HOUSTON (Legal Newsline) – They aren’t the Koch brothers, yet, but Houston trial lawyers Steve and Amber Mostyn have certainly impacted the political scene in recent years, donating more than $21 million of their wealth to Texas candidates and committees.
In 2012, Steve Mostyn, founder of the Mostyn Law Firm, established himself as a mega donor when he contributed $3 million to Priorities USA Action, a pro President Barack Obama PAC.
In just the past three months, the Mostyns have contributed more than $2.3 million to Texas candidates, with the bulk of the funds going toward state Sen. Wendy Davis, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, campaign finance records show.
The married attorney couple and their efforts to support Texas Democrats have not escaped the attention of pro-tort reform groups, such as Texans for Lawsuit Reform.
“The pattern of Mostyn’s campaign contributions reveal his single-minded and self-interested goal of rolling back Texas’ historic tort reforms and creating more opportunities to sue,” said Sherry Sylvester, a spokesperson for TLR PAC. “He has made massive contributions to Senators Wendy Davis and Leticia Van DePutte, both strident opponents of tort reform, as well as using large contributions to reward his friends and punish his enemies.”
Van DePutte, a Democrat, is running for lieutenant governor.
In the aftermath of Hurricane Ike in 2008, Steve Mostyn made hundreds of millions of dollars suing the Texas Windstorm Insurance Agency – the sole provider of windstorm insurance in the state.
As previously reported, the latest round of campaign finance reports reveal the Mostyns donated $200,000 to Texas House candidate Susan Criss, a former Galveston judge who presided over the majority of Hurricane Ike suits.
Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC is the political arm of Texans for Lawsuit Reform, the state's largest civil justice reform organization.
Reach David Yates at elections@legalnewsline.com
Husband-and-wife plaintiffs lawyers' lifetime Texas donations surge past $21M mark
