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A Texas Panhandle businessman has pledged $20 million to create a new political group aimed at moving the state Republican Party further to the right.
The group announced Tuesday that Alex Fairley is the sole donor to the new Texas Republican Leadership Fund. Its formation comes amid a leadership contest in the Texas House of Representatives, a proxy for the intraparty struggles that have dominated Texas Republican politics in recent years.
Mr. Fairley is an emerging conservative megadonor from Amarillo who has donated tens of millions of dollars to West Texas A&M University to establish an institute promoting “Panhandle values.” He is also a major donor to Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Sen. Ted Cruz.
Mr Fairley is also the father of Caroline Fairley, who will be seated in the House of Commons in January.
The initial contribution is a staggering amount, even for Texas, which has no limits on political spending for candidates other than the Justice Department. For comparison, Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this year recorded $6 million in contributions from Republican donors across the country, calling it the largest single contribution to a candidate in state history.
Fairley did not mention state Rep. David Cook by name, indicating that his group would support him as a candidate for speaker of the House. Cook, of Mansfield, secured the nomination of the House Republican caucus earlier this month. But Rep. Dustin Burrows of Lubbock said there is enough support among both Republicans and Democrats to win the speaker’s seat in a January vote.
“All House Republicans should strongly oppose the Republican minority working with Democrats to dismantle the joint governance agreement,” Fairey said in a statement, nodding to Burroughs.
Fairey also said his new political group will build on the victories won by conservatives in the 2024 election cycle and “expand a true Republican majority.”
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Last year, Fairey donated more than $220,000 to Texas Freedom, making him the largest donor to a powerful political action committee after West Texas billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilkes. became one of the Defend Texas Liberty largely ceased operations after the Texas Tribune revealed its ties to prominent Adolf Hitler admirer Nick Fuentes and other known white supremacists.
Mr. Fairley was previously involved in local politics in Amarillo, but has increased his contributions at the state level as Mr. Dunn has shifted his focus to national politics.
Disclosure: Texas A&M University and West Texas A&M University are financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization funded in part by contributions from members, foundations, and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune’s journalism. See the complete list of them here.
