I Will Tell You The Truth About Texas Farm Bureau In The Next 15 Seconds | Texas Farm Bureau

On the dispersed flatlands amid Fort Account and Abilene lies Cisco, home to a billionaire ancestors of allegiant conservatives that has befuddled its weight about in Texas Republican backroom for years.

From this baby Texas town, the Wilkses — brothers Farris and Dan and their all-encompassing families — accept doled out millions acknowledging candidates and causes that reflect their hardline political credo anchored in faith, abandon and guns.

This year there is a new wrinkle: One of the family’s own is active for office.

Jon Francis, 51, son-in-law of Farris and JoAnn Wilks, is one of four Republicans jockeying for the Texas House Commune 60 bench actuality alone by accompaniment Rep. Mike Lang, a accomplished almsman of the Wilks' allotment who autonomous not to run for reelection and has not accustomed a adopted successor.

The abundantly rural bench is absolutely Republican, and the activity curve arising are not unusual. Francis and Glenn Rogers are apparent as front-runners in the four-way race. The above brands himself as the allegiant bourgeois choice; the closing casts himself as the beneath hardline candidate.

Francis affiliated JoAnn and Farris Wilks’ babe almost 25 years ago and works at Wilks Development, a absolute acreage development and advance company. Although Francis has never captivated office, he has formed abaft the scenes in the family’s political efforts. Rogers, 64, a agriculturist and veterinarian, has served as admiral of the Palo Pinto Canton Farm Bureau and as a academy lath member.

Rogers entered the chase in September afterwards Lang initially appear his retirement to run for canton commissioner. Lang antipodal advance canicule afterwards — alone to adjudge in December he would not run for reelection to the House afterwards all. Lang’s 11th-hour accommodation triggered a applicant filing extension, and Francis jumped into the race.

“I appetite to accomplish abiding that our commune has an absolute solid bourgeois that's accommodating to go and activity for our values," Francis said at a applicant appointment at the end of January. "That is the acumen I absitively to accomplish this run. ... Our ethics are account angry for."

The chase has not gone afterwards its affecting moments. And the catechism looming over it all is whether Rogers can affected the Wilks family’s arrangement — and checkbook.

Farris Wilks, a pastor in Eastland County, and his adolescent brother, Dan, who accept 17 accouchement amid them, hit it big in the 2000s during the state’s fracking boom. Overnight, it seemed, the families went from active in double-wide trailers to accepting billions.

They started acid checks, pumping millions into assertive Texas Republican circles, and abetment assorted hardline bourgeois candidates and causes that fit their political ideology. The family, forth with adolescent bourgeois mega-donor Tim Dunn of Midland, has accustomed abundantly to groups like Empower Texans and Texas Appropriate to Life, organizations that affair scorecards baronial adopted admiral on their “fiscal responsibility” or “pro-life” records. The groups additionally generally attack into GOP primaries to abutment candidates they account abundantly conservative.

This year, the Wilkses and Dunn are absorption heavily on accidental anon to their advantaged candidates. Farris Wilks, for example, has spent big in the chase to alter backward accompaniment Rep. Jonathan Stickland, a Bedford Republican carefully affiliated to the family. He has additionally contributed tens of bags of dollars to a primary amateur to accompaniment Rep. Dan Flynn, a Canton Republican who has generally accustomed affliction from his appropriate for actuality too moderate.

One House member, accompaniment Rep. Charlie Geren, R-Fort Worth, has fended off challenges from candidates with Wilks and Empower Texans allotment afore and thinks the ancestors is “determined to buy a seat” at the Legislature.

“I assumption they don’t accept a bigger way to absorb that money,” Geren told The Texas Tribune. “If I were that wealthy, I’d abiding be award article bigger to do with my money.”

Since abutting the chase in mid-December, Francis has aloft added than $600,000, mostly from JoAnn and Farris Wilks, who anniversary contributed $250,000. A ample block of his added contributions came from donors with the aftermost name Wilks, donors who assignment at a aggregation alleged Wilks or both, according to a Texas Tribune assay of attack accounts reports.

The generosity of the Wilks political apparatus has fatigued criticism, decidedly from Rogers, who calls it adverse that there is a “lack of accuracy to the boilerplate aborigine of the antecedent of Francis’ money.”

“Francis and the Wilks [family] are accommodating to absorb and say annihilation to win, alike admitting they may not say it directly,” Rogers told the Tribune aftermost week, apropos to the Wilkses’ access with groups like Empower Texans. “I entered this attack with no illusions of the banking capabilities of the Wilks [family]. Votes are not for auction in this district.”

But Francis, in interviews and at applicant forums, has coiled abroad suggestions that his ancestors is attempting to buy an election, casting himself as the “outsider” who has accustomed added than 500 alone contributions.

“I fabricated a accommodation aboriginal on at the actual alpha of the attack that I’m not accepting a penny from [political activity committees], able interests and lobbyists — I debris to accept my easily tied,” Francis told the Tribune in an account aftermost week. “Unfortunately, the Austin antechamber has fabricated their choice, and it is not me.”

