Rise of the RPT

The historic rise of the Republican Party in Texas over the past two decades has been made possible by an alliance between economic conservatives, principally concerned with issues such as taxes and tort reform, and social conservatives, whose priority is abortion and traditional values.

Most economic conservatives are social conservatives and vice versa. Where such overlap has not existed, each group has been willing to set aside their differences to achieve their goals.

Until 2000, plaintiffs' lawyers, especially those who handle personal injury and class actions, were largely content to bankroll Texas Democrats. They claimed a common cause with labor unions and grassroots liberals who resent big business.

Texas Plaintiffs' Lawyers Began Infiltrating

But starting with their intervention in a 2000 Dallas County Republican judicial primary, Texas plaintiffs' lawyers began infiltrating the Republican Party, even while continuing to contribute a whopping 80% of the campaign funds raised by Texas Democrats.

In 2001 the trial lawyers' ally, Texas House Speaker Pete Laney (D), could not cajole Governor Rick Perry (R) into signing a redistricting plan that would keep Texas Democrats' sinking electoral ship afloat.

Plaintiffs' Bar Has Donated Hundreds of Thousands
of Dollars To Republican

The trial lawyers then intensified their efforts to influence the Republican Party. Since that time, the plaintiffs' bar has donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to Republican candidates in their own names and through numerous front groups. The trial lawyers have chosen their own candidates to run in Republican primaries and aligned themselves with former Republican statewide officials.

A major social conservative activist was even recruited to oppose a tort reform ballot measure, and Republican officeholders have been courted at lavish parties and events.

This orchestrated effort has produced mixed results. On one hand, the vast majority of Republicans continue to support tort reform, a commitment that is unapologetically declared in the party's state and national platforms.

However, several GOP judicial and legislative candidates bankrolled largely by the plaintiffs' lawyers have prevailed, and the trial lawyers' largesse almost succeeded in persuading a few Republican Senators to scuttle asbestos reform.

This burgeoning trial lawyer infiltration raises several pressing questions for the future of the Republican Party in Texas.

Will The Trial Lawyers Succeed?

First, will the trial lawyers succeed in picking off a few Republicans here and there?

Second, will they reach their ultimate goal of capturing the Republican Party? Can they make it subservient to their financial interests at the expense of taxpayers and the economy?

If nothing else, party activists should be wary of the trial lawyers' attempt to peel off one wing of the Republican Party, such as social conservatives.

Trial lawyers are anxious to thwart the current governing coalition precisely because it has worked in the public's interest, not their own. Under this coalition, Texas has prospered as curbs have been placed on the trial lawyers' jackpot justice bonanza.

The epidemic of frivolous lawsuits, outrageous unlimited damage awards, and obscene legal fees is now under control. The trial lawyers' GOP infiltration poses a clear and present danger to the continued success of conservative Republican leadership and a good business climate in Texas, and it must be stopped in its tracks before it is too late.