Texas Trial Lawyers Spend big on Democratic Nominee

Trial lawyers are known for throwing big bucks behind their candidates, but this year’s Texas gubernatorial election is proving to be a high stakes gamble: recent figures show that plaintiffs attorneys have contributed $1.9 million -through June - to Democrat Bill White’s campaign. Additionally, a Houston lawyer funded a political committee with $3 million to help defeat incumbent Republican Rick Perry.

According to the Dallas Morning News, the last time trial lawyers backed a Democratic nominee that heavily was Ann Richards in the 1990s. If the trial lawyers are successful, some fear that the progress Texas has made with common sense tort reform may be reversed. Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse of Central Texas’ own board member, Bobby Jenkins, was quoted in the story:

But Austin businessman Bobby Jenkins, a board member of Citizens Against Lawsuit Abuse, says people with legitimate claims have access to the courts. He argued that policies advocated by his group have helped Texas weather tough economic times.

"Without tort reform, Texas would not have been as successful as it has been. Or in light of the current economic conditions, we'd be a lot worse off than we currently are," he said.

As we’ve said before – Texas has instituted reforms that has improved the environment for jobs and businesses. Let’s hope whatever happens at the polls on November 2 does not reverse the state’s hard work.