As Texas voters go to the polls next week, it is clear which candidate billionaires are backing in the . Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get The storm, as bad as it was, helped him on his bottom line for contributions.. 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. 2023 www.statesman.com. State requirements related to itemization thresholds and employment reports from the FEC or state campaign finance agencies that reach applicable itemization thresholds. Democrat Mike Collier gets his rematch with incumbent Lt. Gov. Abbott received $4.6 million from energy. 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. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. Other ERCOT board members are listed in TEC records as having contributed to several energy-related PACs. Greg Abbott - Wikipedia Texas is already guaranteed record-setting spendingfor a governor's race this year, and the numbers keep climbing. 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. Oil and gas taxes now boost the state budget. The fifth payee, listed as Greg Abbott, represents reported expenditures a Gov. Find a complete list of them here. 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. Heading into the 2022 campaign season, Gov. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis makes California pilgrimage to woo Beto O'Rourke Edges Texas Gov. Abbott in Summer Campaign Contributions motivation for each individual giver. Leading up to Abbotts decision, Lt. Gov. DeSantis, who frequently tangles . Join us Sept. 20-25 at the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival. There will be one last update in January with final fundraising numbers for the 2022 midterms. Note that the same amount appears on both the contributions and the expenditures side of the reported data. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. That's more than twice the $207,000 they gave during the same period when the legislative session ended in in 2019, according to a Texas Tribune analysis. 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 . However, his $7.7 million haul in the first half of 2020 was a nearly 12% decrease from the same phase of his initial term. 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. More: Ahead of primary, Gov. in the DFW area that need your help or can provide help during Cobos salary is $143,000. Unsurprisingly, Gov. 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. 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 next year. 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 . Most of Patrick's energy industry money received in June was driven by oil executives. Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. "I'm grateful for everyone who helped us raise $27.63. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports. 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. Abbott Wants to Deny Undocumented Kids a Public Education Greg Abbott and Beto O'Rourke broke fundraising - The Texas Tribune Knowing those groups is also Donors who give more than $200 to any federal candidate, PAC or party committee must list their occupation and Absent that storm, his contributions would have been different, said Bill Miller, a longtime Texas political consultant and lobbyist. 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. employer. 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. GOP accepted millions from oil and gas ahead of Texas primary 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. Oliver told KSAT that he was also unaware of any recent criticism levied toward ERCOT by Abbott. This means that overall, Abbotts Texas donors gave more than ORourkes Texas donors. Democrat Beto O'Rourke hasraised $7.2 million since launchinghis campaign for Texas governor, according to his campaign. Abbott raised more in smaller cities and rural areas. The warnings led to renewed calls for the Legislature to take more urgent action to fix the power grid. O'Rourke's latest haul includes $2 million raised during the first 24 hours of his campaign, collected frommore than 20,000 individual donors. Dan Patrick received millions in contributions from the energy industry, a new Texas Tribune report shows. 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. 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. Beto O'Rourke announces he's running for governor of Texas. 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 . 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. 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. First, we apply a code to the contribution, identifying the industry. 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. 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. Hes running for reelection in 2022, said Patrick spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester. ideological code, rather than an economic code, if the contributor gives to an ideological political action Note that Paxtons top donor is the same as Gov. 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. His team called the haul a "record-breaking amount" and said "no Democratic campaign in the states history has raised more money during the opening days of their race.". 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. Heres how they compare. 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. The. Abbott is tending to home state business, he noted. 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. Based on the According to its website, OPUC represents the interests of residential and small commercial consumers, as a class, in utility proceedings in Texas. However, Abbott has been a prolific fundraiser for years, which gave him the upper hand earlier in the race. 2:28. Since the beginning of last year, Abbotts campaign has raised about $5.5 million from at least 17 billionaires and 3 spouses of billionaires. All rights reserved, Texas House Plans to Pass Largest Property Tax Decrease Ever,' Speaker Phelan Says, Texas Republicans to Vote on Resolution That Would Censure Rep. Tony Gonzales, 3 Children Killed, 2 Wounded in Ellis County Home; 1 in Custody: Sheriff, Actor Tom Sizemore, of Saving Private Ryan,' Dies at 61. 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. 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. A lot of things can happen. Warren spent more than $10 million to try to get Trump reelected in 2020. How much have the candidates raised so far? 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. Thats what allows Gov. Texans for Public Justice released this week, A bill proposed by San Antonio Republican state Rep. Lyle Larson in 2017. Second, we standardize the name of the donor's employer. On the expenditures side, Gov. In 2021, the Abbott campaign had out-raised the O'Rourke campaign since the start of their respective campaigns. 2022 campaign contributions: Who's backing Texas political candidates Texas Gov. Of all the statewide elections in Texas, the attorney generals race is expected to be the most competitive. The pay for play proposal was passed by the full House but was killed in Lt. Gov. However, the patterns of contributions provide critical information for Kolten Parker, Digital Executive Producer. Get the latest politics news from North Texas and beyond. 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. 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. This gives us time to analyze the contributions and categorize them by industry and Thanks to our generous supporters, our campaign helped secure Republican victories across the state of Texas this election cycle, he said. 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. 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. Thats significantly more than former Democratic presidential candidate Beto ORourke. Dan Patrick, who has differences with Abbott, has never completely died out. 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. 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. George W. Bush was heavily funded by his familys well-established energy network, his successor, former Gov. Texas governor election: Beto O'Rourke looks to put Greg Abbott on defense in early stages of Texas governor's race. Most of Patricks energy industry money received in June was driven by oil executives. Abbott's Chart-Topping Donors for 2020 - Transparency USA