State Rep. Dan Branch is going to officially announce his bid for attorney general today, and I’m aware of four men who’d like to replace him as District 108’s representative in the Legislature. Faithful readers of Park Cities People already know about Court Alley, Morgan Meyer, and Chart Westcott. Allow me to also introduce Josh Ellis.
Like Meyer, Ellis has not filed a report detailing any campaign contributions. But Alley and Westcott have; let’s take a closer look.
I’ll detail Alley’s money first, because there’s far less to talk about. He’s taken in $17,200, and more than half of that came from two individuals. Alley got $5,000 from his campaign treasurer — William Dunn, a partner with Tubular Synergy Group — and another $5,000 from his father-in-law, attorney Foster Madeley of Conroe, Texas. His next biggest contribution was $2,500 from Andrew Wyly, who is identified in Alley’s report as a self-employed writer. Last year, he and his father, entrepreneur Sam Wyly, published a book called Texas Got It Right!.
Westcott can boast far more in campaign contributions: $736,559.75, to be precise. Ten donors — including two couples — gave him $25,000 apiece. One double dip was from industrialists/philanthropists Harold and Annette Simmons; the other came from the candidate’s parents, Carl and Jimmy Westcott. On top of the $50,000 from his folks, Chart also got $10,000 from his brother — who is coincidentally named Court — and $12,049.75 from the family business, Westcott LLC.
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Another of the $25,000 contributors was my old pal Troy Aikman. He leads a parade of Dallas Cowboys, including owner Jerry Jones ($5,000), retired players Roger Staubach ($2,000) and Daryl Johnston ($500), and head coach Jason Garrett’s wife, Brill ($2,500).
The sports ties aren’t limited to America’s Team. How about hockey? Westcott received $20,000 from former Dallas Stars (and Texas Rangers) owner Tom Hicks, $15,000 from Philadelphia Flyers founder Ed Snider, and $1,000 from Norm Green, the man who brought the Stars to Dallas. Then there’s golf: He got $10,000 from David Woods (the head pro at the Vintage Club in Indian Wells, Calif.), as well as $2,500 from Corey Pavin, winner of the 1995 U.S. Open.
But my absolute favorite donation in Westcott’s report, the one that put a smile on my face, was the $250 he received from LeVar Burton. That’s right — Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge himself. But if you’re not as big a Star Trek fan as I am (and I doubt you are), perhaps you’ll be more impressed by the $500 that Westcott received from The Fall Guy‘s Lee Majors.
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