Texas Scorecard by Daniel Greer | August 13, 2024
How a key confidant links Musk to Weekley, unwittingly putting the billionaire at odds with Texas voters.Dick Weekley, whose star used to be among the brightest in Texas politics, is rapidly fading. Over the past year, the kingmaker has racked up a slew of defeats. Now, the seasoned political veteran may find himself crossways with one of the richest men in America, Elon Musk.
Last year, Weekley could look forward to the impeachment and removal of Attorney General Ken Paxton and continuing a winning streak for moderates in GOP primaries, all while avoiding statewide scrutiny.
None of that happened.
Ken Paxton prevailed against the Weekley and TLR-backed impeachment effort. TLR had a lousy primary season, and the group’s record of conspiring with Democrats against Texans was laid bare in the documentary Hubris.
Then, yesterday, the Wall Street Journal published an expose on a major shakeup at the America PAC, a committee Musk formed with Weekley’s help in May. The article covered the gobs of money spent, an abrupt parting of ways, and, notably, a past kickback scheme involving Weekley’s go-to operative.
According to the article, Weekley and his longtime consultant, Denis Calabrese, shepherded Musk toward two vendors, In Field Strategies, a canvassing group, and Raconteur Media, a digital marketing company. According to the WSJ, TLR’s longtime pollster, Michael Baselice, was also in the mix.
Federal Election Commission filings show In Field and Raconteur were paid more than $21 million from June 12 to July 19 for their canvassing, texting, and advertising services.
What did Musk and America PAC receive in return?
According to the WSJ, In Field registered 4,000 voters, and Raconteur sent 8,500 voter registration forms. That’s an average acquisition cost-per-voter of $1,680 between the two Weekley/TLR groups.
More:
https://texasscorecard.com/analysis/analysis-elon-musk-and-dick-weekley-split/
