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#THE INVISIBLE HAND OF STEVE MOSTYN

THE INVISIBLE HAND OF STEVE MOSTYN

Steve Mostyn: Pushing a Pro-Lawsuit, Job-Killing Agenda

Steve Mostyn is a Houston personal injury lawyer specializing in hurricane lawsuits. He has become extremely wealthy off the losses of others in the wake of damaging storms. Mostyn is the largest funder of liberal candidates in Texas who oppose lawsuit reform and push his pro-lawsuit, job killing agenda.

Mostyn knows most Texans are conservative and don’t like lawsuit abuse, so he has also created a number of groups with conservative sounding names to fool voters. During election years, he puts up millions for these deceptively named groups which back candidates who want to roll back the lawsuit reforms that are keeping the Texas economy strong. He’s hoping voters won’t realize that the money is coming from a liberal, personal injury trial lawyer whose primary agenda is, presumably, his own self-interest.

Here are a few groups used to fund politicians who oppose lawsuit reform:

Texans for Individual Rights – was founded by Mark McCaig, an associate of Steve Mostyn’s law firm and another personal injury trial lawyer, Matthew Griffing. This group pretends to support conservative principles but its real mission is to roll back the lawsuit reforms advocated by Texans for Lawsuit Reform and to push legislative proposals that would stifle job creation in Texas and create windfall profits for plaintiff lawyers.

Conservative Voters of Texas – Despite its conservative sounding name, this multi-million dollar PAC was founded by Mostyn associate Mark McCaig in the last election cycle to attack pro-tort reform legislators and candidates. Exclusively funded by Mostyn, Conservative Voters of Texas spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in 2012.

Back to Basics PAC was created by Mostyn in 2010 to attack Governor Rick Perry and other leaders and candidates who support lawsuit reform. The PAC has spent over $4.5 million. Mostyn contributed $3,975,181 in 2010 alone, and another $377,060 in the 2012 election cycle.

Texans for Public Education. Texas Forward Committee. and the Valley Political Action Committee were all established by Mostyn in 2010 to allow him to contribute to individual candidates without voters knowing directly that the money was coming from him.

Texans for Insurance Reform - Mostyn did not establish TIR, a notorious trial lawyer PAC, but he is their largest donor. TIR, which has nothing to do with insurance or reform, spent $3 million in support of anti-tort reform candidates in 2010, and over $2.5 million in the 2012 election cycle.

House Democratic Campaign Committee – Mostyn did not found the House Democratic Campaign Committee either, but it got 80% of its funding from Mostyn in 2010, and he contributed another $150,000 in 2012. The HDCC primarily supports anti-tort reform candidates.

Source: Texas Ethics Commission

TLR PAC is the political arm of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the state's largest civil justice reform organization. TLR is a bipartisan, volunteer-led coalition with more than 17,000 supporters residing in 869 Texas communities and representing 1,266 different businesses, professions and trades. For more information about TLR PAC visit tlrpac.com.

Tracking Mostyn's Contributions