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. Unsurprisingly, Gov. He gave $1 million to Abbotts campaign in June 2021. With this tracker, The Express-News is providing continuously updated information on political contributions for the Nov. 8, 2022, elections, along with lists of top donors by name and by industry for statewide candidates for governor, attorney general, and lieutenant governor. 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. 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 other organizations on the list include law firms, teachers groups and liberal political action committees. AUSTIN Heading into the 2022 campaign season, Gov. Abbott compares to the 10 other governors with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA in 2022: The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Texas PACs submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission. Dan Patrick, she lost a special election for state Senate last month, Greg Abbott confronts coronavirus as stronger governor than Texas had 50 years ago, even with federal fundraising constraints, Crenshaw in the last two-year cycle raised a whopping $19 million, Dark alley no more: This time, Texas Republicans were ready for the Democrats, Pandemic. Abbott and ORourke have easily surpassed the combined $95 million Gov. He helped raised $54 million for GOP gubernatorial candidates in other states, Carney said. Race for Texas governor: Energy industry's campaign contributions Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. 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. reports from the FEC or state campaign finance agencies that reach applicable itemization thresholds. Although individual contributions are generally categorized based on the donor's occupation/employer, in some cases While (Gov. and unique way of understanding where candidates are getting their financial support. Oil and gas taxes now boost the state budget. Political contributions link ERCOT board to Abbott and the state - KSAT Beto O'Rourke out-raises Greg Abbott in campaign contributions 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. The Small Donors column represents the sum of itemized contributions from donors who gave an aggregate of less than $50. Breaking down the contributions by ZIP code in Texas, ORourke received more money from donors in major cities, which are Democratic strongholds. Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. Bolstered by his record-breaking figures over the past few months, ORourke has raised almost $6 million more than Abbott as of Oct. 29, 2022. Abbotts a prolific fundraiser, a weapon hes wielded to discourage competition as he moved up among Texas Republicans over the past two decades. That amount is up from 12% of his contributions coming from energy interests after the 2019 session, about $383,000. The Abbott campaign is eyeing aggressive advertising strategies ahead of the November election. Heading into the 2022 campaign season, Gov. Abbott had $55 million saved up for his reelection campaign at the end of June. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. 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. Home - FollowTheMoney.org Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get This past Valentine's Day, Texas Senator Drew Springer filed HB 923, delivering . contributor provides it. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke has had $47,177,963 contributed to his campaign. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. That amount is up from 12% of his contributions. How much have the candidates raised so far? Together, we will make sure that Texas remains the best state to live, work, and raise a family. Cobos salary is $143,000. During the same stretch after the two subsequent legislative sessions in 2017 and 2019, fewer than 9% of Paddies contributions came from energy interests. Patrick is in the middle of a131-stop bus tour across Texas, while Collier continues totout his alliances with moderateRepublicans who are endorsing him over the incumbent. As Gov. Carney, the Abbott adviser, dismissed talk that ORourke could pose a threat. Patrick spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester said: No one has been tougher on the energy sector and more proactive for ratepayers this session than Lt. the first of the month. Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved. Because Texas has no campaign finance contribution limits, its possible both candidates will accumulate and spend record-breaking amounts of campaign cash by Election Day. He was not appointed by Abbott and did not return a call for comment. Texas governor race: Beto O'Rourke, Greg Abbott campaigns raise more The. Data for Greg Abbott (R), who easily won the primary with more than 66% of the vote, is by far the largest beneficiary of the industry's political giving. why: Summary numbers for federal officeholders - specifically "Total Raised and Spent" and "PAC/Individual Split" - are These tables list the top donors to officeholders in 2022. 