Campaign contributions have poured into Denton this election season over the city’s proposition to ban hydraulic fracturing within its borders.
Related: N. Texas city could be first in state to ban hydraulic fracturing
Documents filed with the city secretary show that two political committees have raised a little over $282,000. That’s the biggest total in Denton’s history, according to the Denton Record-Chronicle.
The group opposing the ban, Denton Taxpayers for a Strong Economy, has out raised the other side nearly 5-to-1, more than $231,000. The group, with support from energy companies drilling in Denton and an in-state industry trade group, has spent more than $185,000.
That’s compared to the group in support of the ban, Pass The Ban, which has only spent about $8,450.
According to the Record-Chronicle, both groups have tried to label themselves as “grassroots campaigns.” A Denton Taxpayers press release claimed that 98 percent of its contributions came from “individuals and businesses paying taxes in Denton.” The statistic comes from the fact that the campaign’s three biggest contributors, Devon Energy, XTO Energy and Enervest Operating, who together contributed about $225,000, all have wells within Denton city limits, according to city documents.
Among the remaining contributors, only two have Denton addresses: Bobby Jones and Randy Sorrells, who are the co-chairs of Denton Taxpayers. Jones contributed $500, and Sorrells contributed $250. In total, only seven contributions for $1,060 came from individuals. The rest, $5,000, came from the Texas Alliance of Energy Producers.
But the group also said in the release that it had collected 8,000 signatures from Denton residents opposing the ban.
On the other hand, most of Pass The Ban’s $50,970 in contributions have come from Earthworks, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit that opposes mineral and energy development. The group contributed nearly $30,000. Most of the rest of Pass The Ban’s contributions have come from about 50 individuals, 39 with Denton addresses. Several other contributions have come in from across Texas, and others from around the country, likely through Earthwork’s donation page for the campaign.
Voters in Denton will decide on the fate of the ban Nov. 4.
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