Two new entities recently filed with the Texas Secretary of State’s office could indicate possible changes within the network of political organizations financed primarily by billionaire megadonors Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks.
On March 5, former State Representative Jonathan Stickland formed “RaTmasTeR Holdings LLC” with the Texas Secretary of State. Outgoing Republican Party of Texas State Chairman Matt Rinaldi served as Stickland’s attorney in creating the entity and is listed as its organizer on its Certificate of Formation.
“RaTmasTeR” is an online alias Stickland has used over the years on internet message boards and gaming platforms.
The business address for RaTmasTeR Holdings listed on its Certificate of Formation is an office building in Cisco, Texas that houses various Wilks family business entities. According to documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission last month, Rinaldi has been employed as General Counsel of Farjo Holdings, a business entity controlled by Farris Wilks and his wife, since June 2023.
On March 12, Tim Hardin formed Patriot Service Alliance, LLC with the Texas Secretary of State. The next day, Patriot Service Alliance filed an Assumed Name Certificate with the Secretary of State’s office to conduct business under the name “West Fort Worth Management, LLC.”
Hardin is a political operative who has worked within Dunn and Wilks’ political network for several years. On his LinkedIn profile, Hardin states that he has served as Chief Operations Officer of West Fort Worth Management since October 2023. Before that, he worked as CEO of Texans for Fiscal Responsibility- an organization that has long been a staple of Dunn and Wilks’ network.
“West Fort Worth Management” is a trade name that has been used by Pale Horse Strategies, a political consulting firm owned by Stickland that served as a centralized hub for organizations within Dunn and Wilks’ political network.
Pale Horse Strategies rebranded to West Fort Worth Management last year amid fallout from news first reported by the Texas Tribune that Stickland had hosted a meeting with notorious antisemitic and white nationalist commentator Nick Fuentes at Pale Horse Strategies’ office in October.
Stickland was removed from his role as President of the Defend Texas Liberty PAC after members of the State Republican Executive Committee called on the Republican Party of Texas to distance itself from Defend Texas Liberty until questions were answered about Stickland’s meeting with Fuentes and Stickland was “removed and disassociated from” Defend Texas Liberty and “its benefactor organizations.”
As previously reported by The Texas Voice, a near-majority of the State Republican Executive Committee signed on to an open letter condemning Stickland and Fuentes.
“Fuentes’ views and Stickland’s tactics are abhorrent and totally antithetical to the principles of the Republican Party of Texas and to the conservatives who have trusted DTL for the cause of liberty and patriotism. Whether this was caused by a lapse in judgement, conscious disregard, poor leadership, or a faulty moral compass – Stickland and DTL must ultimately accept responsibility,” read the letter.
“Jonathan Stickland has forfeited his right to any leadership role in conservative politics and accordingly complete disassociation from DTL, including its benefactors and the RPT is the only reconcilable outcome which is now being formally called upon to accomplish instanter.”
Wilks and Dunn are the principal funders of the Texans United for a Conservative Majority PAC, which has replaced Defend Texas Liberty PAC as the primary vehicle for their political giving in Texas. Texans United for a Conservative Majority is run by Chad Shoemake, who had previously worked as Political Director for the Republican Party of Texas. Both Shoemake and Hardin worked for Stickland when he served in the Texas House of Representatives.
The creation of Patriot Service Alliance, coupled with its use of the West Fort Worth Management trade name, indicates that the activities that had operated under Stickland’s Pale Horse Strategies entity may now be operating under Hardin’s new Patriot Service Alliance entity.
Stickland, who was once a ubiquitous presence on social media, has only made a handful of posts since his meeting with Fuentes was reported. Much of Stickland’s time in recent months appears to have been dedicated to starring in a leading role in The Promise, a musical stage performance about the life and ministry of Jesus Christ.
