Texas Megadonor Calls Out Far Right's Dirty, Dishonest Political Tactics

Texas conservative megadonor Alex Fairly is raising alarm bells about what he sees as the far right’s “dirty, dishonest political tactics” and the ability to control people and votes via money.

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This is the kind of awakening we should have been seeing from wealthy elites who bear the duty of noblesse oblige, that is: “the inferred responsibility of privileged people to act with generosity and nobility toward those less privileged.”

Alex Fairly is “one of the most influential donors in Texas politics, ranking as the 10th largest individual contributor in 2024 legislative races.” He has donated millions to ousting Republicans who failed to be far-right enough for his liking.

But now, he’s raising alarm bells about what he sees as “dirty, dishonest political tactics,” Kate McGee reveals in a must-read piece in the Texas Tribune.

“As Fairly became more deeply entrenched in Texas politics, he grew uncomfortable with what he saw as dirty, dishonest political tactics aligned with candidates backed by him and Dunn,” McGee wrote. Tim Dunn is an “ultraconservative billionaire powerbroker, who has long worked to pull Texas further to the right.”

What happened?

One big part of his change seems to have been meeting with Republican State House Speaker Dade Phelan, who he had been trying to oust to replace with a more hardline conservative. This caused him to “question the narratives he had been fed.”

“Eventually, he met with Phelan, whom he had spent $700,000 trying to defeat, and began to question the political narratives he had been fed. Days before the speaker vote, Fairly reversed course and paused his PAC’s plans. His daughter, a freshman legislator, made a last-minute switch, too, backing Burrows instead of Rep. David Cook of Mansfield.”

Meeting with people who have been demonized can humanize those people to the folks who are being fed a negative narrative. This is why talking with people with whom we disagree — and those who have quite frankly been propagandized to such a degree that they might not see us or our loved ones as human beings — is so critical.

It takes patience and a certain kind of personality to do it, but it’s worth the effort if it changes even one mind from hate to openness.

Fairly has not changed his mind about being a conservative. He is just concerned about the “divisive” tactics being used to empower conservatives.

“Now, Fairly says he still believes in his conservative principles but no longer supports the political tactics used to enforce them. He’s trying to steer people like Dunn toward a less divisive approach and figuring out what role, if any, he wants to play in politics moving forward.”

Fairly is a guy who spent $300,000.00 to support Ronny Jackson’s first run in 2020 for Congress and in 2023 began donating to the Defend Texas Liberty PAC, if that tells you anything about his values. He started a $20 million PAC for the purpose of primarying Texas House Republicans who did not back the far right challenger to the State House Speaker, Phelan.

For Fairly to call out divisive tactics is a big moment. It represents the possibility that others might be inspired to also check their own moral compass.

Money in Politics

Fairly warned about the power of money in politics.