Texas Campaign Finance Law 101

"Politics has got so expensive that it takes lots of money to even get beat with nowadays.” - Will Rogers, 1931

Adam and Eve. Peanut butter and jelly. Fork and knife. Batman and Robin. Money and politics.

What do all these things have in common? American classics. Iconic duos. Time-tested traditions. You can’t have one without the other. Or, at least, that’s what your local campaign finance lawyer says.

Since we’re all just twiddling our thumbs today waiting for runoff election results, why not dive into a little campaign finance law?

In many ways, understanding the laws of money in politics is to understand politics itself. You can be the smartest, most well-studied policy wonk, but your brilliant wonky ideas will never become law if you cannot raise and spend money legally and effectively.

Plus, reputations are on the line. No matter how innocent, one wrong step can risk the reputation of a politician, donor, or trade group. The first move of any opposition researcher worth their salt is to dig through campaign finance reports and see what kind of drama they can uncover.

For those who have not already sold their souls to the dark arts, money in politics can be a bit of an icky subject. But I promise it’s not always as sinister as it’s portrayed. It’s more matter-of-fact than you might think.

Here are three observations about money in politics that I find helpful to remember.