Van de Putte releases tax returns

Texas Senator Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, waits to speaks at her last stop of a statewide bus tour at the University of Texas in Austin, Monday, April 7, 2014. Van de Putte started the tour on March 30. She is running for the Texas Lieutenant Governor's seat against the winner of the Republican runoff election between incumbent David Dewhurst and State Senator Dan Patrick, R-Houston. The event was held by the University Democrats. On the left is her husband, Pete Van de Putte. less Texas Senator Leticia Van de Putte, D-San Antonio, waits to speaks at her last stop of a statewide bus tour at the University of Texas in Austin, Monday, April 7, 2014. Van de Putte started the tour on March ... more Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News Photo: Jerry Lara, San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 84 Caption Close Van de Putte releases tax returns 1 / 84 Back to Gallery

AUSTIN — Democratic lieutenant governor nominee Leticia Van de Putte released three years of tax returns Friday, showing that she and her husband, Pete, earned combined total incomes ranging from $143,000 to $184,000 between 2010 and 2012.

The federal filings demonstrate that the San Antonio state senator and her husband's income is largely dependent on cash generated by the family's flag business, Dixie Flag Manufacturing Company, which made up about 72 percent of the couple's income in 2012.

As a state senator, Van de Putte is slated to be paid $7,200 annually for the job, but in her filings she reported earning less than that nominal sum in each of the three years: $5,733 in 2010, $4,600 in 2011 and $5,976 in 2012.

The campaign says the income from ADP TotalSource is actually from her work at the Davila Pharmacy. According to the campaign, ADP Totalsource is the firm that does payroll for Davila Pharmacy.

According to tax returns released Friday, Van de Putte and her husband lost a total of $10,000 gambling in Las Vegas in 2011 and 2012.

They also reported about $42,500 in royalties from XTO Energy, a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corp. that specializes in fracking, for the three-year period.

drauf@express-news.net