- The Texas Ethics Commission has ordered former Texas Democratic Party State Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa to pay a $1,000 penalty to resolve allegations of campaign finance violations
- The sanction comes as a result of the Texas Democratic Party reporting an anonymous $5,668.85 donation from a “Justice Warrior” employed by “Mother Earth”
- As part of the agreement, the $5,668.85 must be donated to charity
The Texas Ethics Commission has ordered former Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa to pay a $1,000 civil penalty to settle allegations that Hinojosa, as Campaign Treasurer of the Texas Democratic Party, violated state campaign finance laws.
The Order and Agreed Resolution between the Texas Ethics Commission and Hinojosa was finalized last week. The order references an entry on the Texas Democratic Party’s July 2024 campaign finance report, which reflected a $5,668.85 contribution from “Anonymous, Anonymous” on June 11, 2024. The donor’s occupation was listed as “Justice Warrior,” and the employer was listed as “Mother Earth.”
As part of the agreement, the $5,668.85 will be disgorged by the Texas Democratic Party and donated to a charity.
Hinojosa stepped down as Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party in March after more than 12 years at the helm. His resignation came amid pressure from Democratic activists who had grown increasingly dissatisfied with continued Democratic losses in Texas under Hinojosa’s leadership.
While Hinojosa had a long record of elected service in the Rio Grande Valley – having served as Cameron County Judge, a Justice of the 13th Court of Appeals, Judge of the 107th State District Court, Judge of Cameron County Court at Law #2, and as a member of the Brownsville ISD School Board – Republicans experienced tremendous growth in South Texas and the Rio Grande Valley during Hinojosa’s leadership of the Texas Democratic Party.
The Order and Agreed Resolution states that Hinojosa denied violating state campaign finance law and attributed the $5,668.85 to cash contributions that were placed in a collection bucket to defray the costs of the 2024 Texas Democratic Party State Convention. However, Hinojosa acknowledged that there was no way for him to ascertain whether any of the contributions exceeded the $110 threshold that would require donor information to be provided on the Party’s campaign finance report.
There was no discussion of why the Texas Democratic Party listed the donor’s occupation as “Justice Warrior” or the employer as “Mother Earth.”
The Texas Ethics Commission determined that credible evidence existed that Hinojosa violated Section 254.001 of the Texas Election Code by failing to maintain a record of the cash contributions that the Texas Democratic Party received at its State Convention.
“Because [Hinojosa] failed to record the amount of each cash contribution and the identity of each cash contributor, it is now impossible to bring the [Texas Democratic Party’s] campaign finance report at issue into compliance,” reads the Order and Agreed Resolution.
The Order and Agreed Resolution concludes, “After considering the nature, circumstances, and consequences of the violations described under Section III, the TEC imposes a $1,000 civil penalty, contingent upon [Hinojosa] transferring the $5,668.85 contribution to a recognized 501(c)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization and providing documentation to the TEC to verify the transfer within 30 days of the date this Proposed Order is executed. If the respondent does not pay the $1,000 civil penalty and provide proof of the transfer within 30 days of the date of this Order, then the TEC orders that an additional $2,500 civil penalty be imposed pursuant to Section 571.173 of the Government Code for delay in complying with this Order and Agreed Resolution, and that the agreed-upon penalty and the additional $2,500 penalty be referred to the Office of the Attorney General of Texas for collection.”