Rogers, for his part, has aloft added than $160,000 back entering the race. His bigger addition to date was a atom of the Wilks’ half-million — $30,000 from the Texas Farm Bureau Friends of Agriculture Fund.

The added two candidates in the chase — Christopher Perricone, who was ousted as Mineral Wells ambassador aftermost week, and Granbury advocate Kellye SoRelle — accept aloft appreciably abate amounts; SoRelle told the Tribune that, money aside, she is the applicant “with experience, who is alone aggravating to serve the people.” And Perricone said he thinks voters should casting a election for the "candidate that shares your ethics and ... that can best actuate others in Austin to accompany them in the activity to accumulate our freedoms!"

While both Francis and Rogers say they are active as conservatives, a advantageous bulk of aurora exists amid the two. Francis has dubbed himself as an unwavering, uncompromising bourgeois who wants to represent voters in the commune and activity for their values. Rogers has appropriate he would be accommodating to accord a little to get a little — if it would advice rural Texans.

At a contempo applicant forum, Francis absolved the abstraction that assembly charge alone accept a bench at the table to appulse the aldermanic action by negotiating and compromising.

“I accept a able acceptance that one man can accomplish a huge difference,” he said. “I appetite to let you apperceive that I don’t accept a white flag, I don’t own a white banderole and I won’t accession a white flag.”

Rogers countered that "incremental, absolute change is abundant bigger than no change" at all.

“We’ve apparent issues area extremists accept a position that is so far to the appropriate or to the larboard that there is no adventitious that it is activity to get passed,” Rogers said. “You authority to your ethics — no catechism about that — but you additionally accept to govern.”

The altered approaches accept elicited abetment from altered crowds. Francis touts endorsements from abstracts like U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz — who has benefited heavily from the Wilks family’s wallet — while Rogers has appear abutment from Republicans like above Texas Gov. Rick Perry. (Rogers’ aisle aboriginal beyond with Perry’s, the applicant said, in 1984 back Perry was active for accompaniment adumbrative in the district. “We’ve kept up with one addition over the years,” Rogers told the Tribune, “and we allotment that Aggie bond.”)

The chase has not been afterwards theatrics. At the end of January, Rogers stumbled on a bourgeois hardline back he declared he was adjoin a ban on “taxpayer-funded lobbying.”

The convenance of bounded entities like cities and counties application aborigine funds to accelerate lobbyists to the Legislature to appeal their cases on legislation is a ambition of Republicans, who approved abominably to ban it in 2019 and will all but absolutely try afresh in 2021 back accompaniment assembly reconvene at the Capitol.

An edited video of Rogers advertence his position — “I appetite you to apperceive that I am adjoin the ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying. You heard that right” — fabricated the circuit and annoyed accoutrement amid the Empower Texans crowd.

A few canicule later, Rogers issued a account adage he had “spent a lot of time alert to bodies allocution about” the affair and seemed to about-face his position slightly, acquainted that “strict ambit and limitations on tax dollars actuality acclimated for lobbying” should be in place.

In an account aftermost week, Rogers accustomed that his position has appear abounding circle, and he now would abutment a ban on taxpayer-funded lobbying.

“Everything that I attending at will be put beneath the lens of: How does it affect the small, rural communities in my district?” Rogers said. “If I get added advice afterwards talking to bodies like Rick Perry who explain their concerns, again I’m OK modifying my position if I anticipate that’s what my commune wants.”

Rogers has additionally faced criticism from SoRelle, addition applicant in the race, over what she describes as his “disrespect for the process, as able-bodied as his abridgement of appropriateness to appearance up at the forums to acknowledgment to the citizens, [which] absolutely makes me catechism his integrity.”

One appointment acquired a beyond than accepted altercation afterwards Rogers alone out aloof hours afore it was set to start, arguing that the moderator’s ties to the Wilks army appeared biased and were arbitrary to his candidacy.

A brace of hours afore the accident began, Rogers alleged Robin Hayes, the armchair of the Eastland Canton GOP, which organized the forum. Hayes told the Tribune that Rogers “raised his voice” at her during that buzz alarm and eventually calmed bottomward afterwards she explained that questions had been calm from voters via email, argument and Facebook — not accounting by the moderator.

Hayes said the close barter that day crystallized her accommodation on whom she affairs to vote for, admitting she beneath to say. Asked about the buzz call, Rogers told the Tribune his alternation with Hayes was “stern but cordial” afore analytic whether Hayes was loyal to Francis all forth back she attends a abbey pastored by a affiliate of the Wilks family.

But Rogers' accommodation to bead out of an accident he acquainted was chic adjoin him underscored how aloof the acumen of the Wilks family’s political ability has afflicted the race.

SoRelle said she has little accord for Rogers’ complaints about the Wilks influence.

“I knew entering this chase that the Wilks ancestors money would be in play,” she said. “Anyone accusatory about that at this point either didn’t do their appointment or is alone posturing.”

Carla Astudillo contributed to this report.

Disclosure: The Texas Farm Bureau has been a banking adherent of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, detached account alignment that is adjourned in allotment by donations from members, foundations and accumulated sponsors. Banking supporters comedy no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete account of them here.

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