Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to. As of February 19, Abbotts committee reported that it had about $50 million in cash on hand. How many donations came from within Texas? Contributors 2022 $71,842,556 grand total of contributions Greg Abbott has reported in 2022 Number of Contributions from Individuals (above itemization threshold): 292,180 Top: 20 Top 20 Contributors to Campaign Committee Export to CSV Showing 1 to 20 of 20 entries why: Summary numbers for federal officeholders - specifically "Total Raised and Spent" and "PAC/Individual Split" - are Abbott and ORourke have easily surpassed the combined $95 million Gov. Totals for industries (and larger economic Energy officials have repeatedly said that the states natural gas supply was also hindered by the storm, in large part because energy plants did not have properly winterized equipment. The totals, calculated by aggregating individual donations reported in those filings, do not include non-monetary or in-kind contributions. Carpenter, Cobos and Walker are three of 10 remaining ERCOT board members after the five others all of whom live out of state resigned this week. Greg Abbott during a roundtable discussion at the Texas Department of Public Safety headquarters in Austin on Jan. 21. . Breaking down the contributions by ZIP code in Texas, ORourke received more money from donors in major cities, which are Democratic strongholds. 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. 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.. A Schwertner spokesperson did not respond to questions for this story. His campaign accepted more than $12 million in political contributions from oil and gas companies and executives this election cycle. Gov. Usually, state candidates in Texas get the majority of their donations from Texans. by Carla Astudillo, Caroline Covington and Eric Lau The Past 30 Days column represents the last 30 days of donations, starting with the date of the most recent contribution for that race. 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. Democrat Beto O'Rourke hasraised $7.2 million since launchinghis campaign for Texas governor, according to his campaign. He has attacked the city of Austin repeatedly for reducing its police budget and repealing a ban on camping in public spaces that had generated thousands of citations to homeless people in the past. corporations and unions can give directly to campaigns in many jurisdictions. Crenshaw, 36, is almost as renowned a fundraiser as Abbott, 63. Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. About 26% of Patrick's contributions in June came from energy interests, more than $1.3 million, his most ever in the post-session stretch. For that While some of this money. As of Oct. 29, 2022, the overwhelming percentage of donations both candidates received are worth $200 or less. The top donor, Greg Abbott, represents reported contributions received by Gov. grand total of contributions Greg Abbott has reported in 2022Number of Contributions from Individuals (above itemization threshold): 292,180. Four out of the top 10 individual donors to Abbott are oil and gas men. The former El Paso congressman and presidential candidate is trying to become the first Democrat in nearly 30 years to win statewide office in Texas and to be the state's first Democratic governor since Ann Richards (1991-1995). In April, Abbott had been ahead of O'Rourke by 11 points. According to its website, OPUC represents the interests of residential and small commercial consumers, as a class, in utility proceedings in Texas. The comments came during an appearance on Fox News. Texas' energy interests are the biggest backers of his political rise, and he has not ruled out a White House run in 2024. More:Greg Abbott campaign promises 'knock-out, drag-out fight' in race against Beto O'Rourke. Those Greg Abbott. Florida Gov. For his part, Patrick has been pushing the states politics to the rightsince his days as a talk radio host in Houston. Donors who give more than $200 to any federal candidate, PAC or party committee must list their occupation and Greg Abbott speaks during a campaign event on February 23 in Houston. As he preps for 2022, Abbott may steal a page from U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, who last year tried to hold on to fervent Trump supporters while appealing to more moderate swing voters in the suburbs. ALBANY - Gov. Last Christmas, Governor Greg Abbott bussed and dumped migrant families in the freezing cold in Washington, D.C. You may opt-out by, Source of wealth: Houston Rockets, entertainment, Source of wealth: Computer services, real estate, Source of wealth: Hyatt hotels, investments. Caroline Covington contributed to this story. Heres how they compare. Final fundraising figures show that both gubernatorial candidates raised a combined $160 million in the November midterm election. Just before the energy donations poured in for Abbott in June, the power grid operator asked Texans, mid-heat wave, to conserve power and turn their thermostats to 78 degrees for a week in order to reduce electricity demand because significant power generation was unexpectedly offline. In fact, Abbott's campaign said he has raised $95 million this election season. A fifth-generation Texan, Bob earned a bachelors degree from Harvard University. 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. The other organizations on the list include law firms, teachers groups and liberal political action committees. State requirements related to itemization thresholds and employment disclosures vary. 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. The Texas Tribune has been tracking contributions, expenditures and cash on hand for both candidates since ORourke officially entered the race in November last year. 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. Abbott said 81% of his donors were from Texas. 