Where available, OpenSecrets uses that employer/occupation information to identify the donor's economic interest. contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families. That has resulted in both candidates receiving a large number of donations from outside Texas. 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. 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. Based on the grand total of contributions Greg Abbott has reported in 2022Number of Contributions from Individuals (above itemization threshold): 292,180. Warren's donation is . by Carla Astudillo, Caroline Covington and Eric Lau 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. Learn more. Abbotts roster of rich donors is full of Texas Republicans with oil interestssome of who supported Trump ahead of the 2020 election. Ballotpedia is the digital encyclopedia of American politics and elections. A Crenshaw aide, though, said hes not thinking about running for governor. 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. Greg Abbott. Unsurprisingly, Gov. The totals, calculated by aggregating individual donations reported in those filings, do not include non-monetary or in-kind contributions. These are the latest numbers ahead of Election Day. Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren is one of Abbotts top donors. 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. Do you value our journalism? 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Abbott was the third Republican to serve as attorney general of Texas since the . More:Governor's race tightens as Greg Abbott's lead over Beto O'Rourke shrinks to 6 points, poll finds. Oil grew to become the states signature industry, rich oilmen and companies started showering politicians with money and a romance blossomed. Show us with your support. Small donors make up almost half of the total amount ORourke raised. 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. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. He did not respond to a request for comment. But were looking at almost two years until our election. Dan Patrick and Attorney General Ken Paxton underscored how the gambling industry continues to covet a huge market now beyond its reach Texas, the . In addition, both Gulf States Toyota Inc. State PAC and Q-PAC, which are tied to billionaire Dan Friedkin and Geoffrey Raynor, respectively, have also donated to Abbott in the past. sectors) can be seen in each candidate and race profile, and in the Industry Profile section of the OpenSecrets We do this in two ways: It is impossible to know either the economic interest that made each individual contribution possible or the 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. Of the trio, King received the most contributions from Karnei by far: five between 2004 and 2016 totaling $475, according to TEC records. Abbott.. 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. Absent that storm, his contributions would have been different, said Bill Miller, a longtime Texas political consultant and lobbyist. Slawson and Shaheen each received $150 last year, records show. 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. 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. 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. Beto O'Rourke announces he's running for governor of Texas. Thats significantly more than former Democratic presidential candidate Beto ORourke. 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. AUSTIN Heading into the 2022 campaign season, Gov. 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. A lot of things can happen. Despite corporations statements this week that theyre suspending contributions to Republicans, Im not worried about how its going to affect the governors fundraising, Carney said. 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. Four out of the top 10 individual donors to Abbott are oil and gas men. If enough contributions came in from people connected 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 The epic Texas freeze fueled a surge of campaign cash, with the war chest of Gov. Warren has given Abbott $250,000 donations almost every year since he won the governors office in 2014. 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. 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. 2023 www.statesman.com. Making a million-dollar political donation to reward the government for its light touch and encourage the government to continue turning a blind eye to price gouging and windfall profits while hundreds of people die seems like a good return on investment., Making a million-dollar political donation to reward the government for its light touch and encourage the government to continue turning a blind eye to price gouging and windfall profits while hundreds of people die seems like a good return on investment.. Greg) Abbott is taking million-dollar checks from the CEOs who profited off of the grid collapse, were receiving support from people all over Texas who want to ensure that our state finally leads in great jobs, world class schools and the ability to see a doctor," O'Rourke said in a statement. A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for reelection, influence donor activity. individuals may be classified instead as ideological donors. Abbott is tending to home state business, he noted. 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. 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. Greg Abbott speaks during a campaign event on February 23 in Houston. Fixing Texas power grid was about the only thing Republicans and Democrats in the legislative session seemed to agree on earlier this year. Abbott is running for re-election in 2022. 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. Abbotts candidate committee from another committee affiliated with the governor. Among elected officials holding the same level of state office, fundraising varies widely. For the second straight reporting period, O'Rourke's campaign said they brought in more money than incumbent Republican Gov. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to. His chemical logistics company serves the oil and gas industry, among others. Show us with your support. More:Greg Abbott campaign promises 'knock-out, drag-out fight' in race against Beto O'Rourke. According to its website, OPUC represents the interests of residential and small commercial consumers, as a class, in utility proceedings in Texas. 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. For his part, Patrick has been pushing the states politics to the rightsince his days as a talk radio host in Houston. 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. The storm, as bad as it was, helped him on his bottom line for contributions.. interest group. During the same stretch after the two subsequent legislative sessions in 2017 and 2019, fewer than 9% of Paddies contributions came from energy interests. Polling data suggests a large percentage of voters might agree with O'Rourke on increasing abortion access and gun reform. Thanks to our generous supporters, our campaign helped secure Republican victories across the state of Texas this election cycle, he said. Democrat Beto O'Rourke has raised $7.2 million since launching his campaign for Texas governor . Do you value our journalism? Texas elected officials cant receive campaign donations during the session, but after it ended in May, they were showered in cash by the energy industry even more than usual for a group known for its deep pockets and generous campaign giving. These totals are conservative, as not all of the Kelcy Warren, CEO of Dallas-based Energy Transfer, gave the most money, with a single $1 million contribution to 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. The Abbott campaign is eyeing aggressive advertising strategies ahead of the November election. FEC and listed quickly on OpenSecrets processing and analyzing the detailed records takes much longer. ORourkes Powered by People PAC gave $1.7 million to his own campaign. 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. 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. As Gov. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. 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. That far exceeds the $6.8 million in cash on hand that ORourkes committee, Beto For Texas, reported as of the same date. Here's how much. Gov. 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 Gov. disclosures vary. 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. Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. 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. That amount is up from 12% of his contributions coming from energy interests after the 2019 session, about $383,000. 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. Of all the statewide elections in Texas, the attorney generals race is expected to be the most competitive. Speaking of donations he received from Texans in all 254 counties, Abbott said that with such help we will continue to spread the messages of freedom and liberty to every corner of the Lone Star State.. Bob has covered state government and politics for The Dallas Morning News since 2002. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Final fundraising figures show that both gubernatorial candidates raised a combined $160 million in the November midterm election. Updated: Feb. 10, 2023. Abbotts a prolific fundraiser, a weapon hes wielded to discourage competition as he moved up among Texas Republicans over the past two decades. DC The Past 30 Days column represents the last 30 days of donations, starting with the date of the most recent contribution for that race. Under federal law, all contributions over $200 must be itemized and the donor's occupation and employer must be Aug. 4, 20215 AM Central. based on summary reports filed by the candidates with the Federal Election Commission. 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. (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.). 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. 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. In April, Abbott had been ahead of O'Rourke by 11 points. Dave Carney, Abbott's chief political strategist, said Wednesday that he expected O'Rourke to have strong fundraising numbers. 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. Greg Abbott has $38M in his campaign bank, but is it enough to scare off 2022 challengers? 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. 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. As CNBC reported, Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer criticized Republicans in a speech on. Texas Gov. 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.