Do As I Say, Not As I Do: MJ & Her Dark Money

It’s the last day of the #TXSEN campaign, and we’re not holding our breath that MJ Hegar is going to give up one of her longest running lies. 

Since Day 1, MJ has railed against money in politics. Yet, like her political hero Elizabeth Warren, Hegar is not practicing what she preaches…

In her unsuccessful run for Congress, Hegar was identified by watchdog group, OpenSecrets.org, as one of the cycle’s biggest Corporate-to-Leadership PAC bait-and-switchers. Leadership PACs take in Corporate PAC funds, then distribute them to other candidates. In her #TXSEN race, MJ has taken in more than $131,000 from Leadership PACs.

More egregious: Chuck Schumer and dark money special interest groups have poured nearly $34 million into MJ Hegar’s campaign. Silicon Valley billionaires alone have dumped $18 million into ads in these final weeks. Getting outside groups to flood the airwaves the last couple weeks of the election has been MJ’s game plan in the primary, run off, and now general. 

And we’re not the first to call out her hypocrisy.

Sen. Royce West in July: “My opponent said in the newspaper this week that she wants to see the influence of big money taken out of politics. Maybe that’s true – as long as you are talking about everyone else’s money but her own… 

“Hegar and her Washington allies will pump more than a million dollars into television ads to try to buy this runoff election. It’s worth pointing out that part of the big spend will come from a super PAC – the kind of group, exempted from reporting and transparency requirements, that those who want to clean up government are usually against. My opponent has even spoken out against these types of groups.”

Yet, Hegar’s spokesperson criticized primary opponent Cristina Tzintzún Ramirez in February saying, “You can’t say you’re ‘no PAC’ when on Day One there’s a PAC standing next to you” (Dallas Morning News). 

MJ warned of quid pro quos. Which begs the questions: 

What’s the motive of all these outside groups pushing for MJ’s election?

Does MJ not think it’s hypocritical to accept millions in Corporate PAC and dark money, while saying she’s against both?

One last day to hold MJ to account.