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. "I'm grateful for everyone who helped us raise $27.63. A Crenshaw aide, though, said hes not thinking about running for governor. Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit OpenSecrets. 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. 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. That far exceeds the $6.8 million in cash on hand that ORourkes committee, Beto For Texas, reported as of the same date. 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 Defenders sent Oliver quotes from a Feb. 18 press conference during which Abbott said, ERCOT failed on each of these measures that they said they had undertaken. Both are from Dallas. Greg Abbott and Beto O'Rourke shatter fundraising recordsin the Texas governors race, see who has been donating to candidates with this campaign finance interactive. The Abbott campaign is eyeing aggressive advertising strategies ahead of the November election. Warren's company Energy Transfer declined to comment on his behalf. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. Abbotts candidate committee from another committee affiliated with the governor. 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. He helped raised $54 million for GOP gubernatorial candidates in other states, Carney said. This past Valentine's Day, Texas Senator Drew Springer filed HB 923, delivering . So although an Abbott campaign news release touted the $19.2 million he raised last year, it was just an 8% increase over the $17.8 million he raised in 2016. Oil and gas executives S. Javaid Anwar and Gary Martin, in particular, have been regular contributors to Abbott for years. He also received $1.5 million from billionaire George Soros, who is known for backing liberal candidates. useful after the election, as issues come before Congress, presidential administrations and state governments that O'Rourke's latest haul includes $2 million raised during the first 24 hours of his campaign, collected frommore than 20,000 individual donors. Texas has no limits on campaign contributions. available information, the donor is given an economic code. The data is made public by the Texas Ethics Commission. Abbott so far has two challengers in the Republican primary. He gave $1 million to Abbotts campaign in June 2021. In 2021, the Abbott campaign had out-raised the O'Rourke campaign since the start of their respective campaigns. 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. To request permission for commercial use, please contactus. Were talking about a historic blackout in the state of Texas, that affected millions of peoples lives, some in very dangerous ways, said Wheat. Democratic challenger Beto O'Rourke has had $47,177,963 contributed to his campaign. All other numbers in these If recent historys any guide, by November 2022, which will be Bidens first midterm election, Democrats may not be riding so high, he noted. And what you want to be able to do is have the ear of the lawmakers, said Andrew Wheat of Texans for Public Justice, an Austin non-profit that tracks money in Texas politics. 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. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. have always come from the energy industry, recently acquired by Roskis Majestic Realty. At the state level, corporations and unions can give directly to campaigns in many jurisdictions. 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. Together, we will make sure that Texas remains the best state to live, work, and raise a family. sparring with one Abbott-appointed regulator on the senate floor. Karnei, the CEO of a Central Texas power cooperative, is an abounding donor to politicians and energy-related political action committees, campaign finance records show. He was not appointed by Abbott and did not return a call for comment. The state of Texas imposes no limits on how much money you can give to your local representative, your senator, your governor, said Wheat. 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. Neither Cobos or the spokesperson ended up providing a statement for this story. In Texas, Gov. 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. Lori Cobos and DeAnn Walker, two Abbott appointees who sit on ERCOTs board due to their respective positions with the state, are listed among the governors lengthy list of political donors. based on summary reports filed by the candidates with the Federal Election Commission. The two-term governor is one of the most prolific GOP fundraisers in the country and had previously reported raising more than $30 million through the first half of the year and said Tuesday his campaign has now raised $95 million during the current election cycle from more than 418,000 contributors. Abbott candidate committee made to another committee affiliated with the governor. Wheat criticized Abbotts decision last week to blame the power grids supply issues on frozen wind turbines. OpenSecrets A 501(c)(3) tax-exempt, charitable organization 1100 13th Street, NW, Suite 800 Washington, DC 20005 (202) 857-0044 INFO: info@crp.org Thats what allows Gov. Oliver told KSAT that he was also unaware of any recent criticism levied toward ERCOT by Abbott. 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. 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. Greg Abbott, the state budget and CPS and foster care. Its the same people talking to the same people and you wonder if the people being left out are the average Texans, said Wheat. 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. Although individual contributions are generally categorized based on the donor's occupation/employer, in some cases 20005. 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.. Texas is already guaranteed record-setting spendingfor a governor's race this year, and the numbers keep climbing. 