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. ORourkes top donors come from industries including finance, media and philanthropy. Gov. Rick Perry, worked to cultivate a wide base of financial support from energy interests, Rottinghaus said. Thanks to our generous supporters, our campaign helped secure Republican victories across the state of Texas this election cycle, he said. Still, in the 2019 legislative session, Abbott successfully appealed to GOP leaders and lawmakers to tend to bread-and-butter issues such as improving public schools and lowering property taxes. For that Warrens Energy Transfer cofounder Ray Davis gave $125,000 to Abbott. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference regarding Texas emergency response to an unprecedented winter storm gripping Texas on Feb. 13, 2021. shifted blame to renewable energy sources, significant power generation was unexpectedly offline, Abbott assured Texans the grid was in better shape than ever. Abbott's campaign said his roughly $25 million in donations from the most recent filing period came from nearly 45,000 contributors, which is 1/10th of the number of donors reported by his challenger over the same time period. Abbott's support comes from a wide variety of Texans all across the Lone Star State." O'Rourke's haul came from 511,000 donors, with. Abbott has long been considered a prolific fundraiser and O'Rourke garnered a similar reputation during his 2018 bid for the U.S. Senate, when he raised more than $80 million for his campaign. The tour, which starts in O'Rourke's hometown of El Paso has scheduled 70 public events in 65 counties, including in many areas that historically have preferred Republican candidates. This gives us time to analyze the contributions and categorize them by industry and In 2017, Abbott appointed her to lead the PUC, where she makes a $200,000 salary. That far exceeds the $6.8 million in cash on hand that ORourkes committee, Beto For Texas, reported as of the same date. 2022 campaign season: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott raises almost $19 Million Texas Ethics Commission records, however, show that three of the 13 representatives on the House Committee on State Affairs have accepted contributions from ERCOT board member Clifton Karnei. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. Abbott reported $37.9 million, with 79.1 percent of all spending going to the 10 payees topping the list. According to its website, OPUC represents the interests of residential and small commercial consumers, as a class, in utility proceedings in Texas. (An Abbott spokesman did not release the campaigns report for the second half of 2020, which is due at the Texas Ethics Commission on Friday.). That has resulted in both candidates receiving a large number of donations from outside Texas. Note that Paxtons top donor is the same as Gov. His largest billionaire donor so far is Margot Birmingham Perot, the widow of former presidential candidate H. Ross Perot Sr. Shes given $25,000 to ORourkes campaign since November. with that same employer, the organization's name winds up on the Top Contributors list. Updated: Feb. 10, 2023. 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. Paddie was among a chorus of elected officials from the governor on down demanding answers and solutions for why Texas grid was on the brink of total collapse in February. sectors) can be seen in each candidate and race profile, and in the Industry Profile section of the OpenSecrets FEC and listed quickly on OpenSecrets processing and analyzing the detailed records takes much longer. Greg Abbott Top Contributors OpenSecrets Not long after, Abbott released a list of issues lawmakers needed to address in July during a special-called legislative session. Democratic gubernatorial challenger Beto O'Rourke raised $27.3 million from Feb. 20 to June 30, while Republican Gov. Abbott Wants to Deny Undocumented Kids a Public Education may affect those organizations or their industries. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year. contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families. 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. However, Abbott s handling of the COVID-19 outbreak has attracted criticism from Democrats, independents and staunchly conservative Republicans, weakening his once-robust job approval ratings in public polls. 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 . A Crenshaw aide, though, said hes not thinking about running for governor. Beto O'Rourke out-raises Greg Abbott in campaign contributions - MSN Kolten Parker is digital executive producer at KSAT. disclosures vary. On ORourkes campaign they added, This is a grassroots campaign funded largely by the people of Texasnot the select few who know they can buy Abbott off.. Beto O'Rourke, Greg Abbott release latest fundraising hauls | The Texas Carney also said that while O'Rourke focuses on abortion rights and restricting assault-style weapons, Abbott would continue to emphasize economic issues, including the high inflation rate. The state of Texas imposes no limits on how much money you can give to your local representative, your senator, your governor, said Wheat. According to June polls from the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas, 4 in 5 respondents support background checks on all gun purchases, and just 15% support an abortion ban. But by the end of the legislative session, if Texas top power companies were aggrieved by the way they were treated by the Legislature or any of the new laws passed targeting their industry, they didnt show it. Of all the statewide elections in Texas, the