As the state Senate District 25 runoff battle between Republican incumbent Jeff Wentworth and Tea Party insurgent Donna Campbell hits its home stretch, it’s largely being funded by forces on opposite sides of litigation issues.
Texans For Lawsuit Reform, an ultra-conservative Houston political action committee, has been determined to oust Wentworth, who they perceive as a friend of trial lawyers and an opponent of tort reform. TLR funded the failed primary campaign of former Railroad Commissioner Elizabeth Ames Jones – to the tune of nearly $700,000 – and has quietly shifted their support to Campbell, according to a campaign finance report submitted Tuesday by Campbell to the Texas Ethics Commission.
Campbell, a New Braunfels physician, reported two in-kind contributions totaling $19,595 from TLR in mid-June. Wentworth’s support from Texans for Insurance Reform – a group that advocates for trial lawyers against insurance companies – was considerably more substantial. He reported contributions totaling more than $91,000 from TIR during the first month of the runoff campaign, enabling him to raise nearly five times as much money as Campbell during this period.
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