Push Back Against Big Money in Politics by Supporting Our Membership Campaign

You may have heard there’s a presidential election soon. Not that you would know from living in Texas, which is so thoroughly in the Donald Trump column that neither he nor Democrat Kamala Harris have campaigned in Dallas so far.

But that doesn’t mean Dallas and North Texas don’t have anything at stake in the coming election. Incumbent Sen.Ted Cruz is facing a stiff challenge from Democrat Colin Allred. There are important, groundbreaking Dallas City Charter amendments on the ballot; races for the Texas Legislature could help determine whether Gov. Greg Abbott’s controversial school voucher plan wins approval and more. These are the elections that will have a real,immediate effect on our community.

Meanwhile, at the presidential level, the super rich are opening their fat wallets and throwing money into the race: $50 million from Bill Gates to Kamala Harris this week. The world’s richest man, Elon Musk, has donated more than $75 million to a pro-Trump PAC and recently offered voters $1 million a day in a sweepstakes to get them to the polls.

For that kind of money, whose interest do they think they have at heart? Hint: It’s not yours.

Well, the Dallas Observer is on your side, offering you free, factual information to help you decide what’s best for you, your city, Texas and the nation. Here are some recent examples:

• Our cover story Hero of Villain? Took a deep look at proposed Dallas charter amendments that could take spending decisions about police funding out of the hands of the City Council.
• Our coverage of the Cruz/Allred race showed how both candidates are shifting to the center and winning endorsements from across the aisle.
• We’re keeping tabs on questions about the integrity of the vote and how state leaders are using that issue to potentially suppress political speech.

Producing those stories costs money, and Bill Gates and Elon Musk have not been sending buckets of cash our way. But that’s OK, we don’t need that much, and we don’t want their money anyway. We’d appreciate a little bit of yours, though, if you care about Dallas, democracy and a free, local press. That’s why we’re running a pre-election membership campaign. We’re aiming to raise $2,500 by Election Day to help our newsroom provide crucial coverage during this unprecedented election cycle, and we are asking for your support.

That $2,500 is just 0.25% of Gates’ donation to Harris. What it gets you is priceless. We’re committed to keeping access to our reporting free, and we’re on your side, not some mega-rich donor’s. You won’t get many better deals than that.

If you value journalism like ours that strengthens democracy and holds our leaders accountable, will you support us by contributing today?