In the wake of recent mass school shooting, it seems that Texas’ two senators have been receiving contributions from pro-gun donors. Senator Ted Cruz and John Cornyn have been receiving major contributions from pro-gun donors.
In contrast to Cornyn, who received $340,000 from pro-gun individuals and groups during his career as third ranking U.S senators and representatives in this Congress; Cruz accumulated more money than him with over $442,000 throughout his career.
Unlike super PACs, direct contributions from pro-gun individuals and political action committees are limited to a relatively small amount each election cycle. In contrast with this pattern of smaller donations is the millions that unlimited spending outside groups like unions or corporations can deliver in support for candidates independent from coordination with their campaigns.
“Throughout his career, Sen. Cruz has passionately fought to protect families from criminals and defend Texans’ constitutional rights,” Steve Guest, spokesperson for Cruz, told ABC News.
The National Rifle Association has spent a total of $575,000 in local Texas elections for seven consecutive years both directly to campaigns and through independent ad spending supporting candidates. This was revealed by an analysis done on state campaign disclosure reports from Transparency USA, a nonpartisan nonprofit that tracks state-level political disclosures.
The campaign disclosure reports also show that executives from Daniel Defense, the maker of an assault weapon used in last week’s school shooting, have been major Republican donors over these past few years.
Daniel Defense President and CEO, Marvin Daniel has given $300K to Trump Victory as well hundreds of thousands more going towards other Republican campaigns and committees. They also donate regularly ($20k so far), with their most recent contribution being this year’s election cycle where they supported the National Shooting Sports Foundation PAC.
Early last year, the company made a donation that was later refunded “at the request of the donor” last month. The refund will be disclosed in next month’s quarterly disclosure report.
Treasurer Nancy Watkins did not disclose why, but the Georgia runoffs have led the group to be dormant.
The Gun Owners Action Fund has received donations from other manufacturers, including $100K in December 2020 that will be refunded following a complaint filed by the Campaign Legal Center.
The National Rifle Association has been the subject of many battles and threats over recent years, but new pro-gun PAC’s have added momentum to their cause.
