As of Oct. 29, 2022, Abbott received a greater percentage of his money from Texas donors compared with ORourke. state officeholders may be subject to longer time lags, as OpenSecrets aggregates this information from many sources Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren is one of Abbotts top donors. Abbott is a member of the Republican Party and first assumed office in 2015. 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. More: Ahead of primary, Gov. The totals, calculated by aggregating individual donations reported in those filings, do not include non-monetary or in-kind contributions. 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. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to. On the expenditures side, Gov. 4 min read. Still, ORourke does have a few of his own billionaire supporters. Democratic gubernatorial challenger Beto O'Rourke raised $27.3 million from Feb. 20 to June 30, while Republican Gov. 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 State requirements related to itemization thresholds and employment The pay for play proposal was passed by the full House but was killed in Lt. Gov. Abbott, who has held a commanding lead in cash on hand during the race, touts $46 million in his campaign coffers. This is a BETA experience. Updated: Feb. 10, 2023. interest group. The PUC has largely avoided blame for last weeks power issues, so far, despite providing oversight to ERCOT. available information, the donor is given an economic code. individual contributions have yet been classified by OpenSecrets. In 2021, the Abbott campaign had out-raised the O'Rourke campaign since the start of their respective campaigns. Gov. The lag times vary for state officeholder data. Tuesday marks the deadline for candidates to file campaign finance reports with the Texas Ethics Commission detailing fundraising and spending from July through December. In Texas, Gov. He did not respond to a request for comment. 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. AUSTIN Heading into the 2022 campaign season, Gov. Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get Therell be a general election opponent, and [Democrats] will put a lot of effort in and theyll raise a lot of money.. Small donors make up almost half of the total amount ORourke raised. These are the latest numbers ahead of Election Day. in the DFW area that need your help or can provide help during 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. Abbott said 81% of his donors were from Texas. 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. Governor Abbott represents all Texans, and thats what he takes into account every day as he works on behalf of the Lone Star State, spokeswoman Renae Eze said. Hancock also has ties to the energy industry in his full-time job as a business owner. DC Both are from Dallas. 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. Showing these clusters of contributions from people associated with particular organizations provides a valuable for data entry). 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. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. 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. Of the $44.8 million already reported in the 2022 election cycle, 21.9 percent came from the top 10 donors. Find a complete list of them here. According to its website, OPUC represents the interests of residential and small commercial consumers, as a class, in utility proceedings in Texas. 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. Democrat Beto O'Rourke has raised $7.2 million since launching his campaign for Texas governor . 20005. In the final half of 2020, Abbott collected contributions from 22,598 donors, 10,116 of whom were new, his campaign announced Wednesday. Warren's donation is . 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. How has the candidates fundraising compared over time? Greg Abbott speaks during a campaign event on February 23 in Houston. employer. Among the state lawmakers Karnei has contributed to are representatives Shelby Slawson, Phil King and Matt Shaheen, all Republican members of the committee now charged with investigating ERCOT. Warren spent more than $10 million to try to get Trump reelected in 2020. 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. Totals for industries (and larger economic Texans for Public Justice released this week, A bill proposed by San Antonio Republican state Rep. Lyle Larson in 2017. Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. The data presented here is sourced from the Texas Ethics Commission, which displays campaign finance filings from candidate committees. 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. Is Dallas becoming unaffordable due to rising housing costs, inflation and stagnating pay? Under federal law, all contributions over $200 must be itemized and the donor's occupation and employer must be Billionaire money manager Ken Fisher, who lives in Dallas, donated $25,000 to Abbotts campaign, plus $100,000 to the Defend Texas PAC. Hes running for reelection in 2022, said Patrick spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester. have always come from the energy industry, recently acquired by Roskis Majestic Realty. 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. State requirements related to itemization thresholds and employment disclosures vary. The storm, as bad as it was, helped him on his bottom line for contributions.. 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. Before Abbott and O'Rourke can face off at the polls, both candidates must first win their respective March 1 primary races. Abbott is bought and paid for by his billionaire donors, a spokesperson for ORourkes campaign told Forbes in an email. Join us Sept. 20-25 at the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival. A lot of things can happen. If, for instance, Henry Jones lists his employer as First National ORourke, who only launched his campaign for governor in November last year, has raised just $61,000 from at least 2 billionaires and 3 spouses of billionaires. 