Texas State Sen. Mayes Middleton from Galveston is bankrolling campaigns across the state to push a far-right agenda, using a combination of his own oil and gas riches and the cash he fundraises from fellow members of the economic elite.
One of those races includes Middleton’s own bid in the Republican Primary for Texas Attorney General. In that race, Middleton beat out Rep. Chip Roy, helped over the line by spending a record-breaking almost $17 million on his campaign.
In addition to his own campaigns, Middleton has long exploited Texas’ lack of political campaign spending limits to finance the election of a network of far-right officials. A report from The Texas Tribune shows that when the Freedom Caucus was established in the Texas House, Middleton had been a donor to three-fourths of its members.
Additional candidates received support from Middleton through his donations to the MAGA-aligned Empower Texans PAC. Beyond campaigns, the oil executive also contributes to conservative advocacy groups like Texas Values and Texas Right to Life. This year, he even sponsored the state GOP convention.
The Tribune notes that Middleton’s political spending started in 2014 with two $3,500 contributions to the campaign of Wayne Faircloth, an insurance salesman who ran for and won a seat in the Texas House. Middleton launched his own political career four years later by challenging Faircloth in the Republican Primary and taking his seat.
In the 2018 election, the funds Middleton sunk into his effort to replace Faircloth dwarfed the spending of all other Texas House races, with $2.3 million going into his campaign. Spending averaged $354,000 for all other statehouse races that year, and even the second most-expensive race still trailed behind Middleton’s by over $700,000.
The source of Middleton’s money is his family inheritance. Mayes Middleton carries forward a dynasty started by his father, John Middleton, who founded the Middleton Oil Company and invested in multiple farming and ranching operations around Texas. John Middleton’s obituary mentioned that he also forayed into politics, winning a city council seat in Liberty, Texas, and being appointed head of the Trinity River Authority by Republican Gov. Bill Clements in 1979.
Ever since the Supreme Court opened the flood gates of political campaign contributions with its ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, spending on election campaigns has skyrocketed all over the United States. This is despite the fact that polling repeatedly shows growing numbers of voters believe that there is too much money in politics.
One poll showed a majority of respondents believing that large donations by wealthy people and corporations increase corruption. Frustration with PAC-backed candidates is growing so much that candidates are increasingly tapping into those concerns by calling out corporate donations received by their opponents.
Despite the financial resources that corporations, millionaires, and billionaires—and now trillionaires—have over working-class candidates, some races around the U.S. demonstrate that coalitions built locally can overcome corporate power, most famously Zohran Mamdani’s campaign for the New York mayoralty. Texas still needs it big grassroots effort to tackle corporate oligarchy and the wealthy’s control of elections.
As with all op-eds published by People’s World, the views reflected here are those of the author.
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