Sam Harless harnessing special interest cash

Texans are all too familiar with the outsized role money plays in politics these days. Political action committees (PACs), lobbyists and special interest groups dole out huge sums of campaign cash to get what they want from elected officials. Politicians rake in this money to further their careers, special interests get what they pay for, and too often the public ends up losing. Sam Harless, candidate for Texas House District 126 in Harris County, knows this because his wife held the seat for years. Now Sam is running, and while he hasn’t been elected yet, he’s already become very skilled at playing the political money game.
Before running himself, Sam Harless served as the campaign treasurer for his wife, Patricia Harless, and was caught neglecting the rules of financial contributions by the Texas Ethics Commission in 2010 and 2012.
Now that he’s running, Harless is raking in money from many of the same people who donated to his wife, and even got $80,000 directly from her.
According to the campaign finance reports from the Texas Ethics Commission, Harless has taken tens of thousands of dollars political action committees (PACs) special interest groups, lawyers and lobbyists.
These donors are financing Sam Harless’ campaign, and they are expecting their investment to pay off once he is in office.
Who will Sam Harless work for in the Texas House – his campaign contributors, or the people he’s supposed to represent?