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. 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.. As a Republican and a Texan, Abbott may have received significant campaign contributions from the NRA. Not long after, Abbott released a list of issues lawmakers needed to address in July during a special-called legislative session. Gregory Wayne Abbott (born November 13, 1957) is an American politician, attorney, and former jurist serving as the 48th governor of Texas since 2015. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, 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. OpenSecrets updates federal figures for "Total Raised and Spent" and for "PAC/Individual Split" a few days after Texas has no limits on campaign contributions. Abbotts roster of rich donors is full of Texas Republicans with oil interestssome of who supported Trump ahead of the 2020 election. reason, summary numbers are usually higher (and more current) than the numbers based on detailed records. 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. Those But were looking at almost two years until our election. 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. 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. Leading up to Abbotts decision, Lt. Gov. Learn more about our work here. Greg Abbott, the state budget and CPS and foster care. 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 O'Rourke's campaign said he got over 115,600 contributions over the 46-day period, while Abbott's team said. Greg Abbott has $38M in his campaign bank, but is it enough to scare off 2022 challengers? Abbott reported $37.9 million, with 79.1 percent of all spending going to the 10 payees topping the list. Paddie received contributions from Oncor; Vistra, the states largest power generation company; and NuStar Political Action Committee, an oil and gas group. 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. 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. A spokesperson for Paddie did not respond to questions. Get immediate access to organizations and people And talk of a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. Gov. sparring with one Abbott-appointed regulator on the senate floor. Walker, a non-voting member of ERCOTs board, did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday. We do this in two ways: It is impossible to know either the economic interest that made each individual contribution possible or the 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. However, both candidates have national profiles, with Abbott regularly appearing on Fox News and ORourke running for president in 2020. Greg Abbott speaks during a campaign event on February 23 in Houston. Last Christmas, Governor Greg Abbott bussed and dumped migrant families in the freezing cold in Washington, D.C. O'Rourke is running in the Democratic primary and facesMichael Cooper, Joy Diaz, Inocencio Barrientez and Rich Wakeland. Dave Carney, Abbotts political strategist, said the governor is unperturbed by the volatile national political environment. 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). Abbott candidate committee made to another committee affiliated with the governor. 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. He gave $1 million to Abbotts campaign in June 2021. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. AUSTIN Gov. assigned to all non-wage earning family members. Oil and politics have been entwined in Texas for more than a century, since wildcatters hit the first gusher at Spindletop back in 1901. Greg Abbott. 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.. Knowing those groups is also Outgoing Texas GOP Chairman Allen West and former state Senator Don Huffines of Dallas both accused the governor of not being conservative enough. Critics said this and other storm response bills spearheaded by these lawmakers also failed to provide direct assistance to people harmed by Februarys power crisis or to help Texans reduce electricity use to take pressure off the grid during extreme weather. FEC and listed quickly on OpenSecrets processing and analyzing the detailed records takes much longer. Thats what allows Gov. Texans deserve answers about why these shortfalls occurred and how they are going to be corrected, and Texans will get those answers.. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton underscored how the gambling industry continues to covet a huge market now beyond its reach Texas, the . Cobos was appointed chief executive and public counsel of the Office of Public Utility Counsel (OPUC) by Abbott in March 2019, three months after donating $1,050 to Abbotts campaign, state contribution records show. 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. Neither Cobos or the spokesperson ended up providing a statement for this story. He said the latest contributions of $25 million came from nearly 475,000 donors, making the average contribution $53. That amount is up from 12% of his contributions coming from energy interests after the 2019 session, about $383,000. How much have the candidates raised so far? 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. 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. 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. motivation for each individual giver. 2023 www.statesman.com. 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. Disclosure: Javaid Anwar, Tench and Simone Otus Coxe, Marguerite Hoffman, Gary Martin, Gulf States Toyota, HillCo Partners LLC and Ross Perot Jr./Hillwood Development Co. 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