attorney generals race is expected to be the most competitive. Of the $44.8 million already reported in the 2022 election cycle, 21.9 percent came from the top 10 donors. On Wednesday, Abbott underscored state Republicans delight that they held off the Democrats charge in the election immediately preceding a once-a-decade redistricting of political boundaries. Those donations included $1 million from Warren, cofounder of a pipeline company that made $2.4 billion from the winter storm, according to a report from Bloomberg. But were looking at almost two years until our election. Abbott wants to deny undocumented kids a public education Abbott, O'Rourke and more: See who's donating to Texas candidates ahead In April, Abbott had been ahead of O'Rourke by 11 points. All other numbers in these Wheat criticized Abbotts decision last week to blame the power grids supply issues on frozen wind turbines. Im grateful for everyone who helped us raise $27.63 million in just over four months as we support the powerful work of our organizers and more than 78,000 volunteers, O'Rourke said in the release. Dan Patrick pressured Abbott in public statements that issues related to the grid needed to be on the agenda. 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.. Abbott is tending to home state business, he noted. A 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization, 1100 13th Street, NW, Suite 800 As Texas voters go to the polls next week, it is clear which candidate billionaires are backing in the gubernatorial primary: current Gov. But the bill didnt set a hard deadline for when the upgrades need to be complete and it stopped short of detailing how the state would enforce and incentivize the process called weatherization. George W. Bush was heavily funded by his familys well-established energy network, his successor, former Gov. databases are only as current as the FEC has been able to compile by that date (see the note above about lag times Oil and politics have been entwined in Texas for more than a century, since wildcatters hit the first gusher at Spindletop back in 1901. Still, ORourke does have a few of his own billionaire supporters. Greg Abbott and Beto O'Rourke broke fundraising records in their race for Texas governor. Of the donors, O'Rourke's campaign said 98% of the donations were received online and that teachers contributed more than any other occupation. The O'Rourke campaign said nearly all of the more than 511,000 contributions to the campaign, at an average of $54, came from online donors and that teachers contributed more than people from any other occupation. Texas doesnt limit political giving, with no caps on individual contributions for candidates for state office. AUSTIN Gov. Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Slawson and Shaheen each received $150 last year, records show. 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. Greg Abbott hauled in nearly $19 million over nine days and boasted an eye-popping $55 million in the bank as he prepares his campaign for a . "I'm grateful for everyone who helped us raise $27.63. Meet The Billionaires Backing Beto O'Rourke And Greg Abbott - Forbes Gov. O'Rourke's campaign said he got over 115,600 contributions over the 46-day period, while Abbott's team said. state officeholders may be subject to longer time lags, as OpenSecrets aggregates this information from many sources OpenSecrets updates federal figures for "Total Raised and Spent" and for "PAC/Individual Split" a few days after That's four times more. Tuesday marks the deadline for candidates to file campaign finance reports with the Texas Ethics Commission detailing fundraising and spending from July through December. parties and political committees request employer information from contributors and publicly report it when the Absent that storm, his contributions would have been different, said Bill Miller, a longtime Texas political consultant and lobbyist. Open Secrets following the money in politics, OpenSecrets Following the money in politics, Why (and How) We Use Donors' Employer/Occupation Information, Organization unavailable for these records. Perhaps it goes without saying but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to. All told, the candidates together have raised a combined $147 million, have spent almost $196 million and have a combined total of almost $8 million in their campaign coffers. Were talking about a historic blackout in the state of Texas, that affected millions of peoples lives, some in very dangerous ways, said Wheat. Paddie received contributions from Oncor; Vistra, the states largest power generation company; and NuStar Political Action Committee, an oil and gas group. Kelcy Warren, CEO of Dallas-based Energy Transfer, gave the most money, with a single $1 million contribution to Gov. Energy Industry Showers Abbott, Other Texas Politicians With Campaign On Friday, Texans for Greg Abbott announced in a press release the governor raised nearly $25 . The organizations that donated the most money to Abbott this reporting period have previously given to the governor. Note that the same amount appears on both the contributions and the expenditures side of the reported data. The lag times vary for state officeholder data. During the same stretch after the two subsequent . 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.