Texas: Tec

The Texas Ethics Commission' (TEC) settlement with Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole has been posted to their website and has raised some significant questions about Eversole's spending habits. It also raises questions about the Ethics Commission's handling of this particular case. A spreadsheet of this information can be found here. Here is a quick breakdown of Eversole's expenses during 2006-2007:

Cattle $26,000+
Eversole spent over $26,000 on two "Livestock" auctions. He also spent about $1500 on meat processing. The TEC only addressed $16,000 of these expenses and concluded there was evidence of a violation. Why the TEC limited their review is not clear. Donating to a charity is allowed by the TEC, but not if you receive something in return.

Both Chris Riley and Perla Cavazos will have a difficult time labeling their opponent "Republican-lite" in this year's Austin City Council Place 1 race.

Both candidates' political contributions in state races are 100% Democratic, according to TEC online records.

Of course, I wouldn't imagine this is news to any of the people closely involved in this race. But for the rest of us, I thought I would take a look and see what kind of candidates Riley and Cavazos had contributed to in the past.

Chris Riley contributed to the following Democratic campaigns and groups:

Travis County Democratic Party, Neighbor to Neighhbor PAC, Valinda Bolton, Donna Howard, Texas League of Conservation Voters, Rose Spector, Chris Bell, Juan Garcia, Eddie Rodriguez, Annie's List, Kirk Watson, Bree Buchanan, Stephen Yelenosky, Elliot Naishtat, Mark Strama, Jim Sharp, Jim Sylvester, Glen Maxey.