Dan Patricks Senate. Abbott, O'Rourke and more: See who's donating to Texas candidates ahead If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. If recent historys any guide, by November 2022, which will be Bidens first midterm election, Democrats may not be riding so high, he noted. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. The comments came during an appearance on Fox News. 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. 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 . Before Abbott and O'Rourke can face off at the polls, both candidates must first win their respective March 1 primary races. The lag times vary for state officeholder data. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. Democrat Rochelle Garza, a former attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union, has struggled to fundraise at the levels needed to take on the well-funded and well-known incumbent. In addition, cryptocurrency CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who gave ORourke $1 million, is under investigation for breaking the states securities law. Here's 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. He said the latest contributions of $25 million came from nearly 475,000 donors, making the average contribution $53. In April, Abbott had been ahead of O'Rourke by 11 points. In November, Republicans held their 83-67 majority in the Texas House, despite organizing efforts by ORourkes Powered by People group and millions of dollars in TV ads bought by national Democratic super PACs. February winter storm: Campaign donations poured in after reform - WFAA 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. Abbott wants to deny undocumented kids a public education OpenSecrets aggregates state data from many sources and formats. Abbott raised more in smaller cities and rural areas. Greg Abbott Top Contributors OpenSecrets Oliver told KSAT that he was also unaware of any recent criticism levied toward ERCOT by Abbott. AUSTIN Heading into the 2022 campaign season, Gov. Carney, the Abbott adviser, dismissed talk that ORourke could pose a threat. Warren spent more than $10 million to try to get Trump reelected in 2020. Greg Abbott - Governor of Texas "In Texas, anything is possible. Abbott is running for re-election in 2022. 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). 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. (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.). Political contributions link ERCOT board to Abbott and the state - KSAT for data entry). This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Heres how they compare. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. 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. Final fundraising figures show that both gubernatorial candidates raised a combined $160 million in the November midterm election. Other ERCOT board members are listed in TEC records as having contributed to several energy-related PACs. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. The. Abbott reported $37.9 million, with 79.1 percent of all spending going to the 10 payees topping the list. Texas is already guaranteed record-setting spendingfor a governor's race this year, and the numbers keep climbing. requested and disclosed, if provided. Gov. In the final half of 2020, Abbott collected contributions from 22,598 donors, 10,116 of whom were new, his campaign announced Wednesday. Wheat criticized Abbotts decision last week to blame the power grids supply issues on frozen wind turbines. He covers Gov. Aug. 4, 20215 AM Central. While some of this money. Wed love to run against him, he said of ORourke, a former El Paso congressman who gave U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz a scare in 2018. Dillon is a two-time Houston Press Club Journalist of the Year and a Texas Associated Press Broadcasters Reporter of the Year. Greg Abbott during a roundtable discussion at the Texas Department of Public Safety headquarters in Austin on Jan. 21. . A spokesperson for Paddie did not respond to questions. Greg Abbott, gives an update on an investigation into the massacre in Uvalde, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. At the state level, Ron DeSantis, viewed as the greatest GOP threat to former President Trump's 2024 White House campaign, is visiting Southern California this weekend to promote his new book and curry favor as he raises money for Republicans in conservative strong-holds. 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. Polling data suggests a large percentage of voters might agree with O'Rourke on increasing abortion access and gun reform. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. 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. Find a complete list of them here. We dont take anything for granted, he said. 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. In the Republican primary, Abbott is facing former state Sen. Don Huffines, former Texas GOP Chairman Allen West, Chad Prather,Danny Harrison, Kandy Kaye Horn, Paul Belew and Rick Perry (no, not that Rick Perry). He loves being lieutenant governor and is not running against Gov. 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 . disclosures vary. 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. How many donations came from within Texas? ORourke received $2.2 million from Austin couple Simone Coxe, who has worked in communications, and Tench Coxe, a former venture capitalist. Abbotts candidate committee from another committee affiliated with the governor. Texas has no limits on campaign contributions. Home - FollowTheMoney.org Some of the state data included errors in the address field; these records were corrected when possible such as when the donors address was available elsewhere in the data set and omitted from the location-based calculations when not. 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. 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. 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. 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. Of the trio, King received the most contributions from Karnei by far: five between 2004 and 2016 totaling $475, according to TEC records. As a Republican and a Texan, Abbott may have received significant campaign contributions from the NRA. First, we apply a code to the contribution, identifying the industry. 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. State requirements related to itemization thresholds and employment He knows how to walk that fine line between moderate Republicans and those that are very right of center, she said. DeSantis, who frequently tangles . 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. Abbott raises $19 million, O'Rourke $7.2 million in race for governor Join us Sept. 20-25 at the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival. According to its website, OPUC represents the interests of residential and small commercial consumers, as a class, in utility proceedings in Texas. Here's how much. committee AND the candidate has received money from PACs representing that same ideological interest. About 26% of Patricks contributions in June came from energy interests, more than $1.3 million, his most ever in the post-session stretch. But were looking at almost two years until our election. 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. their contributions as being related to the "First National Bank" since that's the source of the family's income. 