Farris Wilks

Farris Wilks is Tim Dunn's partner in the most powerful political operation in Texas — a fracking billionaire turned pastor who views politics as an extension of religious duty. Together with Dunn, he co-funds the Defend Texas Liberty PAC and associated organizations that have reshaped Texas governance through fear, primary challenges, and hundreds of millions in political spending. Born in 1954 in Cisco, Texas, Wilks started as a bricklayer, running Wilks Masonry with his brother Dan. When the fracking revolution hit the Permian Basin, the brothers pivoted, founding Frac Tech Services (later ProFrac). The company provided hydraulic fracturing services during the shale boom, and in 2011, the Wilks brothers sold their stake for approximately $3.5 billion — transforming them from tradesmen into billionaires overnight. Wilks became a pastor at the Assembly of Yahweh church, a small congregation in Cisco that interprets the Bible literally. His political giving reflects this dual identity: oil money funding a biblical worldview. He supports school vouchers (to enable religious education), opposes LGBTQ rights, fights sex education in public schools, and backs candidates who promise to legislate according to Christian principles. He has funded PragerU videos, The Daily Wire, and other conservative media operations. Unlike most mega-donors who operate through professional political consultants, Wilks's operation has a genuine grassroots feel — rooted in West Texas evangelical communities and church networks. But the money behind it is anything but grassroots. The Wilks-Dunn machine spent an estimated $50 million each over their careers on Texas politics alone, with additional giving to federal candidates like Ted Cruz. The Defend Texas Liberty PAC scandal — the meeting between their PAC's executive director and white nationalist Nick Fuentes — damaged the operation's reputation but not its effectiveness. Wilks and Dunn continued funding the PAC, and their primary threats continued to discipline Republican legislators who deviated from the agenda. The contradiction: Wilks preaches humility and service at his small church, then uses billions in oil money to impose his religious views on a state of 30 million people through political intimidation. The man who became rich through fracking — an environmentally controversial technology — funds politicians who ensure his industry faces no environmental accountability.