Morgan Meyer’s Murky Money

State Representative Morgan Meyer (R – Dallas) boasts about his tenure on the House Energy and Insurance committees, citing a number of accolades he’s received from various groups around the state. While he considers himself a “friend of the taxpayer”, his real friends are the special interests who fill his campaign coffers.

Campaign finance reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission show Meyer has received tens of thousands of dollars from big business interests, including insurance, real estate, financial services and telecommunications, just in the first half of 2018. And during the same period, Meyer took $35,000 in political action committee (PAC) contributions.

Who are Morgan Meyer’s real constituents, the people of District 108 or his campaign contributors?

Americans of varying political viewpoints are alarmed by the influence PAC and special interest groups have in politics. Data from the Pew Research Center found 76 percent of Americans say money has a greater influence on politics today than ever before.

The Center for Responsive Politics reports 2,065 super PACs have reported $150,941,232 in total independent expenditures so far for the 2018 election cycle. During the last presidential election, super PACs raised a total of $313.5 million and spent $73.2 million.

At a time when the public is more wary than ever about the influence of special interest money in politics, Rep. Morgan Meyer can’t get enough of it.