Lina Hidalgo refused vendor contributions -- and still raised $1.8 million

[LetMyPeopleVote]

Not taking money from county contractors and vendors is a big deal in Texas. The County Judge is the Chief Executive Officer of the County and contractors can donate unlimited amounts to these people under Texas law.

I really like Lina

Link to tweet

Three years ago, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo took a risk by declaring she no longer would accept campaign contributions from county vendors.

Hidalgo, who pitched herself to voters as a reformer, said she wanted to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. In saying no to vendor cash, she shut off the spigot to the single most lucrative source of campaign contributions for Commissioners Court members.

Turns out, her fundraising has been just fine. Hidalgo since has raised $1.8 million and has $1.5 million on hand, leaving her well-positioned to pay for a countywide campaign as she runs for re-election this year.......

A Houston Chronicle investigation found from 2020 through 2021, commissioners relied on county vendors — through political action committees, employees and their family members — for 79 percent of their campaign contributions while steering 93 percent of engineering, architecture, surveying and appraisal work to firms who contributed. Many individual contributions were at least $10,000.

[cloudbase]

1. I'm one of those small donors.

Voted for her earlier today.