Tim Dunn (Texas)
| Tim Dunn | |
 | |
| Basic facts | |
| Organization: | CrownQuest Operating |
| Role: | CEO |
| Location: | Midland, Texas |
| Education: | Texas Tech University |
Tim Dunn is a businessman and philanthropist based in Midland, Texas. He is the CEO of CrownQuest Operating, LLC, an oil and gas company based in Midland.[1]
As of November 2025, Dunn was the chair of America First Works and served on the board of directors of the Texas Public Policy Foundation. The Texas Tribune called Dunn the most effective political donor in Texas.[2][3][4]
Biography
Dunn received a B.S. in chemical engineering from Texas Tech University in 1978. From 1978 to 1980, Dunn was an engineer with Exxon Production Research Company. He then transitioned to banking, working at First City National Bank in Midland, Texas, where he served as head of commercial lending by 1987. From 1987 to 1995, Dunn served as an executive at Parker & Parsley Petroleum, eventually becoming chief financial officer and overseeing securities transactions. In 1996, Dunn co-founded CrownQuest Operating, an oil and gas company based in Midland, where he served as CEO as of November 2025. CrownQuest became one of the largest privately-owned oil companies, according to Forbes, producing 140,000 barrels per day, and was the eighth-largest oil producer in Texas in 2022. In 2023, Occidental Petroleum acquired CrownRock, a joint venture involving CrownQuest, for $12 billion.[1][5][6][7][8][9]
Work and activities
America First Works
As of November 2025, Dunn was the chair of America First Works, a 501(c)(4) organization. The organization said it "was founded to fight for our America First principles and the American Dream on behalf of all hard-working American citizens. Our mission is to rein in government excess, stop an unregulated bureaucracy, and put an end to the erosion of our liberty and security by lifelong bureaucrats."[10] America First Works pursued this mission by maintaining "close relationships along all levels of government in order to ensure conservative policies are supported and become law."[11]
Texas Public Policy Foundation
Dunn helped found the Center for Effective Criminal Justice at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, of which he was a board member as of November 2025.[1][3] The Center for Effective Criminal Justice initiated the national Right on Crime movement, which called for criminal justice reform founded on "cost-effective approaches that also enhance public safety."[12]
State politics
According to The Guardian, Dunn had donated approximately $30 million to Texas political campaigns and political action committees from 2000 to 2024.[13]
Federal politics
In 2023, Dunn contributed $5 million to Make America Great Again Inc., a super PAC that supported Donald Trump (R).[14] In 2022, Dunn donated $250,000 to the Stand for Freedom PAC and $1 million to the Conservation Action for America PAC to support conservative candidates in congressional races across the country.[15]
Notable endorsements
This section displays endorsements this individual made in elections within Ballotpedia's coverage scope. Know of one we missed? Click here to let us know.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Timdunn.org, "About Me," accessed November 21, 2025
- ↑ The Texas Tribune, "In Tim Dunn, Far Right Has Big Spender Who Gets Results," May 11, 2014
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Texas Public Policy Foundation, "Board of Directors," accessed November 24, 2025
- ↑ America First Works, "AFW Leadership," accessed November 24, 2025
- ↑ Texas Tribune, "Tim Dunn, the powerhouse GOP donor, to sell his West Texas oil company for $12 billion," December 11, 2023
- ↑ LinkedIn, "Tim Dunn," accessed November 24, 2025
- ↑ Forbes, "Crude Clairvoyant: Texas’ New Bible-Thumping Oil Billionaire," August 18, 2022
- ↑ TexasMonthly, "Oxy Deal Could Yield Billions for Tim Dunn’s Political Efforts," December 1, 2023
- ↑ Forbes, "Timothy Dunn & family," accessed November 24, 2025
- ↑ America First Works, "Our Mission," accessed November 24, 2025
- ↑ America First Works, "Philosophy," accessed November 24, 2025
- ↑ Right on Crime, "About," accessed November 24, 2025
- ↑ The Guardian, "Meet Tim Dunn: the ultraconservative billionaire pastor spending millions to protect his oil – and elect Trump," July 11, 2024
- ↑ Pro Publica, "A Pair of Billionaire Preachers Built the Most Powerful Political Machine in Texas. That’s Just the Start." October 2, 2024
- ↑ TexasMonthly, "The Billionaire Bully Who Wants to Turn Texas Into a Christian Theocracy," March 2024
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