Despite running on a conservative platform to “drain the Austin swamp,” a Texas House candidate in Fort Bend County has taken significant campaign contributions from a politically active Democrat lawyer and purchased advertising on a website owned by an ex-convict that has published false attacks against his primary opponent.
Matt Morgan, a public insurance adjuster running for Texas House of Representatives District 26, received a $2,500 contribution from Houston attorney Jeff Raizner last year. Raizner has contributed over $10,000 individually and through his law firm to Democrat judicial candidates in recent years. Raizner also contributed $3,000 to Morgan’s unsuccessful 2020 campaign for the Texas House.
Raizner’s law firm, Raizner Slania, also contributed $25,000 to the prominent Democratic political action committee First Tuesday in 2018 and an additional $25,000 in 2020. During the 2018 election, First Tuesday gave over $600,000 to the Texas Organizing Project in their efforts to elect Democrats in Harris County. One of the main functions of the Texas Organizing Project is to support criminal justice reform policies that critics have said are responsible for an increase in crime.
As previously reported by The Texas Voice, New York-based Democratic megadonor George Soros has recently donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to liberal groups across Texas over the past year, including First Tuesday and the Texas Organizing Project.
Fort Bend County businessman Ali Sheikhani is also one of the largest donors to Morgan’s campaign, having donated $4,000. Sheikhani is the owner of a chain of stores called Vape City, which sell a variety of smoking products as well as cannabis related products. Another one of Sheikhani’s businesses, Bizarre Bazaar, is described as a “novelty gift shop for unique experiences.”
Among the cannabis products sold by Sheikhani’s businesses are products which contain hemp-derived THC. These include products such as a Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal bar, which resemble a popular children’s breakfast cereal. Sheikhani’s businesses also advertise a THC product called “Dogg Treats,” which are emblazoned with the likeness of entertainer Calvin Broadus along with marijuana leaves. Broadus, better known by the stage name “Snoop Dogg” is a popular figure in marijuana culture.
The largest donor to Morgan’s campaign is the Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, which has donated at least $50,000 thus far. Texans United for a Conservative Majority is funded almost exclusively by businessmen Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. Dunn played an instrumental role in Beto O’Rourke’s first election to Congress, and Wilks is a controlling shareholder of a company which actively promotes leftist Environmental, Social, and Governance (“ESG”) and Diversity and Inclusion (“DI”) programs within the business.
Morgan is the owner of Morgan Elite Specialist Services, a public insurance adjusting firm. As part of his professional work, Morgan has provided expert witness services to plaintiff’s lawyers in civil lawsuits. One of the plaintiff’s lawyers that Morgan had a longstanding business relationship with is Eric Dick, who was a donor to Morgan’s previous campaign for the legislature.
In October, Dick was ordered to pay $137,000 in sanctions by a judge in Harris County as a result of “groundless and frivolous pleadings and expert designations” filed by Dick. Last month, a judge in Galveston County ordered Dick to pay $114,159 in sanctions for filing a lawsuit that Republican Judge Kerry Neves described as “groundless” and in “bad faith.”
Earlier this year, the Houston Chronicle reported that Dick was also under investigation by officials in Hawaii for soliciting potential clients for lawsuits arising out of wildfires in Maui even though he is not licensed to practice law in Hawaii.
Morgan’s business has purchased advertising on a website which has published false attacks against his Republican primary opponent, incumbent State Representative Jacey Jetton. The website, Katy Christian Magazine, is owned by Joseph Menslage- an ex-convict who was once sentenced to three years in prison for theft. Since the advertising was purchased by Morgan’s business and not his campaign, there is no public record showing the amount of money paid for the advertisements. In addition to publishing article that contain false information about Jetton’s voting record, including the debunked claim that Jetton and other conservative lawmakers supported child gender transitioning, Katy Christian Magazine has endorsed Morgan’s candidacy.
In a video posted to Twitter last week, State Comptroller Glenn Hegar announced his endorsement of Jetton. Hegar, who lives in House District 26, said “I am sick and tired of the lies being told by [Jetton’s] opponent, lyin’ Matt Morgan, in this campaign.” Hegar described Jetton as a “true conservative” and mentioned Jetton’s support for adding $6 billion for border security and “the largest property tax cut in Texas history.” Hegar added, “don’t believe the garbage in his campaign.” In addition to Hegar, Jetton is also endorsed by Governor Greg Abbott, the National Rifle Association, and other conservative leaders and organizations.
