Greg Abbott, who is heading into a re-election year. 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. How many donations came from within Texas? corporations and unions can give directly to campaigns in many jurisdictions. Recession. 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. Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. Note that Paxtons top donor is the same as Gov. The remaining figures - based on detailed contribution data - are updated by OpenSecrets Abbott, who has held a commanding lead in cash on hand during the race, touts $46 million in his campaign coffers. However, her son, H. Ross Perot Jr., who is also a billionaire, has given $500,000 to Abbotts campaign. 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. ORourke received about 391,496 individual donations from outside the state, while Abbott received roughly 109,493. Washington, This gives us time to analyze the contributions and categorize them by industry and 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. In fact, Abbott's campaign said he has raised $95 million this election season. 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.". 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. During the same stretch after the two subsequent legislative sessions in 2017 and 2019, fewer than 9% of Paddies contributions came from energy interests. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. Of the donors, O'Rourke's campaign said 98% of the donations were received online and that teachers contributed more than any other occupation. 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. Where available, OpenSecrets uses that employer/occupation information to identify the donor's economic interest. The totals, calculated by aggregating individual donations reported in those filings, do not include non-monetary or in-kind contributions. Abbott reported $37.9 million, with 79.1 percent of all spending going to the 10 payees topping the list. Dan Patrick, after coming within 5 percentage points of the incumbent in 2018. Texas Governor Greg Abbott threatened to cut off funding for the legislature after Democrats walked out of the final session to prevent the passage of Abbott's voter integrity bill. Show us with your support. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports. OpenSecrets aggregates state data from many sources and formats. As Gov. 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. Small donors make up almost half of the total amount ORourke raised. Texas Gov. 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. 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. sparring with one Abbott-appointed regulator on the senate floor. such as textbooks, contact OpenSecrets: info[at]crp.org. Abbott had $55 million saved up for his reelection campaign at the end of June. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to Friday press releases from both of the campaigns. OpenSecrets updates federal figures for "Total Raised and Spent" and for "PAC/Individual Split" a few days after Greg Abbott - Texas Governor (R) Now showing data for the 2022 election year. A spokesperson for Oncor said the company believes in actively participating in the political process. CenterPoint said: In this case, CenterPoint Energy Political Action Committee made public contributions to support members of the Texas Legislature who had announced their intention to run for re-election, regardless of party affiliation. A Calpine representative said its CEO, who made up the bulk of contributions tied to the company, donated money as he develops relationships with these members directly. The other two companies did not respond to requests for comment. Corporations themselves cannot donate to candidates at the federal level but federal candidates can get If recent historys any guide, by November 2022, which will be Bidens first midterm election, Democrats may not be riding so high, he noted. As of Oct. 29, 2022, Abbott received a greater percentage of his money from Texas donors compared with ORourke. Find a complete list of them here. 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. Abbott is bought and paid for by his billionaire donors, a spokesperson for ORourkes campaign told Forbes in an email. 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. Abbott is tending to home state business, he noted. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribunes journalism. website. Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. Both are from Dallas. Abbotts: Oil mogul Javaid S. Anwar of Midland had given Abbott nearly $2.5 millionas well as $200,000 to Paxton. The power grid was not included. 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. Abbott hasnt detailed what he wants the Republican-controlled Legislature, which convened Tuesday, to accomplish this year. Dave Carney, Abbott's chief political strategist, said Wednesday that he expected O'Rourke to have strong fundraising numbers. More than a quarter of Hancocks contributions in June came from energy interests, about $53,500 the most he has ever received in a post-legislative session period. 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 . Knowing those groups is also 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. 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. ORourke received $2.2 million from Austin couple Simone Coxe, who has worked in communications, and Tench Coxe, a former venture capitalist. For the second straight reporting period, O'Rourke's campaign said they brought in more money than incumbent Republican Gov. by Mitchell Ferman and Carla Astudillo Beto O'Rourke announces he's running for governor of 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. Greg Abbott, the state budget and CPS and foster care. The amount of money the senator fundraised from energy interests jumped from $1,000 to $44,500, the Tribune found. Greg Abbott, gives an update on an investigation into the massacre in Uvalde, Wednesday, May 25, 2022. 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. useful after the election, as issues come before Congress, presidential administrations and state governments that For permission to reprint for commercial uses, Robert T. Garrett, Austin Bureau Chief. Warren spent more than $10 million to try to get Trump reelected in 2020. Aug. 4, 20215 AM Central. We will secure the future of Texas." Email * Zip Code * Abbott to rake in $1 million checks from individual donors. Financial supporters play no role in the Tribune's journalism. Oliver told KSAT that he was also unaware of any recent criticism levied toward ERCOT by Abbott. But none has reaped campaign contributions on the scale of Abbott, who in six years in office has raised more than $150 million from donors, more than any governor in U.S. history. Sometimes it's hard to make apple-to-apple comparisons across some of the pages in a candidate's profile. 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. As Texas voters go to the polls next week, it is clear which candidate billionaires are backing in the gubernatorial primary: current Gov. 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. Abbotts potential opponents next year include former Democratic presidential hopeful Beto ORourke as well as several fellow Republicans who have criticized COVID-19 executive orders as overreach. Texas Gov. Leading up to Abbotts decision, Lt. 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. These tables list the top donors to officeholders in 2022. Totals for industries (and larger economic Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. Abbott his job, run a more aggressive and public-facing campaign, pushing the states politics to the right, 2015 felony indictment for securities fraud. His chemical logistics company serves the oil and gas industry, among others. First, we apply a code to the contribution, identifying the industry. 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. 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 . Donors who give more than $200 to any federal candidate, PAC or party committee must list their occupation and requested and disclosed, if provided. contributions from corporate PACs, employees and owners as well as their immediate families. While (Gov. The Abbott campaign said it has raised nearly $68 million since the campaign's start in June 2021. In some cases, a cluster of contributions from people associated with the same organization may indicate a The top donor, Greg Abbott, represents reported contributions received by Gov. 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. LLC 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. 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. There will be one last update in January with final fundraising numbers for the 2022 midterms. There is also a time lag in posting the information. Emmy-award winning reporter Dillon Collier joined KSAT Investigates in September 2016.