In an
earlier post, I highlighted how Tom Delay, like Voldemort in Harry Potter, is reincarnating in many new candidates statewide in Texas, via illegal campaign contributions funneled through the Texans for a Republican Majority PAC, or TRMPAC. Republican Nelson Balido is one of those candidates, having received over $41,000 from DeLay's TRMPAC. To date, Nelson Balido has refused to return the questionable money back to DeLay's TRMPAC.
Now it turns out that Balido is expecting more funds to flow in from two other extreme right-wing conservatives. First, as Burnt Orange Report is reporting, right-wing conservative James Leininger is preparing to pour in even more money into the campaign of Nelson Balido, a right-wing Republican running in District 125.
As this article notes, Leininger has been making big contributions to right-wing conservative Republicans and DeLay's TRMPAC to help advance his own right-wing agenda, which includes supporting school voucher schemes and restricting abortion rights:
Conservative activist James Leininger--Texas' No. 2 individual donor--is making headlines again for trying to defeat moderate Republican Primary candidates who opposed his school-voucher agenda. From 2001 through 2005, Leininger's family contributed more than $3.1 million to conservative PACs and Republican candidates in Texas, second only to Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, whose family spent $11 million in that period. This spending reflects Leininger's agenda, which includes vouchers, home schooling, weaker tort laws and abortion restrictions .
The Leiningers' varied agenda keeps their political machine spinning year after year. When Republicans made a big push to take over the Texas House in 2002, Leininger was there, contributing heavily to Tom DeLay's Texans for a Republican Majority PAC ($142,500) and several leading TRMPAC-backed candidates.
Yet the Leiningers spent almost as much in the next election cycle. During the 2004 cycle they heavily backed constitutional amendments prohibiting gay marriages and establishing weaker tort laws. Meanwhile they invested in legislative candidates in advance of their failed 2005 push for school vouchers.
As Burnt Orange Report noted on Monday, Leininger has already plunged $25,000 into Balido's campaign, and is expected to plow much more into the right-winger's campaign soon.
But it doesn't stop there. Balido has already accepted $15,000 from Bob Perry, the major financier and contributor to Swift Boat Veterans for Truth. And as Balido's own financial disclosure reports to the Ethics Commission show, Balido accepted another $10,000 from Bob "Swiftboat Vets" Perry in August, for a grand total of $25,000 in total contributions.
And Bush political operatives, including RNC Chair Ken Mehlman and Bush's own nephew, George P. Bush, have been actively campaigning for Nelson Balido.
So it looks like DeLay's contributors and big names in the RNC are backing Balido. Even more reason that we support the Democrat in the district, Joaquin Castro.
Castro was one one of a group of roughly 50 Democratic state representatives who walked out of the legislative session and went to Oklahoma to protest and try to stop the DeLay redistricting plan from being rammed through the legislature. We need to continue to support Democrats in red-states that have the courage to stand up to right-wingers like Tom DeLay and Republican party big-wigs.
To learn more about Joaquin Castro's re-election campaign for Texas State Representative in District 125, visit his website. To contribute to Joaquin Castro's website, go to this site.