In a key Texas House race, voters ask if top candidate can step out of her wealthy father’s shadow

Caroline Fairly can’t seem to escape the question. It came up during a radio interview last week, for one, and then at a candidate forum in Amarillo, where she’s running for the state House. Is your father attempting to buy a spot in the Legislature? “My dad, I'm very proud of him,” Fairly told a scattered crowd at First Family Church last Thursday, responding to a submitted question. “The thing is, my dad's not running for House of Representatives,” she said. “I'm running.” Beyond the panhandle, the race has statewide significance as one of nearly two dozen across the state that will decide the fate of Gov. Greg Abbott’s school voucher plan. Fairly is the staunchest supporter of the policy in the three-way GOP primary that also features a well-known realtor and an oil and gas executive who serves on his local school board.

But also looming large over the race is Fairly’s father, a prominent Amarillo businessman who has donated lavishly in recent years to GOP candidates and conservative causes. Last year, Alex Fairly pledged $20 million to create an institute at West Texas A&M in Amarillo that promotes faith and family values. Backing Caroline Fairly is a who’s who of Texas Republicans, including U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, Gov. Greg Abbott, Attorney General Ken Paxton and Congressman Ronny Jackson – most of whom have collected hefty donations from her father. Caroline has not received any direct donations from Alex Fairly, but her campaign has taken in tens of thousands from his political allies and employees at his companies. The district is bright red, so whoever wins the March 5 primary is all but certain to clinch the November election. At 25, Fairly would become the youngest Republican woman ever elected to the Texas House, according to the Texas Legislative Library — setting a new mark by about four years. Her experience includes working in Washington for Jackson, who was supported by a super PAC that received $300,000 from Alex Fairly in 2020. She is now a medical negotiator at the OccuNet Company, one of her father’s businesses. Fairly said the negotiating experience would help her make deals in the Legislature, and that she’d observed how to be a “strong leader” from Jackson. Her father isn’t on the campaign trail with her, but his presence is felt. In a radio interview last week, she was asked to respond to a local article that points out her father’s previous campaign donations to politicians who endorsed her. Alex Fairly is CEO of the Fairly Group, which runs several insurance companies, and is so well known in the community, many at the candidate forum referred to him simply as “Alex.” A longtime staple of local politics, he opted out of running for Amarillo mayor race last year, telling a local TV station he intends to be involved, but that “my best place is outside the political realm.”