While former Gov. Greg Abbott and Beto O'Rourke shatter fundraising records in the Texas governor's race, see who has been donating to candidates with this campaign finance interactive.. With this tracker . In addition, Abbott has received donations from deep-pocketed donors in the real estate industry like Edward Roski Jr., president of Majestic Realty in California, who gave $1.5 million, as well as three donations of $1 million each from supporters in finance and casinos. Except for the Revolving Door section, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License by OpenSecrets.org. Do you value our journalism? Abbott and ORourke have easily surpassed the combined $95 million Gov. grand total of contributions Greg Abbott has reported in 2022Number of Contributions from Individuals (above itemization threshold): 292,180. UHs Cross said Abbott actually was straddling various state GOP factions long before 2020 and will continue to do so. Greg Abbott hauled in nearly $19 million over the last nine days of June and boasted an eye-popping $55 million in the bank as he prepares to . Schwertner went from receiving 3% of his overall campaign contributions from the energy industry in the fundraising period after the 2015 legislative session to the industry making up about 32% of his contributions in 2021. "I'm grateful for everyone who helped us raise $27.63. A PUC spokesman instead sent the following statement: Dillon, responding on Chairman Walkers behalf as shes still fully engaged in issues related to the winter storm related grid event. employer. A lot of things can happen. O'Rourke at that time had raised $7.2 million while Abbott raised nearly $19 million in the last six months of 2021, according to January campaign finance reports. A report from Texans for Public Justice released this week found that Abbott raised more than $87 million in campaign contributions from the start of 2017 through the end of last year. Abbott had $55 million saved up for his reelection campaign at the end of June. by Carla Astudillo, Caroline Covington and Eric Lau Second, we standardize the name of the donor's employer. The Small Donors column represents the sum of itemized contributions from donors who gave an aggregate of less than $50. Greg Abbott urges letting the vote counting play out in Trump-Biden race, How a Joe Biden win isnt necessarily bad news for Texas Gov. More than a quarter of Hancocks contributions in June came from energy interests, about $53,500 the most he has ever received in a post-legislative session period. Show us with your support. Tuesday marks the deadline for candidates to file campaign finance reports with the Texas Ethics Commission detailing fundraising and spending from July through December. Ballotpedia is the digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections. with that same employer, the organization's name winds up on the Top Contributors list. Abbott is running for re-election in 2022. Greg Abbott dwarfing other candidates in energy-interest contributions, according to a KHOU 11 analysis of data . Learn more about our work here. The fifth payee, listed as Greg Abbott, represents reported expenditures a Gov. We do this in two ways: It is impossible to know either the economic interest that made each individual contribution possible or the disclosures vary. profiles for state and federal officeholders are derived from contribution records disclosed in campaign finance As CNBC reported, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer criticized Republicans in a speech on. These totals are conservative, as not all of the But an analysis of state campaign finance records by the KSAT 12 Defenders shows three current members of ERCOTs board have contributed thousands to Abbotts campaigns, with some of the funds dating back to his days as Texas Attorney General. Final fundraising figures show that both gubernatorial candidates raised a combined $160 million in the November midterm election. The storm, as bad as it was, helped him on his bottom line for contributions.. He said the latest contributions of $25 million came from nearly 475,000 donors, making the average contribution $53. Join us Sept. 20-25 at the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival. O'Rourke did not say how much money his campaign has on hand -- or how much it has spent -- while teasing his fundraising numbers before filing his latest campaign finance report. He knows how to walk that fine line between moderate Republicans and those that are very right of center, she said. He helped raised $54 million for GOP gubernatorial candidates in other states, Carney said. state officeholders may be subject to longer time lags, as OpenSecrets aggregates this information from many sources Texans deserve answers about why these shortfalls occurred and how they are going to be corrected, and Texans will get those answers.. Small donors make up almost half of the total amount ORourke raised. The pay for play proposal was passed by the full House but was killed in Lt. Gov. As of Oct. 29, 2022, the overwhelming percentage of donations both candidates received are worth $200 or less. He did not respond to a request for comment. There was a series of finger-pointing and falsehoods from state elected officials who wouldn't accept responsibility and falsely shifted blame to renewable energy sources as they vowed to fix the grid. OpenSecrets aggregates state data from many sources and formats. State Sen. Kelly Hancock, R-North Richland Hills, who led much of the upper chambers response to the storm that left millions of Texans without electricity for days in subfreezing temperatures, also got a boost in funding. But Luthers star appears to have dimmed after she lost a special election for state Senate last month. 