in Houston, Texas

State lawmakers have long found creative ways to use campaign money on items that have nothing to do with the nuts and bolts of running a campaign. They've paid for maids, luxury sedans and private jets.

But even the wiliest Texas pol could still learn a trick or two from state Democratic Rep. Terri Hodge, who one month after her re-election, spent more than $1,000 on Christmas bags for senior citizens, according to her most recent campaign finance report.

It's not like the Dallas House member was rewarding the elderly for their hard work on her campaign either. Hodge, who is under a 14-count felony indictment on bribery and fraud charges, didn't even face an opponent last year.

But that didn't stop the 12-year-incumbent from spending $951.73 on "senior X-mas" bags at two East Dallas Big Lots stores in mid-December, more than a month after her election. Hodge also went through $205.65 in two days at an East Dallas 99 Cent store -- again on Senior X-mas bags. That's a lot of single items to lug around.

The Canine Commissary, which offers a wide assortment of dog food, chew toys, and, oddly, kittens, was also the recipient of the lawmaker's campaign cash. There, Hodge spent $74.12 on -- you guessed it --senior X-Mas bags.



Hodge did not return repeated calls Tuesday and Wednesday for comment, though her chief of staff said he would relay the message to her.

Because she offers almost no details on her campaign finance reports, it's impossible to tell just who is receiving these sacks of holiday cheer. Are they constituents, supporters, relatives? Are they even old people? Hodge's report makes it impossible to verify if she is spending her money the way she says she is.

Instead, we just have to trust her.

This summer, Hodge is scheduled to go to trial on charges that she accepted $32,000 in kickbacks from a developer at the center of an FBI investigation. If convicted, the Dallas politico faces a maximum sentence of 100 years in prison.

Elderly folks come up a lot in conversations about Terri Hodge and her campaigns.

In 2002, the Dallas Observer reported how the lawmaker used a company with a fake address to deliver absentee votes, which tend to come from seniors and shut-ins. The alt-weekly also reported that Hodge knew how to "finesse the law" on absentee ballots in part because she helped write it.

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> Page 2: Read what political observers think.
> Database: View and search campaign finance data for all legislators at the portal maintained by the Texas Ethics Commission.

Photo: Canine Commissary photo by Matt Pulle.