages of the campaign that he did not actually spend. The commission voted to notify the State Bar of Texas of the violations.
The commission is drafting a final ruling, which it will adopt at its next meeting in May. The finding and the allotted punishment, voted on Feb. 24, are final.
Dick, a Republican attorney who serves on the Harris County Department of Education’s board of trustees, has denied wrongdoing. Originally, he told the commission he had nothing to do with the mailers. At the hearing last month, his attorney, Chris Carmona, told commissioners Dick was acting on behalf of a client when he commissioned them. Carmona also said Dick reported the expenditures “out of an abundance of caution.”
In a statement Friday, Carmona said the Feb. 24 hearing amounted to a “political farce run by a bunch of cronies and fat cats,” and said Dick has “every intention to appeal to the Supreme Court of the United States.”
Dick did not attend the hearing, Carmona said.
Commission staff found Dick paid more than $25,900 for two mailers purportedly from a group called the Harris County Black Democratic News. The mailers endorsed Dick, among other candidates, and were sent to more than 100,000 people in Houston.
Council races are nonpartisan, but party dynamics often factor into the campaigns.
The mailers featured photos of prominent Black politicians on the front, including former President Barack Obama, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, state Rep. Senfronia Thompson, state Sen. Borris Miles, and Mayor Sylvester Turner, among others. On the back, they announced endorsements for a slate of council candidates, including Dick. There was no disclosure on the materials, required by state law to show who paid for them.
Miles and Thompson at the time denounced the mailers, which they called misleading, and said they had nothing to do with them or the Harris County Black Democratic News.
As part of its investigation, commission staff contacted the U.S. Postal Service permit holder listed on the mailers, a company called Minuteman Press.
The owner told the commission that Dick is a longtime client, and he paid for the endorsement mailers to be published and distributed, said Natalie McDermon, assistant general counsel for the TEC. The company provided invoices for the mailers that Dick paid, along with emails and texts in which Dick requested the mailers, approved the design and arranged for payment. In another email, McDermon said, Dick told the printer it did not need to put a political disclosure statement on the materials because they purportedly were coming from a news organization.
“The evidence shows that the true source of the mailers at issue in these complaints is Eric Dick,” McDermon said. “He paid for these mailers, he contacted the printing company about these mailers, he even determined when and where these mailers would be distributed to thousands of Houston residents.”
Dick initially told the commission he had nothing to do with the promotional materials. After the evidence was provided to him, his attorney argued the Harris County Black Democratic News was the true source, and Dick was involved only as its attorney.
“The true source of the mailers, it’s right there on the mailers: Harris County Black Democratic News,” Carmona said at the hearing.
The commission separately voted to fine Phillip Bryant, the owner of Harris County Black Democratic News, $6,000, for failing to disclose the source of the mailers. It should have said the mailers came from Dick and the Harris County Black Democratic News, McDermon said.
The commission also found Dick improperly listed more than $125,000 in expenditures on his campaign finance reports that never actually occurred. Dick told the commission he thought he had to report potential obligations for payments.
The companies listed for those payments, such as PFS and WS Services, had addresses that matched Dick’s attorney, the Carmona Law Firm, and his father’s business, Dick Investments, LLC, respectively, according to McDermon.
“The evidence has shown that Eric Dick reported $125,750 in expenditures that never occurred,” McDermon said.
Carmona argued his client merely was being cautious.
“This isn’t a case where he’s hiding funds, where he didn’t disclose things,” said Carmona. “He over-reported things, again, out of an abundance of caution.”
Dick ultimately lost the runoff to At-Large Council Member Sallie Alcorn, 53 percent to 47 percent. He also drew scrutiny during that race for appearing to plagiarize most of his website’s campaign platform from mayoral hopeful Tony Buzbee, including biographic details.
Dick ran in this month’s primary elections as a Republican candidate for county treasurer. He lost in that contest. He also ran unsuccessfully for City Council in 2015 and 2011.