- Democrat personal injury trial lawyers Kurt Arnold and Jason Itkin have launched the Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC with a $10 million donation from their law firm
- The Arnold & Itkin law firm was a major donor, along with George Soros, to the First Tuesday PAC that spent millions to “Stop MAGA Republicans” last year.
- Much of the Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC’s spending appears to be geared towards influencing Republican Primaries
A liberal law firm that helped bankroll efforts to “Stop MAGA Republicans” and whose owners started an organization called “Texas Democratic Voices” was the largest political donor in Texas during the first half of 2025, with many of their contributions seemingly geared towards influencing Republican Primary elections.
The Arnold & Itkin law firm donated $10 million to the Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC on June 16. Texans for Truth and Liberty was formed by Arnold & Itkin’s owners, Houston personal injury trial lawyers Kurt Arnold and Jason Itkin, on April 29. The $10 million contribution from their law firm was the only donation that Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC reported receiving.
According to voter history records obtained from Harris County, both Kurt Arnold and Jason Itkin voted in the 2024 Democratic Primary.
Records filed with the Texas Secretary of State show that Arnold and Itkin, along with Houston City Controller Chris Hollins, formed an organization called “Texas Democratic Voices” on September 20, 2024.
According to its Certificate of Formation, the purpose of Texas Democratic Voices is “to enhance civic engagement and promote democratic values in Harris County and Texas through advocacy, education, and community outreach, fostering active participation in the political process and supporting policies aligned with the Democratic Party.”
Arnold and Itkin, both individually and through their law firm, have been major financial supporters of Democratic candidates and organizations.
During the 2024 election, the Arnold & Itkin law firm donated $300,000 to the left-wing First Tuesday PAC. As previously reported by The Texas Voice, the First Tuesday PAC, which also received significant funding from George Soros and Soros-backed entities, waged a multimillion-dollar ad campaign featuring messages such as “Stop MAGA Republicans. Do Something Good. Vote for Every Democrat” and “MAGA Abortion Bans Kill Mothers. Do Something Good for Texas. Vote for Every Democrat.”
The Arnold & Itkin law firm also donated $50,000 to the Dallas Justice Democrats PAC last year, and Arnold and Itkin were listed as “underwriters” of the PAC’s annual “Ginsburg Marshall Mixer”, named in honor of former United States Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Thurgood Marshall.
Arnold and Itkin’s personal political contributions during the 2024 election cycle included large donations to Soros-backed Harris County District Attorney candidate Sean Teare, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Colin Allred, and the Texas Democratic Party, among others. In 2023, Jason Itkin donated $6,600 to California Democratic U.S. Senator Adam Schiff. Itkin has also been a financial supporter of Houston Democratic Congressman Al Green.
Despite their Democrat voting histories and support for liberal advocacy efforts, Arnold and Itkin’s Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC appears to be focused mainly on influencing Republican Primary elections. This has raised eyebrows in conservative circles as Soros generally focuses his spending on Democrat primaries and general elections, while Democrats Arnold and Itkin may be trying to position themselves as kingmakers in Republican Primaries.
Texans for Truth and Liberty reported spending $965,707.83 in June, with $9,689,377.17 cash on hand as of the end of June. Of the $965,000 in political contributions made by Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC last month, $800,000 went to Republicans and $165,000 went to Democrats.
The largest donations from the Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC went to Republican members of the Texas House who voted along with the vast majority of House Democrats on an amendment by Democratic State Representative Joe Moody to gut Senate Bill 30 – a conservative priority bill to curtail abusive litigation practices that received the support of every Republican State Senator during the recent legislative session.
Although the House passed a version of Senate Bill 30 that included Moody’s Democrat-backed amendment, the legislation ultimately died after a conference committee failed to reach an agreement on the final language.
Every one of the 17 Republicans who voted for Moody’s amendment to Senate Bill 30 received a campaign contribution from the Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC.
Some of the most notable Republican recipients of donations from the Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC include State Representative Marc LaHood ($200,000), State Representative Mitch Little ($100,000), former House Speaker Dade Phelan ($25,000), and State Representative Tom Oliverson, who serves as Chairman of the Texas House Republican Caucus ($25,000).
Democrats who received donations from the Texans for Truth and Liberty PAC include State Representative Joe Moody ($25,000) and State Senator Nathan Johnson ($25,000). Johnson recently launched a campaign to become the Democrat nominee for Attorney General.
Arnold and Itkin’s foray into Republican politics is not the first time liberal personal injury trial lawyers have sought to influence Republican Primaries. One of the best-known examples occurred in 2004 when Rick Plezia, a Houston personal injury trial lawyer, waged an unsuccessful Republican Primary challenge to then-State Representative Joe Nixon, the author of the 2003 tort reform bill involving medical malpractice claims.
Plezia, who once served as an officer of the Texas Trial Lawyers Association and testified on behalf of the organization at legislative hearings, has since been disbarred for misconduct and served time in federal custody for his role in a tax fraud scheme involving case runners.
