"He'd noticed that a local member of the state legislature, Mike Lang, had become a vocal advocate for using public money for private schools despite the fact that Lang campaigned as a supporter of public education. With a little research, Tackett found that Lang had received hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from the Wilks brothers and Tim Dunn, billionaire megadonors whose deep pockets and Christian nationalist views have consumed the Texas GOP."
"These charts evolved into the organisation See It. Name It. Fight It. There's so many people out there that are so busy with their daily lives, they're walking past and not even seeing some of these bad things going on, he says. So that's the first step: you have to see this thing. Tackett and his wife Mendi, the organisation's sole members, now live in Fort Worth, where they're part of a scrappy community of progressives and anti-extremist organizers who are building momentum."
"But most recently, the county was the site of a Democratic victory that sent the Texas Republican party reeling. Taylor Rehmet, a Democrat and local union leader, won a runoff for a state Senate seat that's been held by Republicans since 1992. What's more, he bested Republican Leigh Wambsganss despite having one-tenth as much money. Much of Wambsganss's funding came from Dunn and the Wilks brothers."
Chris Tackett began tracking extremism in Texas politics about a decade ago while serving as a Little League coach and school board member. He uncovered that state legislator Mike Lang, who campaigned as a public education supporter, advocated public funds for private schools after receiving large donations from the Wilks brothers and Tim Dunn. Tackett created visual breakdowns of representatives' campaign funds, forming See It. Name It. Fight It. Tackett and his wife Mendi now work in Fort Worth with progressive and anti-extremist organizers confronting entrenched Christian nationalism. Tarrant County saw a Democratic upset when Taylor Rehmet won a long-held Republican state Senate seat despite far less funding.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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