There are two real good reasons for campaign finance reform in CCISD. Misty Dawson and Scott Bowen.
In Texas there are no limits on donations and it’s pretty obvious here in the CCISD area. State Representative Money Mayes Middleton spent $2.5 Million of his own money to win a state house seat here in Galveston County and CNN aired a segment called “Deep in the Pockets of Texas” highlighting 2 billionaires donations to candidates.
And now that money is coming to CCISD. It is unlimited. It is unstoppable. These billionaires can donate unlimited amounts of money to put unqualified, extreme white wing, candidates on our ballot for CCISD. They could finance legal challenges after these candidates lose causing chaos and discouraging qualified candidates from running. This is happening right now in CCISD.
Bowen spent over $20,000 on his latest at-large campaign, five times more than his opponent. This does not include the donation by the Harris County Republican Party in the form of a mailer. Dawson spent about $8000 on her campaign in her district only. Most candidates spend a couple of thousand dollars for a school district campaign.
For those who do not know here is what Bowen and his extreme white wing candidates can do in CCISD in the next upcoming election:
- Candidates can accept unlimited amounts of donations
- Candidates can accept donations from outside of the district, even out of state
- Candidates can accept donations from political parties (Bowen and Dawson)
- Candidates can accept PAC money from billionaires like the ones in the CNN report
- Wealthy Candidates can loan themselves unlimited amounts of donations
CCISD is not alone in this problem. For decades school boards across Texas did not have the problem of unlimited donations. Unlimited money started to affect our schools about 6 years ago. For the sake of all qualified candidates CCISD needs to do something to curb this abuse for instance:
- Limit donations from inside the district only
- Ban PAC donations
- Curb the amount of personal loans
- Limit donation amounts to $500
Bay Area Houston 