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. The approach was a response to Democratic success in the 2018 midterms. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 50th attorney general of Texas from 2002 to 2015 and as a member of the Texas Supreme Court from 1996 to 2001.. Abbott was the third Republican to serve as attorney general of Texas since the . Gov. Kolten Parker is digital executive producer at KSAT. In addition, the top ZIP codes for both candidates are often those where political action committees are based. 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. 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. Oil and politics have been entwined in Texas for more than a century, since wildcatters hit the first gusher at Spindletop back in 1901. 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. Learn more. AUSTIN Gov. Rick Perry and Democrat Tony Sanchez spent in 2002 and the combined $90 million Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis spent in 2014. Rep. Chris Paddie, chair of the state affairs committee, also did not respond to calls and an email seeking comment. Abbott, who has held a commanding lead in cash on hand during the race, touts $46 million in his campaign coffers. These tables list the top donors to officeholders in 2022. The Stockyards Station Hotel, recently acquired by Roskis Majestic Realty, donated over $382,000 in event expenses while HillCo PAC, an Austin lobbyist firm, donated a total of $336,000. Abbott to rake in $1 million checks from individual donors. 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. Had the bill passed, Walker would not be running the PUC. Gov. In addition, cryptocurrency CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who gave ORourke $1 million, is under investigation for breaking the states securities law. Because Texas doesnt have limits on contribution amounts, rich and powerful people can cut massive checks to campaigns. Texans deserve answers about why these shortfalls occurred and how they are going to be corrected, and Texans will get those answers.. Were receiving support from those in every part of this state who are ready to hold Greg Abbott fully accountable for eight years of failing all of us as he continues to put his extreme agenda over the people of Texas. However, Democratic challenger Beto ORourke reported raising $27.6 million from late February through June, which is the most a candidate for state office in Texas has ever raised in a single reporting period. and formats. During that week, Abbott assured Texans the grid was in better shape than ever. O'Rourke is running in the Democratic primary and facesMichael Cooper, Joy Diaz, Inocencio Barrientez and Rich Wakeland. This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Walker, a non-voting member of ERCOTs board, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. Abbotts roster of rich donors is full of Texas Republicans with oil interestssome of who supported Trump ahead of the 2020 election. With Democrat Joe Biden about to move into the White House and national Republicans in disarray over President Donald Trumps norm-shattering behavior in recent weeks, a big bankroll is about the only certainty Abbott can rely on. Billionaire money manager Ken Fisher, who lives in Dallas, donated $25,000 to Abbotts campaign, plus $100,000 to the Defend Texas PAC. While former Gov. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to Friday press releases from both of the campaigns. As CNBC reported, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer criticized Republicans in a speech on. Absent that storm, his contributions would have been different, said Bill Miller, a longtime Texas political consultant and lobbyist. 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. While some of this money. voters, researchers and others. ideological code, rather than an economic code, if the contributor gives to an ideological political action after the 20th of every month. Other ERCOT board members are listed in TEC records as having contributed to several energy-related PACs. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. Republican incumbent Greg Abbott, who is seeking his third term in office, has reported huge fundraising hauls in the past, amassing staggering amounts of cash in his campaign coffers. The organizations that donated the most money to Abbott this reporting period have previously given to the governor. 2023 www.statesman.com. Still, ORourke does have a few of his own billionaire supporters. Over that same short stretch in June, 11 prominent oil industry leaders, including billionaires Kelcy Warren, S. Javaid Anwar and Douglas Scharbauer all three whom could not be reached for comment combined to contribute about $3.2 million to Texas elected officials, up from about $2.2 million over the same period following the previous legislative session in 2019. 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. Robert T. Garrett, Austin Bureau Chief. Abbott his job, run a more aggressive and public-facing campaign, pushing the states politics to the right, 2015 felony indictment for securities fraud. Sometimes it's hard to make apple-to-apple comparisons across some of the pages in a candidate's profile. We are going to defeat him and ensure Texas finally leads in great jobs, world-class schools, the ability to see a doctor, keeping our kids safe and restoring a womans freedom to make her own decisions about her own body.. "As we move into the heat of the summer campaign, were well positioned to fund all our campaign efforts, Texans for Greg Abbott Campaign Chairman Gardner Pate said in the Friday release. 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. 