<span class="has-text-gray-dark">Alex Fairly is an Amarillo businessman and father of a state House member who has previously given millions to West Texas A&M University, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton.</span> <br><em><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/newsletters/the-brief/?utm_medium=website&utm_source=trib-ads-owned&utm_campaign=trib-marketing&utm_term=inline-CTA-brief">Sign up for The Brief</a>, The Texas Tribune’s daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news.</em> <br>A Texas Panhandle businessman pledged $20 million to establish a new political group that aims to push the state Republican Party further to the right.<br>Alex Fairly is the single donor to the new Texas Republican Leadership Fund, the group announced Tuesday. Its formation comes amid a leadership fight in the Texas House, a proxy for the intra-party fight that has dominated Texas GOP politics for several years.<br>Fairly is an emerging conservative megadonor from Amarillo who has previously given tens of millions to West Texas A&M University to create <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/29/west-texas-am-hill-institute/">an institute </a><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/29/west-texas-am-hill-institute/">that promotes “Panhandle values.”</a> He’s also made sizable donations to Lt. Gov. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/dan-patrick/">Dan Patrick</a>, Attorney General <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/ken-paxton/">Ken Paxton</a> and U.S. Sen. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/ted-cruz/">Ted Cruz</a>.<br>Fairly is also the father to Caroline Fairly, who will take a seat in the House chamber this January.<br>The initial donation is a staggering amount even for Texas, which has no political spending limits for non-judicial candidates. For comparison, Gov. Greg Abbott earlier this year <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/16/greg-abbott-jeff-yass-camapaign-donation/">recorded a $6 million donation from a national Republican donor</a>, calling it the largest single donation to a candidate in state history.<br>Without naming state Rep. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/david-cook/">David Cook</a>, Fairly suggested his group will back him for House speaker. Cook, of Mansfield, secured the nomination of the House GOP Caucus earlier this month. But Rep. <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/directory/dustin-burrows/">Dustin Burrows</a> of Lubbock has said he had enough supporters among both Republicans and Democrats to win the speakership when the full chamber votes in January.<br>“Every Republican House member should be strongly opposed to a minority band of Republicans teaming up with Democrats to cut a joint governing agreement,” Fairly wrote in a statement, nodding to Burrows.<br>Fairly also said his new political group will build on the <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/06/texas-republicans-elections-2024-trump-cruz/">wins </a><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/06/texas-republicans-elections-2024-trump-cruz/">conservatives</a><a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/11/06/texas-republicans-elections-2024-trump-cruz/"> made in the 2024 election cycle</a> to “expand a true Republican majority.”<br>Last year, Fairly donated more than $220,000 to Defend Texas Liberty, making him one of the biggest donors of the powerful political action committee after West Texas billionaires Tim Dunn and Farris Wilks. Defend Texas Liberty <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/01/24/tim-dunn-farris-wilks-defend-texas-liberty-nick-fuentes/">mostly stopped its work after</a> The Texas Tribune revealed its ties to prominent Adolf Hitler admirer Nick Fuentes and other known white supremacists.<br>Fairly had previously been involved in local Amarillo politics but has been ramping up his giving on a state level at a time when Dunn redirected his focus on national politics.<br><i>Disclosure: Texas A&M University and West Texas A&M University have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Find a complete <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/support-us/corporate-sponsors/">list of them here</a>.</i><br> <!-- graf here --> Independent Texas reporting needs your support. 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