2:28. Since the beginning of last year, Abbotts campaign has raised about $5.5 million from at least 17 billionaires and 3 spouses of billionaires. This gives us time to analyze the contributions and categorize them by industry and The state of Texas imposes no limits on how much money you can give to your local representative, your senator, your governor, said Wheat. The Abbott campaign is eyeing aggressive advertising strategies ahead of the November election. reason, summary numbers are usually higher (and more current) than the numbers based on detailed records. Abbott has run a similar playbook as Perry and has taken it to a different level, Rottinghaus said. Greg Abbott attacks Beto O'Rourke without mentioning him by name, $2 million raised during the first 24 hours, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year. His campaign accepted more than $12 million in political contributions from oil and gas companies and executives this election cycle. The Legislature ultimately passed a bill shepherded by Paddie in the House and state Sen. Charles Schwertner, R-Georgetown, in the Senate that requires power generation companies to prepare to withstand extreme weather conditions. Rick Perry and Democrat Tony Sanchez spent in 2002 and the combined $90 million Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis spent in 2014. Board member Mark Carpenter, a senior vice president with Dallas-based Oncor Electric Delivery, has contributed $10,000 to Texans for Greg Abbott, Abbotts campaign war chest, since October 2018. He also received $1.5 million from billionaire George Soros, who is known for backing liberal candidates. The Republican governor raised 26% more in last years final six months than the $9.1 million he raised in late 2016 the comparable period in his first term. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, Abbott is a member of the Republican Party and first assumed office in 2015. As of February 19, Abbotts committee reported that it had about $50 million in cash on hand. In the past two cycles, national Democrats have shown their willingness to pour millions into once-forbidding Texas. Get immediate access to organizations and people Kathy Hochul raked in big campaign bucks over the last six months to the tune of $21.9 million from a well of donors who also used to give generously to disgraced ex-Gov.. Other billionaires with major oil and gas interests who are backing Abbott include Nancy Kinder, the wife of Kinder Morgan cofounder Richard Kinder; Hilcorp cofounder Jeff Hildebrand; Chief Oil & Gas founder Trevor Rees-Jones; Hunt Oil heir Ray Lee Hunt and Western Refining founder Paul Foster, who Abbott appointed to run the Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission in April last year. Warren has given Abbott $250,000 donations almost every year since he won the governors office in 2014. Greg Abbott raised $11.5 million from July through December, and now can brandish almost $38 million of cash as he tries to scare off opponents in his campaign for a third term . He covers Gov. That is why Congress and many states have mandated that candidates, political ORourkes top donors come from industries including finance, media and philanthropy. After the 2021 regular legislative session, energy industry donations totaling $26,000 for the period made up 88% of Paddies campaign contributions over just the last 10 days of June. For that Oliver told KSAT that he was also unaware of any recent criticism levied toward ERCOT by Abbott. The remaining figures - based on detailed contribution data - are updated by OpenSecrets Abbott is bought and paid for by his billionaire donors, a spokesperson for ORourkes campaign told Forbes in an email. databases are only as current as the FEC has been able to compile by that date (see the note above about lag times Abbott, who has held a commanding lead in cash on hand during the race, touts $46 million in his campaign coffers. That said, she fully supports Governor Abbotts decision to declare the grid event an emergency item for the Legislatures attention and is fully committed, along with her fellow commissioners, to engaging in the legislative inquiry on the way to understanding what factors collided with a natural disaster to cause the outages. Visit us at Ballotpedia.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. and unique way of understanding where candidates are getting their financial support. A bill proposed by San Antonio Republican state Rep. Lyle Larson in 2017 would have prohibited the governor from appointing a political donor to a position if he or she had contributed more than $2,500 in a year. Abbott reported $37.9 million, with 79.1 percent of all spending going to the 10 payees topping the list. Dan Patrick received millions in contributions from the energy industry, a new Texas Tribune report shows. I just dont know whos out there who would be able to dethrone an incumbent assuming that COVID improves, the economy does well and Abbott doesnt step his foot into something, Eshbaugh-Soha said. About 26% of Patricks contributions in June came from energy interests, more than $1.3 million, his most ever in the post-session stretch. A spokesperson for Abbott told the Defenders via email, Governor Abbott has made the reform of ERCOT an emergency item and has assured the public we will not leave this session without reforming the entity.. Since a deadly winter storm hit Texas earlier this month Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly heaped criticism on ERCOT, the operator of the states electric grid, claiming the entity was woefully unprepared for the dangerous weather that has killed a still-untold number of people. I wouldnt count him out., Last fall, Abbott gave money and shared his campaigns detailed voter information database with GOP hopefuls in several of the key Texas House contests. All other numbers in these By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, Stand with us in our mission to discover and uncover the story of North Texas. From June 21 to June 30, after the legislative fundraising blackout ended, five of the largest and most prominent companies in the Texas power grid supply chain Calpine, Centerpoint, NRG Energy, Oncor and Vistra or their top executives collectively donated about $497,000 to state elected officials and political groups. Slawson and Shaheen each received $150 last year, records show. In 2017, Abbott appointed her to lead the PUC, where she makes a $200,000 salary. However, the patterns of contributions provide critical information for There is also a time lag in posting the information. Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved. Dave Carney, Abbott's chief political strategist, said Wednesday that he expected O'Rourke to have strong fundraising numbers. In January, fracking billionaire Farris Wilks, who gained national attention when he poured $15 million into backing Ted Cruzs 2016 presidential bid, gave $2 million to a PAC called Defend Texas Liberty that donated $1 million to the campaign of Don Huffines, another candidate running in the Republican primary who is considered a long shot to win. Texas Gov. Absent that storm, his contributions would have been different, said Bill Miller, a longtime Texas political consultant and lobbyist. Totals for industries (and larger economic Warrens Energy Transfer cofounder Ray Davis gave $125,000 to Abbott. Thanks to our generous supporters, our campaign helped secure Republican victories across the state of Texas this election cycle, he said. As Gov. A Schwertner spokesperson did not respond to questions for this story. Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke has had $47,177,963 contributed to his campaign. Caroline Covington contributed to this story. July 19, 2022 Here is how fundraising by Texas Gov. Patricks calls came after he tried to assert himself prominently in responding to the winter storm by demanding leadership changes at state regulatory agencies and sparring with one Abbott-appointed regulator on the senate floor. Abbott hasnt detailed what he wants the Republican-controlled Legislature, which convened Tuesday, to accomplish this year. While summary numbers are reported almost immediately by the Governor Patrick, who moved immediately following the February storm to call for the resignations of both the PUC board and ERCOT, both of which were fully reformed through Senate Bills 2 and 3.. Kolten Parker, Digital Executive Producer. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Overall since 2014, Abbott has received about $30 million from oil, gas and other energy interests, which is about 18% of his $166 million total raised in that time. Greg Abbott and Beto O'Rourke broke fundraising records in their race for Texas governor. Here's how much. Most of Patrick's energy industry money received in June was driven by oil executives. Greg Abbott - Texas Governor (R) Now showing data for the 2022 election year. Through Nov. 30, even with federal fundraising constraints, Crenshaw in the last two-year cycle raised a whopping $19 million. The top donor, Greg Abbott, represents reported contributions received by Gov. The Bush familys origin story in Texas revolves around oil and gas, and money from the industry has funded much of the familys political fortunes in the state ever since they arrived in West Texas. Nearly half (45%) of the 1,200 Texas voters who participated in the poll indicated support for Abbott while 39% showed support for O'Rourke. Last year, Abbott wouldve raised more if hed been able to hold in-person fundraisers and hadnt been busy as chairman of the Republican Governors Association, Carney said. website. Kolten Parker is digital executive producer at KSAT. Dozens of donations in quantities like $100,000, $50,000, and $25,000 and page after page of $10,000 donations poured in over the course of the election cycle from individuals and PACs alike. Power companies were in the hot seat, as millions of Texans who endured a week of subfreezing temperatures with no power demanded sweeping, multibillion dollar improvements to prevent another deadly disaster and lawmakers promised action. Greg Abbott continued his legislative push for "parental empowerment" in Austin on Wednesday while also expressing support for a bill meant to keep local . These are the latest numbers ahead of Election Day. ORourkes Powered by People PAC gave $1.7 million to his own campaign. AUSTIN Gov. Wheat criticized Abbotts decision last week to blame the power grids supply issues on frozen wind turbines. Outgoing Texas GOP Chairman Allen West and former state Senator Don Huffines of Dallas both accused the governor of not being conservative enough. If recent historys any guide, by November 2022, which will be Bidens first midterm election, Democrats may not be riding so high, he noted. Collier now has more money, a stronger team and a ground game that has pushed Patrick torun a more aggressive and public-facing campaignthan he ran four years ago. Given more time, Gov. individual contributions have yet been classified by OpenSecrets. Abbotts potential opponents next year include former Democratic presidential hopeful Beto ORourke as well as several fellow Republicans who have criticized COVID-19 executive orders as overreach. Democrat Beto O'Rourke hasraised $7.2 million since launchinghis campaign for Texas governor, according to his campaign. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. Here's Greg Abbott. While (Gov. Bank, his wife Matilda lists "Homemaker" and 12-year old Tammy shows up as "Student," OpenSecrets would identify all Data for Usually, state candidates in Texas get the majority of their donations from Texans. Disclosure: Calpine, CenterPoint Energy, NRG Energy, Oncor, University of Texas at Austin and University of Houston have been financial supporters of The Texas Tribune, a nonprofit, nonpartisan news organization that is funded in part by donations from members, foundations and corporate sponsors. why: Summary numbers for federal officeholders - specifically "Total Raised and Spent" and "PAC/Individual Split" - are He loves being lieutenant governor and is not running against Gov. Of the donors, O'Rourke's campaign said 98% of the donations were received online and that teachers contributed more than any other occupation. According to its website, OPUC represents the interests of residential and small commercial consumers, as a class, in utility proceedings in Texas. Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. Although individual contributions are generally categorized based on the donor's occupation/employer, in some cases Final fundraising figures show that both gubernatorial candidates raised a combined. That's four times more. Walker, the chair of the Public Utility Commission of Texas and a former senior policy advisor to Abbott, contributed $7,620 to Texans for Greg Abbott from 2009 to 2015, state campaign records show. Greg Abbott, who is heading into a reelection year in 2022, benefited most from the flood of June campaign donations from the energy industry. A Crenshaw aide, though, said hes not thinking about running for governor. Abbott's campaign stressed that since the start of 2021, the two-term Republican incumbent "has raised nearly $95 million from more than 418,000 donations." Since O'Rourke announced his. AUSTIN Since a deadly winter storm hit Texas earlier this month Governor Greg Abbott has repeatedly heaped criticism on ERCOT, the operator of the states electric grid, claiming the entity was woefully unprepared for the dangerous weather that has killed a still-untold number of people. His team called the haul a "record-breaking amount" and said "no Democratic campaign in the states history has raised more money during the opening days of their race.". Democrat Mike Collier gets his rematch with incumbent Lt. Gov. Last Christmas, Governor Greg Abbott bussed and dumped migrant families in the freezing cold in Washington, D.C. As Texas voters go to the polls next week, it is clear which candidate billionaires are backing in the gubernatorial primary: current Gov. Gov. ORourke and Abbott will compete separately in their own party primaries on March 1, but many are already looking ahead to a general election between the former Democratic House representative and the current Republican governor. Separate from discussion of the virus outbreak, some have wondered whether Houston-area GOP congressman Dan Crenshaw, whos seen nationally as a Republican comer, might jump into a race against Abbott. But that wasnt always the case: In June 2021, Abbott had a campaign balance of over $55 million, and Abbott has spent almost twice as much money as his opponent, including a June ad buy worth nearly $20 million. According to the most recent campaign finance reports made to the Texas Ethics Commission, the governor received $44,778,653 in total contributions and spent $37,930,300 between January 1, 2021 and February 19, 2022. Abbott to rake in $1 million checks from individual donors. Note that the same amount appears on both the contributions and the expenditures side of the reported data. During that time same time period, Abbott's campaign said the two-term governor raised just under $25 million but didn't specify down to the decimal point. On his first day in the gubernatorial race in November 2021, ORourke received donations worth a total of $1.7 million from his Powered by People PAC, which has been raising money since 2019 to boost Texas Democrats. This is a BETA experience. Hes running for reelection in 2022, said Patrick spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester. Dan Patricks Senate. Democrats have not won a statewide office in three decades, but incumbent Republican Ken Paxton is deemed vulnerable because of his2015 felony indictment for securities fraudand unrelated accusations of corruption that his top aides took to the FBIin late 2020. Rick Perry, worked to cultivate a wide base of financial support from energy interests, Rottinghaus said. Democrat Beto O'Rourke announced he's running for governor of Texas and says he'll move past divisive politics and bring the state together. In cases where two or more people from the same family contributed, the income-earner's occupation/employer is Texas Gov. The twisted roots between the oil and gas industry and Texas lawmakers is almost as old as the Capitol building itself, said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor at the University of Houston. More:Greg Abbott campaign promises 'knock-out, drag-out fight' in race against Beto O'Rourke. The rest of Abbott's campaign contributions for the 2020 election cycle are made up of moderate-to-large donations as well as small-dollar donors. Heading into the 2022 campaign season, Gov. Here are the billionaire donors to Republican Greg Abbott and Democrat Beto ORourkes campaigns since January 2021, according to the latest Texas campaign finance filings. Greg Abbott, who is heading into a re-election year. The data presented here is sourced from the Texas Ethics Commission, which displays campaign finance filings from candidate committees. Gov. This past Valentine's Day, Texas Senator Drew Springer filed SB 923, delivering on Abbott's reelection campaign goal to deny undocumented children access to public education unless the . The epic Texas freeze fueled a surge of campaign cash, with the war chest of Gov. Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families. We dont take anything for granted, he said. Since then, ORourke received four major fundraising bumps: one right after the primary election; one after he confronted Abbott at a press conference following the school shooting in Uvalde in late May; one after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe vs. Wade in late June; and one at the end of September, a couple of weeks ahead of the voter registration deadline. 4 min read. Dave Carney, Abbotts political strategist, said the governor is unperturbed by the volatile national political environment.