Texas Democratic Party: Moving Texas Forward

In her decades as a career politician, Kay Bailey Hutchison has gone above and beyond the Republican Party’s typical level of special interest cronyism. The connection between Hutchison’s campaign contributions and her Senate votes on policy indicate that she buys into a pay-to-play political culture that protects the profits of corporate lobbyists and insurance executives instead of making Texas families her priority.

It should come as no surprise that Hutchison’s biggest special interest crony involves her own family.

Yesterday, we discussed how KBH uses our tax dollars to make money for her family by directing tens of millions in dollars in earmarks to her husband Ray Hutchison’s business interests. Today, we learn that the company her husband works for, Vinson & Elkins, is her top campaign contributor:

• Since 2005, Kay Bailey Hutchison has received $85,950 from Vinson & Elkins – a law firm where her husband, Ray, worked until last year – which is more than she’s received from any single contributor in the last five years. (Source: Center for Responsive Politics) During that time, Vinson & Elkins has “helped issue and defend the government bonds that benefit” state and local agencies that were awarded tens of millions of dollars in earmarks Hutchison directed to Texas. (Source: Austin American-Statesman)

• Hutchison’s pay-to-play politics extends beyond her own family. In the last five years, Hutchison has also received $1.4 million from health care special interests, many of whom are now working alongside KBH to defeat President Obama’s health care reform efforts. (Source: Fort Worth Star-Telegram via Burnt Orange Report)

• Hutchison’s special interest hypocrisy is so rampant that it has become a cornerstone of her campaign. At an October campaign event in Waco, KBH called for campaign contribution limits in state campaigns, completely ignoring the fact that 24% of the money she received came in checks exceeding $50,000. (Source: Houston Chronicle, Texans for Public Justice) Even when she had a chance to reform campaign finance laws in Washington, Hutchison voted against the Campaign Reform Act. (Source: Project Vote Smart)

The millions KBH has raised from special interest groups over the years shows that she is nothing more than a hypocritical Republican career politician who practices pay-to-play politics that takes care of her special interest cronies at the expense of hard working Texas families.

Next: #3: The Real KBH… Voted Against Justice Sotomayor, a Supremely Qualified Nominee

Previous: #5: The Real KBH… Uses Our Tax Dollars To Make Money For Her Family

To read more about the real KBH, visit the TDP’s “Who is the Real KBH?” campaign by clicking here.