Luther Loaded for Stretch Before Senate Election
as Springer Raises Four Times More from Donors

By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor
September 22, 2020

A pair of Republican megadonors who run oil companies in Midland are bankrolling the frontrunning candidates in the special competition for a Texas Senate seat in a district that's hundreds of miles away with its anchor in the northern outskirts of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.

State Rep. Drew Springer of Muenster rounded up more than $550,000 from contributors in the past two months with Midland Energy CEO Javaid Anwar as the most generous with a $100,000 donation for the lawmaker who's competing in the special Senate District 30 election a week from now.

But SD 30 contender Shelley Luther matched the Anwar infusion with a $100,000 contribution of her own from fracking billionaire Farris Wilks as gravy on a $1 million loan that she secured from CrownQuest Operating boss Tim Dunn of Midland on the same day in early September.

Wilks and Dunn have been the two leading contributors to the hard right in Texas during the past decade. Dunn has been the chief source of funding for Empower Texans - the conservative group that's been aligned with a small number of tea party lawmakers, conservative organizations and other donors like Wilks in pursuit of candidates to run to the right in races for the Legislature. Wilks was the number one political giver in Texas during the last election cycle.

Dunn and Wilks accounted for 93 percent of the money that Luther amassed for a debut campaign as a Dallas hair salon operator who became a lockdown protest celebrity during the spring after a clash with local officials when she refused to close her business in April after reopening in defiance of a COVId-19 closure order.

Luther entered the final week before next Tuesday's special election with more than $551,000 in the campaign bank compared to Springer's surplus of more than $192,000.

The lion's share of the campaign cash that Springer corralled for the special SD 30 fight came from special interests that wield influence at the statehouse. Springer's donor list was a who's who of the GOP establishment in Texas - with $25,000 from the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC, $20,000 from the Texas Farm Bureau's PAC and $20,000 more from Houston beer distributor John Nau.

Springer accepted $15,000 from Dallas oil family member Ray Hunt and $10,000 from Brint Ryan - a Dallas tax consulting firm owner who pro-Luther forces have portrayed as a registered lobbyist like those who conservatives want to bar from doing business with local governments.

Luther spent almost $646,000 during the past month when Springer had expenditures of nearly $605,000 in abbreviated bids for the upper chamber in a special election that Governor Greg Abbott put on the fastest possible track when he called it last month.

Anwar has been one of the biggest giving Texans in recent years as a native of Pakistan before immigrating to the United States where he made a fortune in the oil patch. Anwar has contributed more than $1 million to Abbott and about half that amount to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick. The vast majority of the donations that Anwar has made have gone to Republicans who are incumbents in statewide offices.

While Denton Mayor Chris Watts appears to be longshot at best as one of five Republicans in the special SD 30 field, he could be a major factor in the race after shelling out almost $139,000 for the brief campaign that he's fueled with a mix of supporter money and loans.

SD 30 hopeful Jacob Minter has a realistic chance for a trip to overtime as the only Democrat in the contest in the event that GOP voters split their support among the five Republicans in the pack.