American Crossroads and Texas Money

Wayne Slater reports in The Dallas Morning News:

Dallas oilman Trevor Rees-Jones may not know Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, but he's betting $1 million that he can make the Nevada Democrat's political life more difficult these days.

Rees-Jones is helping bankroll a group spearheaded by Karl Rove and funded largely by Texans to air TV spots attacking Reid and other Democrats.

Virginia-based American Crossroads has raised $4.7 million – two-thirds of it from Texans – for a national effort. Three Dallas billionaires are providing much of the money.

Rees-Jones, president and CEO of privately held Chief Oil and Gas, and investors Harold Simmons and Robert Rowling have given $1 million each. Of 29 donors to American Crossroads, 20 are from the Lone Star State.

So far, the effort has been aimed at unseating Reid in Nevada and defeating Rep. Joe Sestak, the Democratic Senate nominee in Pennsylvania, with TV ads in their home states. Both face stiff Republican challenges.

Rove, who was George W. Bush's chief political adviser, and former Republican National Committee chairman Ed Gillespie are helping American Crossroads and raising money.

Jonathan Collegio of American Crossroads said the committee's "fund-raising and membership isn't based on geography, though we happen to have some donors in Texas who believe strongly in what we're doing."