governor abbott campaign contributions governor abbott campaign contributions

Abbott received about $4.6 million from oil, gas and broader energy interests, his largest haul ever from those groups in the post-legislative session fundraising period following the four regular legislative sessions during Abbotts tenure as governor. Note that the same amount appears on both the contributions and the expenditures side of the reported data. 2:28. A Texas Politics Project July poll indicates the race for Texas governor is tightening. Political strife: The Texas Legislatures toughest 2021 challenges, A day after powerful thunderstorms, North Texas surveys the damage, 3 children killed, 2 wounded at Ellis County home; suspect in custody, How a Texas districts reaction to school shooting fears highlights discipline concerns, Carrollton man advertised pills on social media to entice teens to buy fentanyl, feds say. Final fundraising figures show that both gubernatorial candidates raised a combined $160 million in the November midterm election. "I'm grateful for everyone who helped us raise $27.63. 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. There is also a time lag in posting the information. Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. 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 He helped raised $54 million for GOP gubernatorial candidates in other states, Carney said. sparring with one Abbott-appointed regulator on the senate floor. Abbott said 81% of his donors were from Texas. committee AND the candidate has received money from PACs representing that same ideological interest. As a Republican and a Texan, Abbott may have received significant campaign contributions from the NRA. The top donor, Greg Abbott, represents reported contributions received by Gov. 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. 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. Both candidates have received more campaign cash from ZIP codes where wealthier people live because thats who tends to give money to politicians on both sides of the aisle. individual contributions have yet been classified by OpenSecrets. Slawson and Shaheen each received $150 last year, records show. 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. How much have the candidates raised so far? 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. OpenSecrets aggregates state data from many sources and formats. 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.. Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016. The Past 30 Days column represents the last 30 days of donations, starting with the date of the most recent contribution for that race. The totals, calculated by aggregating individual donations reported in those filings, do not include non-monetary or in-kind contributions. Connect with needs and opportunities from. with that same employer, the organization's name winds up on the Top Contributors list. 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. 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. According to its website, OPUC represents the interests of residential and small commercial consumers, as a class, in utility proceedings in Texas. On Friday, Texans for Greg Abbott announced in a press release the governor raised nearly $25 . Abbott has run a similar playbook as Perry and has taken it to a different level, Rottinghaus said. Heading into the 2022 campaign season, Gov. individuals may be classified instead as ideological donors. That amount is up from 12% of his contributions coming from energy interests after the 2019 session, about $383,000. As of Oct. 29, 2022, the overwhelming percentage of donations both candidates received are worth $200 or less. contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families. By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, Stand with us in our mission to discover and uncover the story of North Texas. The epic Texas freeze fueled a surge of campaign cash, with the war chest of Gov. As Texas voters go to the polls next week, it is clear which candidate billionaires are backing in the gubernatorial primary: current Gov. Texas Gov. American Airlines, flight attendants file for mediation during contract negotiations, New Uptown office tower lands second major lease, Years after North Texas bid for Amazons second headquarters, retail giant halts plan, Mesquite to become the site of new 2,500-home community, North Texas builders see influx of activity in new year, but challenges persist, Mark Wahlberg pours tequila for fans at Dallas restaurant during thunderstorm, Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving tandem clicks with joint 40-point displays in Mavs win vs. 76ers, Dallas Cowboys focused on adding another dynamic offensive weapon, Ex-Cowboys OC Kellen Moore opens up on Dallas departure, shows gratitude for Mike McCarthy, The Cowboys are closer than you think to a total makeover at running back, 12 Dallas-Fort Worth restaurants that have closed in 2023. Gov. 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. That has resulted in both candidates receiving a large number of donations from outside Texas. Its the same people talking to the same people and you wonder if the people being left out are the average Texans, said Wheat. Is Dallas becoming unaffordable due to rising housing costs, inflation and stagnating pay? databases are only as current as the FEC has been able to compile by that date (see the note above about lag times If, for instance, Henry Jones lists his employer as First National Still, University of North Texas political scientist Matthew Eshbaugh-Soha said Abbotts $38 million will scare off most of the competition.. Last Christmas, Governor Greg Abbott bussed and dumped migrant families in the freezing cold in Washington, D.C. Just over 40% of the sum of ORourkes donations came from out-of-state donors, compared with 17% of Abbotts. Greg Abbott. OpenSecrets updates federal figures for "Total Raised and Spent" and for "PAC/Individual Split" a few days after Greg Abbott's 2022 reelection campaign is reporting contributions of 19-million-dollars in the last nine days of June. interest group. Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren is one of Abbotts top donors. There will be one last update in January with final fundraising numbers for the 2022 midterms. At the state level, corporations and unions can give directly to campaigns in many jurisdictions. 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. 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. 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. He knows how to walk that fine line between moderate Republicans and those that are very right of center, she said. The pay for play proposal was passed by the full House but was killed in Lt. Gov. Kolten Parker is digital executive producer at KSAT. Beto O'Rourke announces he's running for governor of Texas. 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. You may opt-out by, Source of wealth: Houston Rockets, entertainment, Source of wealth: Computer services, real estate, Source of wealth: Hyatt hotels, investments. 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. Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. 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. This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Democrat Beto O'Rourke hasraised $7.2 million since launchinghis campaign for Texas governor, according to his campaign. Hes running for reelection in 2022, said Patrick spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester. Abbott hasnt detailed what he wants the Republican-controlled Legislature, which convened Tuesday, to accomplish this year. Aug. 4, 20215 AM Central. 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 (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. AUSTIN Gov. That far exceeds the $6.8 million in cash on hand that ORourkes committee, Beto For Texas, reported as of the same date. 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. Polling data suggests a large percentage of voters might agree with O'Rourke on increasing abortion access and gun reform. In the past two cycles, national Democrats have shown their willingness to pour millions into once-forbidding Texas. 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. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to Friday press releases from both of the campaigns. 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 . 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. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. ideological code, rather than an economic code, if the contributor gives to an ideological political action Paddie received contributions from Oncor; Vistra, the states largest power generation company; and NuStar Political Action Committee, an oil and gas group. 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. Campaign finance reports by Abbott, Lt. Gov. 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. Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. Abbott compares to the 10 other governors with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA in 2022: The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Texas PACs submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission. 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. 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. In the final half of 2020, Abbott collected contributions from 22,598 donors, 10,116 of whom were new, his campaign announced Wednesday. A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for reelection, influence donor activity. That's four times more. He gave $1 million to Abbotts campaign in June 2021. The remaining figures - based on detailed contribution data - are updated by OpenSecrets Here is how fundraising by Texas Gov. Caroline Covington contributed to this story. 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. Gov. Texans for Public Justice released this week, A bill proposed by San Antonio Republican state Rep. Lyle Larson in 2017. Do you value our journalism? website. First, we apply a code to the contribution, identifying the industry. Usually, state candidates in Texas get the majority of their donations from Texans. In some cases, a cluster of contributions from people associated with the same organization may indicate a Im grateful for everyone who helped raise $25.18 million in just three months as we support the work of our organizers and record-breaking 100,000 volunteers, said ORourke. 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. As Gov. 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. Dan Patrick, who has differences with Abbott, has never completely died out. 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. Greg Abbott attacks Beto O'Rourke without mentioning him by name. 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. Greg Abbott hauled in nearly $19 million over the last nine days of June and boasted an eye-popping $55 million in the bank as he prepares to . Texas Gov. As a nonprofit newsroom, we rely on members to help keep our stories free and our events open to the public. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, Abbotts roster of rich donors is full of Texas Republicans with oil interestssome of who supported Trump ahead of the 2020 election. 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. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who is heading into a reelection year in 2022, benefited most from the flood of June campaign donations from the energy industry. Although individual contributions are generally categorized based on the donor's occupation/employer, in some cases While (Gov. These totals are conservative, as not all of the The Abbott campaign is eyeing aggressive advertising strategies ahead of the November election. Warren's donation is . Abbotts: Oil mogul Javaid S. Anwar of Midland had given Abbott nearly $2.5 millionas well as $200,000 to Paxton. Texas Gov. Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get In Texas, Gov. This is up from 19% after the 2019 session. contributor provides it. However, Abbott has been a prolific fundraiser for years, which gave him the upper hand earlier in the race. Four out of the top 10 individual donors to Abbott are oil and gas men. Dan Patrick, she lost a special election for state Senate last month, Greg Abbott confronts coronavirus as stronger governor than Texas had 50 years ago, even with federal fundraising constraints, Crenshaw in the last two-year cycle raised a whopping $19 million, Dark alley no more: This time, Texas Republicans were ready for the Democrats, Pandemic. Copyright 2023 KSAT.com is managed by Graham Digital and published by Graham Media Group, a division of Graham Holdings. 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. UHs Cross said Abbott actually was straddling various state GOP factions long before 2020 and will continue to do so. Both are from Dallas. And talk of a primary challenge from Lt. Gov. 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.". He said the latest contributions of $25 million came from nearly 475,000 donors, making the average contribution $53. Oliver told KSAT that he was also unaware of any recent criticism levied toward ERCOT by Abbott. As Gov. 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. This gives us time to analyze the contributions and categorize them by industry and 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. Texas Gov. Gov. by Mitchell Ferman and Carla Astudillo The storm, as bad as it was, helped him on his bottom line for contributions.. 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. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports. Gov. Join us Sept. 20-25 at the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival. Of the $44.8 million already reported in the 2022 election cycle, 21.9 percent came from the top 10 donors. In April, Abbott had been ahead of O'Rourke by 11 points. 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. Therell be a general election opponent, and [Democrats] will put a lot of effort in and theyll raise a lot of money.. 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. 20005. Copyright 2021 by KSAT - All rights reserved. Greg Abbott speaks at a press conference regarding Texas emergency response to an unprecedented winter storm gripping Texas on Feb. 13, 2021. shifted blame to renewable energy sources, significant power generation was unexpectedly offline, Abbott assured Texans the grid was in better shape than ever. 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. 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. Kolten Parker, Digital Executive Producer. 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. As of Oct. 29, 2022, Abbott received a greater percentage of his money from Texas donors compared with ORourke. A large chunk of that cash was driven by Oncor, Texas largest transmission and distribution electric company, with many big donations coming from the company's executives. Greg Abbott - Governor of Texas "In Texas, anything is possible. Note that Paxtons top donor is the same as Gov. Leading up to Abbotts decision, Lt. Gov. the Coronavirus crisis. 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. State Rep. Chris Paddie, R-Marshall, chair of the powerful state affairs committee in the House, was among those lawmakers. This means that overall, Abbotts Texas donors gave more than ORourkes Texas donors. 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 a time, there was buzz about Shelley Luther, who catapulted to fame for reopening her Dallas hair salon in defiance of COVID-19 restrictions. He is an amateur triathlete, enjoys playing and watching soccer, traveling and hanging out with his wife. 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. Because Texas doesnt have limits on contribution amounts, rich and powerful people can cut massive checks to campaigns. 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.. He did not respond to a request for comment. 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. 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.. State GOP Chairman Allen West heads most lists of possible challengers to Abbott in the March 2022 Republican primary, many of which also include former state Sen. Don Huffines. 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. Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. 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. Given more time, Gov. Bank, his wife Matilda lists "Homemaker" and 12-year old Tammy shows up as "Student," OpenSecrets would identify all Had the bill passed, Walker would not be running the PUC. As of February 19, Abbotts committee reported that it had about $50 million in cash on hand. 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. Thanks to our generous supporters, our campaign helped secure Republican victories across the state of Texas this election cycle, he said. Totals for industries (and larger economic 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. The money came from159,000 total contributions with an average contribution of roughly $119, his campaign said Tuesday. Sometimes it's hard to make apple-to-apple comparisons across some of the pages in a candidate's profile. "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. Warrens Energy Transfer cofounder Ray Davis gave $125,000 to Abbott. Wheat criticized Abbotts decision last week to blame the power grids supply issues on frozen wind turbines. Stressing a different approach, the O'Rourke campaign embarks Tuesday on a 49-day campaign tour through Texas that will involve driving more than 5,600 miles. ORourke received about 391,496 individual donations from outside the state, while Abbott received roughly 109,493. But Luthers star appears to have dimmed after she lost a special election for state Senate last month. Abbott his job, run a more aggressive and public-facing campaign, pushing the states politics to the right, 2015 felony indictment for securities fraud. 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.