"Not a RINO" Candidate Takes Donations From Leftist Donor
A candidate whose entire slogan is “NOT A RINO” has taken over $100,000 from a PAC consisting of donors supporting Ilhan Omar.
Matt Thorsen, who is challenging Rep. Jeff Leach for HD67, has a campaign slogan where he says he’s “NOT A RINO” which includes signs and flyers advertising this claim.
However, as first pointed out by The Texas Voice, Thorsen has received approximately $125,000 from Justice for Texas Victims PAC which consists of leftist donors, some who have given to far-leftists like Ilhan Omar.
The donations from Justice for Texas Victims account for more than three-quarters of the funds raised by Thorsen during his campaign.
Despite his campaign being largely bankrolled by a PAC whose largest donor, Muhammad Aziz, is a Democrat who donated to Ilhan Omar and whose law firm funded efforts to “Stop MAGA Republicans”, Thorsen advertises that he is “NOT A RINO” on his campaign signs.
TEC records confirm Muhammad Aziz donating to the Justice for Texas Victims PAC:
Additionally, FEC records confirm Muhammad Aziz’s donations to Ilhan Omar:
It’s an interesting gimmick to claim you’re “NOT A RINO” and then have around 75% of your total donations made up of funds by a PAC supported by leftists.
Leaked messages from the X group “Red Dirt Twitter/X Peeps” which includes Republican Party of Texas (RPT) Chairman Abraham George, RPT General Counsel Rachel Hooper, and Texas Attorney General Senior Advisor Michelle Smith show that the group was inquiring about Thorsen’s chances of defeating Leach. AG Senior Advisor Michelle Smith told the group “Yes we have 300,000 coming” and “…some PACs are coming in.”
The group was also highly critical of JoAnn Fleming’s group, Grassroots America We the People with RPT general counsel calling the group “ridiculous”:
“NOT A RINO” makes for a great slogan though, even if it’s not true.
But what’s Texas politics without hypocrites and gimmicks?