Three Irving City Council seats are on this year鈥檚 May 3 ballot, and one political action committee has backed a candidate for each spot.
That group 鈥� 鈥� touts principles that include 鈥渢raditional family values," school choice and single-family housing. The group has been a prominent voice in Irving for challenging library books, pushing for their removal over content they say is inappropriate.
Four of its previously endorsed candidates already sit on the city council. So far this election cycle, the group has received more than $25,000 in political contributions and spent at least $14,900. If all three of their preferred candidates 鈥� which include an incumbent 鈥� win in the May election, five of the nine Irving City Council seats would be filled by beneficiaries of the same PAC.
"We definitely are representing a view that's very, very popular with the electorate, but is not popular with city hall insiders at all," the PAC鈥檚 political director Jimmy Bell said.
Families for Irving started in an Irving resident's living room, prompted by content some parents saw as "provocative" in the minor's section of the public library, Bell said. Today, it in contributions and prides itself on representing what it says are the interests of Irving's families.
But others in the Irving City Council race, like Place 1 candidate Tony Grimes, say the PAC is not representative of the community as a whole. Grimes is running against incumbent John Bloch, who is backed by Families for Irving.
This isn't the first time the two have faced each other on the campaign trail 鈥� Grimes ran for Place 1 in 2022 and lost in a runoff election.
In all his years living in Irving, Grimes said he's never seen a PAC like Families for Irving, and is surprised at the group's success in part because of its candidates' shorter local government involvement compared to their opponents.
For example, long-time resident Susan Motley lost her Place 4 race last year to Council Member Luis Canosa, who was 24 at the time.
Motley's resume included involvement in the Irving Heritage Society, Irving鈥檚 Veterans鈥� Memorial Park Committee, and League of Women Voters of Irving. She also served on the city's Advisory Committee on Disabilities and the Parks & Recreation Board.
"She was much more qualified than the 22 or 24-year-old kid that was elected in that election who had only lived in the city of Irving for a year or so," Grimes said. "He doesn't know anything about the city."
Canosa did not respond to 四虎影院's interview request for this story.
Grimes said he did not approach Families for Irving to support his campaign and was concerned about one political group having a large say in any political organization.
"I think when that happens, it's unfair to the constituents, because you don't have independent voices speaking for you," Grimes said. "You've just got this one group saying, 'hey, this is what we're going to do, this is how we're gonna do it,' and you don't get much done that way."
Homegrown beginnings
Families for Irving started in an Irving family's living room with other community members who were knowledgeable about the political scene in Irving. The PAC's beginnings were very organic, Bell said, and they first gathered over concerns about materials they deemed provocative in the children's section of the public library.
Bell, who works as a financial advisor for the Knights of Columbus, was among the group of Irving dads who decided to organize more effectively to get their concerns heard.
The PAC saw success in reforming library policy to "delink" from the American Library Association. Adam Muller, who is running for City Council Place 7, served as chair of the Irving Public Library board and is backed by Families for Irving.
Library materials were a triggering issue for the group, but it is not the PAC's only priority.
There are three planks to the PAC's platform: community standards and safety, zoning and homeownership, and "school choice" 鈥� a term often used by supporters of school vouchers or education savings accounts. Because Irving is home to several charter and private schools, Bell said the group also advocates for charter and private school leagues to have access to city facilities.
The groups supports candidates who align with those values and who are not part of what Bell calls the "Irving political establishment."
Bloch, Brad LaMorgese, Luis Canosa, and Mark Cronenwett for places 1, 2, 4, and 5, respectfully, are the current City Council members who have the support of Families for Irving.
For the May election the PAC's backed Bloch again for Place 1, Sergio Porres to fill LaMorgese's Place 2 seat, and Muller for Place 7. All three candidates came to the PAC for support, Bell said.
When he first ran for for Place 1 in 2022, Bloch approached Families for Irving because many of their priorities aligned with his. He had also known most of the PAC members for years before it was formed.
