Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s former chief of staff, Daniel Hodge, is now one of the highest-paid political lobbyists in the state. However, one of his highest-paying clients raises questions about where the former Abbott staffer’s loyalties lie.
Hodge could make as much as $8.3 million this year from his lobbying work, according to Transparency USA.
Reports from the non-profit, non-partisan database reveal that Hodge is receiving $200,000-$300,000 from the Tides Center, which helps manage donations for its sister organization, the Tides Foundation.
The Tides Foundation was founded in 1976 in San Francisco. It describes itself as the “values-based infrastructure service for progressive nonprofit work.”
Among its founders was Alan S. Davis, the son of the insurance mogul Leonard Davis. According to Influence Watch, Davis said he founded Tides “to support innovative and progressive ideas, social and economic justice, and environmental sustainability.”
The analysis from Influence Watch says that “Tides’ fiscally sponsored groups have been prominent in the anti-war movement, anti-free trade campaigns, gun control, abolition of the death penalty, abortion rights, and gay rights.”
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and George Soros’ Open Society Foundations are among the organizations that fund the Tides Center.
Hodge’s lobbying for the liberal organization is surprising given the close-knit relationship he had with the conservative Governor Abbott beginning in 2001. While in law school, Hodge worked on Abbott’s first race for attorney general that year, starting as a mail sorter and working his way up to become a coalition’s director, fundraiser, and travel aide.
He continued working for Abbott through law school as a part-time aide in the attorney general’s office. After graduating in 2004, Hodge became a special assistant in then-AG Abbott’s office. He managed Abbott’s successful re-election campaign in 2006. After Abbott’s re-election, Hodge was appointed as chief of staff in the attorney general’s office, where he remained until Abbott was elected governor in 2014.
When Abbott was elected governor in 2014, he appointed Hodge as his chief of staff. This critical position gave him an incredible amount of power as an advisor to the governor and a liaison between the governor’s office and the state Legislature.
Abbott and Hodge’s relationship was so close that The New York Times wrote a piece on their tight bond in 2014.
State Senator Judith Zaffirini (D-21st District) described Hodge to The Times, saying, “He reflects so well on Abbott. It’s like when you meet somebody’s spouse, and that spouse impacts your opinion of the other person. I think it’s the same thing with them.”
In 2017, Hodge resigned from his position as Governor Abbott’s chief of staff, and shortly after that, he registered as a lobbyist.