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. The money came from159,000 total contributions with an average contribution of roughly $119, his campaign said Tuesday. This gives us time to analyze the contributions and categorize them by industry and Texas Gov. Abbott so far has two challengers in the Republican primary. There will be one last update in January with final fundraising numbers for the 2022 midterms. And ORourke has over $500,000 more cash on hand than Abbott. In 2021, the Abbott campaign had out-raised the O'Rourke campaign since the start of their respective campaigns. Most of Patrick's energy industry money received in June was driven by oil executives. In Texas, Gov. The epic Texas freeze fueled a surge of campaign cash, with the war chest of Gov. In Texas, Gov. That is why Congress and many states have mandated that candidates, political All rights reserved. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to Friday press releases from both of the campaigns. 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. Here's who's donated to Gov. Hochul's $21.9 million war chest 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. such as textbooks, contact OpenSecrets: info[at]crp.org. 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 . Based on the Patrick spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester said: No one has been tougher on the energy sector and more proactive for ratepayers this session than Lt. databases are only as current as the FEC has been able to compile by that date (see the note above about lag times To request permission for commercial use, please contactus. For that Billionaire money manager Ken Fisher, who lives in Dallas, donated $25,000 to Abbotts campaign, plus $100,000 to the Defend Texas PAC. The figures in federal profiles are taken from databases uploaded by the FEC on the first day of every month. More:Greg Abbott campaign promises 'knock-out, drag-out fight' in race against Beto O'Rourke. 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. Showing these clusters of contributions from people associated with particular organizations provides a valuable But to build a better future for every Texan, I need your help. Thats what allows Gov. In some cases, a cluster of contributions from people associated with the same organization may indicate a motivation for each individual giver. Breaking down the contributions by ZIP code in Texas, ORourke received more money from donors in major cities, which are Democratic strongholds. Unprecedented: Texas Democrat Beto O'Rourke edges Gov. Greg Abbott in 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. Greg Abbott said his campaign raised nearly $19 million in the last six months of 2021, a total that brought his campaign war chest to a staggering $65 million in December. Just 6%, or $1,141, of his overall campaign contributions in the brief June fundraising period after the 2015 legislative session came from the energy industry. 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. Warren's company Energy Transfer declined to comment on his behalf. Florida 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 . "The nearly 113,000 contributions illustrates that Gov. Texas Governor Greg Abbott's 2019 reelection inaugural was a 2-day event that included balls, candlelight dinners, barbecues and other VIP events -- costing some $5.3 million for the celebrations. Greg Abbott speaks during a campaign event on February 23 in Houston. concerted effort by that organization to "bundle" contributions to the candidate. Warrens Energy Transfer cofounder Ray Davis gave $125,000 to Abbott. 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. Abbott signed into law last year an abortion ban excepting cases when the life of a pregnant patientis in danger that takes effect later this summer. That amount is up from 12% of his contributions coming from energy interests after the 2019 session, about $383,000. 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. 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 . Given more time, Gov. 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. That has resulted in both candidates receiving a large number of donations from outside Texas. The PUC has largely avoided blame for last weeks power issues, so far, despite providing oversight to ERCOT. You may opt-out by, Source of wealth: Houston Rockets, entertainment, Source of wealth: Computer services, real estate, Source of wealth: Hyatt hotels, investments. Greg Abbott campaign promises 'knock-out, drag-out fight' in race against Beto O'Rourke, according to January campaign finance reports, Governor's race tightens as Greg Abbott's lead over Beto O'Rourke shrinks to 6 points, poll finds, Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy. 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. Dave Carney, Abbott's chief political strategist, said Wednesday that he expected O'Rourke to have strong fundraising numbers. The other organizations on the list include law firms, teachers groups and liberal political action committees. Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. Greg Abbott's 2022 reelection campaign is reporting contributions of 19-million-dollars in the last nine days of June. Abbott received $4.6 million from energy. interest group. Oil and politics have been entwined in Texas for more than a century, since wildcatters hit the first gusher at Spindletop back in 1901. Together, we will make sure that Texas remains the best state to live, work, and raise a family. That far exceeds the $6.8 million in cash on hand that ORourkes committee, Beto For Texas, reported as of the same date. More broadly, Governor Abbotts political committee, Texans For Greg Abbott, has built up a massive war chest of donations, from billionaires and many other donors, which hell be able to take into the general election if he wins his race on March 1. After the Defenders reached out to Cobos seeking comment Tuesday, Jon Oliver, an OPUC spokesperson, called back and said he was unaware of any campaign contributions made to Abbott. 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. 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. Abbott said 81% of his donors were from Texas. Of all the statewide elections in Texas, the attorney generals race is expected to be the most competitive. Greg Abbott - Wikipedia Rep. Chris Paddie, chair of the state affairs committee, also did not respond to calls and an email seeking comment. Those donations have added up, bringing in about $9.7 million for Abbott and $37.8 million for ORourke. The pay for play proposal was passed by the full House but was killed in Lt. Gov. FEC and listed quickly on OpenSecrets processing and analyzing the detailed records takes much longer. Greg Abbott. Democratic gubernatorial challenger Beto O'Rourke raised $27.3 million from Feb. 20 to June 30, while Republican Gov. 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. Kelcy Warren, CEO of Dallas-based Energy Transfer, gave the most money, with a single $1 million contribution to Gov. For a time, there was buzz about Shelley Luther, who catapulted to fame for reopening her Dallas hair salon in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions. 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. That's four times more. 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.. Texas Gov. 2:28. Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. Abbott is tending to home state business, he noted. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to. Abbott, other Texas politicians got cash boost from energy industry