"I approached them and said, 'hey, my own thoughts on local government already aligned very closely with what you guys are trying to build so let's see if there's any way we can work together,'" Bloch said.
Those priorities include homeownership rates, repairing neighborhood pools, and mature content in the library's children's section.
Porres was part of Canosa's volunteer group assisting with his race last summer. Families for Irving endorsed Canosa in the runoff and that's when he connected with the PAC.
Homeownership is also a campaign priority for Porres, who has lived in Irving for 11 years. He found common ground with the PAC through that issue, and he said it has been an underrepresented concern as high-density developments have taken priority.
Porres is a father to six kids and said families are often the ones putting time and money into getting community programs off the ground.
"That's how you build an interconnected community across all levels, so that's why home ownership is so important to me," Porres said.
'Family values'
Bell said Families for Irving does not have a specific religious affiliation, though some of their priorities like school choice align with the city's Catholic, Muslim, and Hindu populations.
Despite the PAC having no religious affiliations, a Google Group called the Irving Catholic Online Network has promoted an anti-casino block walk hosted by Bell for all three Families for Irving backed candidates.
Bell said the block walks happen every Saturday and the religious or policy views outside of the PAC's values 鈥� like casino gaming 鈥� are not reflective of the PAC as a whole.
He said many young families have been involved with the PAC and some of them are graduates of the University of Dallas, a private Catholic university.
Separation of church and state was always more notional than actual, said Matthew Taylor, the Senior Christian Scholar at the Institute for Islamic Christian and Jewish Studies in Baltimore.
"The reality is that the church has always been a force within American politics, Christianity has always a major point of contention in American politics," Taylor said
There has been an acute acceleration of this tendency in recent years because of a Christian demographic decline and the reaction to that, Taylor added.
"Family values" discourse dates back to the early 2000s George W. Bush administration and the "compassionate conservatism" of the time. That vocabulary, Taylor said, spoke to a broader coalition as opposed to labeling it Christian values.
"But at their core, if you actually look at who is populating these groups, who's leading these groups, what are the causes they are advocating for, there's definitely a religious tint to it and its often religious people," Taylor said.
But using overtly Christian language is not always going to win over voters, he said. Broad messaging can help widen a group's appeal to nonreligious people who may align with the organization's priorities.
"I think there's been an attempt to find other styles of rhetorical appeal and of coalition building that are sometimes founded on some of those same conservative Christian ideas, but are trying to find another way to communicate them that will not necessarily be so off-putting to non-Christian religious people or to more secular folks," Taylor said.
Winning power
Families for Irving has had a track record of successfully backing city council candidates, but Place 7 candidate Priscilla Vigliante doesn't think the PAC's support is needed for a successful campaign. She attributes part of its success to low voter turnout.
Campaign finance reports show that the PAC paid Catalyst Advisors Group LLC thousands of dollars on consulting, website services, and signs for candidates. Catalyst Advisors Group is connected with , a Texas-based political consulting firm .
Bell said the PAC cut ties with Catalyst in March and now use for its political consulting needs. The Drogin Group is based in Austin and its other clients include the Republican Party of Texas, Ted Cruz, and the far-right conservative Christian group Patriot Mobile.
"Their canvassers are trained, professionally trained to engage with the voters and they send an army of them out there," Vigliante said. "That is a winning model for them, and, in fact, it's helped get people elected."
For Grimes, voter turnout is especially key.
Grimes has been an Irving homeowner for 30 years and involved in the city's NAACP chapter for the last 20 years, among other community involvement that includes the Irving Police Advisory Board and the Irving ISD School Board.
But just 735 people cast ballots in his runoff election against Bloch in 2022 鈥� a fact Grimes said may have cost him the election.
While Families for Irving has thousands of dollars to spend on political consulting and other campaign services for its candidates, Grimes is hopeful people's knowledge of the PAC will turn out more voters.
"I think people, their eyes are open," Grimes said. "And nobody wants to live in a dictatorship."
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