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 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. Is Dallas becoming unaffordable due to rising housing costs, inflation and stagnating pay? But Luthers star appears to have dimmed after she lost a special election for state Senate last month. Abbott is running for re-election in 2022. and unique way of understanding where candidates are getting their financial support. On June 23, Warren cut a check to Abbott's campaign for $1 million, according to the governor's latest campaign finance filing, which covers January through June. Other lawmakers who saw some of the largest spikes in funding from the energy industry were those who authored the power grid legislation and chaired the committees that heard the bills. July 19, 2022 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. website. This is a BETA experience. As of Oct. 29, 2022, Abbott received a greater percentage of his money from Texas donors compared with ORourke. Referring to gun control stands by ORourke and the possibility the Texas Democrat could return to Washington, Carney said, Being Biden administration gun czar is not the best credential to use to run for anything in Texas.. Heading into the 2022 campaign season, Gov. In late June, it announced an $8.15 million digital media advertising buy, $8.8 million for TV and radio ads, and $2.75 million for Spanish media ads across platforms. At a time when newsroom resources and revenue across the country are declining, The Texas Tribune remains committed to sustaining our mission: creating a more engaged and informed Texas with every story we cover, every event we convene and every newsletter we send. Dan Patrick received millions in contributions from the energy industry, a new Texas Tribune report shows. Tickets are on sale now for this multi-day celebration of big, bold ideas about politics, public policy and the days news, curated by The Texas Tribunes award-winning journalists. Washington, ORourke, who has had significantly less time to fundraise compared to Abbott, reported raising $4.3 million from the beginning of the year to February 19, compared to Abbott, who raised $5.3 million in the same time frame. contributions may be completely unrelated to the organization. King, Slawson and Shaheen did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment for this story. This means that overall, Abbotts Texas donors gave more than ORourkes Texas donors. He knows how to walk that fine line between moderate Republicans and those that are very right of center, she said. Before Abbott and O'Rourke can face off at the polls, both candidates must first win their respective March 1 primary races. Texas Gov. These are the latest numbers ahead of Election Day. individuals may be classified instead as ideological donors. Based on the Under federal law, all contributions over $200 must be itemized and the donor's occupation and employer must be Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. 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. But none has reaped campaign contributions on the scale of Abbott, who in six years in office has raised more than $150 million from donors, more than any governor in U.S. history. The O'Rourke campaign has not yet released how much cash on hand it has. Organizations like political action committees or industry associations can also give directly to candidate campaigns. Greg Abbott - Texas Governor (R) Now showing data for the 2022 election year. We do this in two ways: It is impossible to know either the economic interest that made each individual contribution possible or the O'Rourke, who launched his campaign in November, raised the significant sum over 46 days on the campaign trail from more than115,600 contributions of which roughly 80% were made online. The PUC has largely avoided blame for last weeks power issues, so far, despite providing oversight to ERCOT. 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. During the same stretch after the two subsequent . Oil and gas taxes now boost the state budget. ORourke received about 391,496 individual donations from outside the state, while Abbott received roughly 109,493. But to build a better future for every Texan, I need your help. Still, University of North Texas political scientist Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha said Abbotts $38 million will scare off most of the competition.. 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. About 26% of Patricks contributions in June came from energy interests, more than $1.3 million, his most ever in the post-session stretch. Dave Carney, Abbotts political strategist, said the governor is unperturbed by the volatile national political environment. Second, we standardize the name of the donor's employer. Dan Patrick, after coming within 5 percentage points of the incumbent in 2018. for data entry). Using previous figures reported by the Texas Ethics Commission, O'Rourke has now raised more than $65 million in what has become one of America's most expensive races of the 2022 midterms. Among elected officials holding the same level of state office, fundraising varies widely. The data presented here is sourced from the Texas Ethics Commission, which displays campaign finance filings from candidate committees. profiles for state and federal officeholders are derived from contribution records disclosed in campaign finance A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for reelection, influence donor activity. Showing these clusters of contributions from people associated with particular organizations provides a valuable Perhaps it goes without saying but producing quality journalism isn't cheap. Tuesday marks the deadline for candidates to file campaign finance reports with the Texas Ethics Commission detailing fundraising and spending from July through December. 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. 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. The storm, as bad as it was, helped him on his bottom line for contributions.. 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.