governor abbott campaign contributions governor abbott campaign contributions

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. Abbott his job, run a more aggressive and public-facing campaign, pushing the states politics to the right, 2015 felony indictment for securities fraud. 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. 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. But to build a better future for every Texan, I need your help. Dan Patrick pressured Abbott in public statements that issues related to the grid needed to be on the agenda. As Gov. Warren's company Energy Transfer declined to comment on his behalf. In other cases, the reason for the Copyright 2023 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. As of Oct. 29, 2022, Abbott received a greater percentage of his money from Texas donors compared with ORourke. Florida Gov. 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. There will be one last update in January with final fundraising numbers for the 2022 midterms. Showing these clusters of contributions from people associated with particular organizations provides a valuable Sign up for The Brief, our daily newsletter that keeps readers up to speed on the most essential Texas news. 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. The storm, as bad as it was, helped him on his bottom line for contributions.. AUSTIN Gov. The fifth payee, listed as Greg Abbott, represents reported expenditures a Gov. In the November race for Texas governor, two prolific fundraisers are vying to be the chief executive of the state. Small donors make up almost half of the total amount ORourke raised. sparring with one Abbott-appointed regulator on the senate floor. Still, in the 2019 legislative session, Abbott successfully appealed to GOP leaders and lawmakers to tend to bread-and-butter issues such as improving public schools and lowering property taxes. His largest billionaire donor so far is Margot Birmingham Perot, the widow of former presidential candidate H. Ross Perot Sr. Shes given $25,000 to ORourkes campaign since November. Organizations like political action committees or industry associations can also give directly to candidate campaigns. However, her son, H. Ross Perot Jr., who is also a billionaire, has given $500,000 to Abbotts campaign. All rights reserved. More broadly, Governor Abbotts political committee, Texans For Greg Abbott, has built up a massive war chest of donations, from billionaires and many other donors, which hell be able to take into the general election if he wins his race on March 1. 4 min read. Oliver told KSAT that he was also unaware of any recent criticism levied toward ERCOT by Abbott. 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. ORourkes 2019 presidential run created some problems, she acknowledged. Join us Sept. 20-25 at the 2021 Texas Tribune Festival. Oil and gas taxes now boost the state budget. by Carla Astudillo, Caroline Covington and Eric Lau Carney, the Abbott adviser, dismissed talk that ORourke could pose a threat. Leading up to Abbotts decision, Lt. Gov. Collier now has more money, a stronger team and a ground game that has pushed Patrick torun a more aggressive and public-facing campaignthan he ran four years ago. 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. Abbott's campaign said it received nearly 113,000 contributions and that 86% of the campaign contributions came from within Texas. Just over 40% of the sum of ORourkes donations came from out-of-state donors, compared with 17% of Abbotts. 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. employer. The oil and gas industry was Abbotts top contributor, accounting for 19% of all funds raised, according to the report. individual contributions have yet been classified by OpenSecrets. Abbott received $4.6 million from energy. If you need help with the Public File, call 210-351-1241. Rep. Chris Paddie, chair of the state affairs committee, also did not respond to calls and an email seeking comment. 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. 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.. 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. Rick Perry and Democrat Tony Sanchez spent in 2002 and the combined $90 million Abbott and Democrat Wendy Davis spent in 2014. And ORourke has over $500,000 more cash on hand than Abbott. Kolten Parker, Digital Executive Producer. Rene Cross of the University of Houstons Hobby School of Public Affairs, though, said Abbotts most vulnerable to a test by a younger Democrat such as ORourke or the Castro brothers of San Antonio, Julin and Joaquin. 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. Referring to gun control stands by ORourke and the possibility the Texas Democrat could return to Washington, Carney said, Being Biden administration gun czar is not the best credential to use to run for anything in Texas.. 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. Here's how much. motivation for each individual giver. Energy Transfer CEO Kelcy Warren is one of Abbotts top donors. The totals, calculated by aggregating individual donations reported in those filings, do not include non-monetary or in-kind contributions. 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. Texas Gov. King, Slawson and Shaheen did not respond to calls and emails seeking comment for this story. 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 OpenSecrets updates federal figures for "Total Raised and Spent" and for "PAC/Individual Split" a few days after About 26% of Patricks contributions in June came from energy interests, more than $1.3 million, his most ever in the post-session stretch. Abbotts roster of rich donors is full of Texas Republicans with oil interestssome of who supported Trump ahead of the 2020 election. The epic Texas freeze fueled a surge of campaign cash, with the war chest of Gov. 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 his contributions in 2021. The other organizations on the list include law firms, teachers groups and liberal political action committees. 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. Of all the statewide elections in Texas, the attorney generals race is expected to be the most competitive. For that 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 past Valentine's Day, Texas Senator Drew Springer filed SB 923, delivering on Abbott's reelection campaign goal to deny undocumented children access to public education unless the . Dillon's investigative stories air weeknights on the Nightbeat and on the Six O'Clock News. The Past 30 Days column represents the last 30 days of donations, starting with the date of the most recent contribution for that race. If enough contributions came in from people connected These are the latest numbers ahead of Election Day. Patrick spokeswoman Sherry Sylvester said: No one has been tougher on the energy sector and more proactive for ratepayers this session than Lt. 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. That has resulted in both candidates receiving a large number of donations from outside Texas. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. The amount of money the senator fundraised from energy interests jumped from $1,000 to $44,500, the Tribune found. Oil grew to become the states signature industry, rich oilmen and companies started showering politicians with money and a romance blossomed. Greg Abbott raised almost $25 million during the same period, according to. Dan Patricks Senate. The Defenders sent Oliver quotes from a Feb. 18 press conference during which Abbott said, ERCOT failed on each of these measures that they said they had undertaken. As Texas voters go to the polls next week, it is clear which candidate billionaires are backing in the . Carney said Abbott spent $6.1 million to help down-ballot Republicans. For permission to reprint for commercial uses, 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. Heres how they compare. Democrat Beto O'Rourke announced he's running for governor of Texas and says he'll move past divisive politics and bring the state together. DC 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. 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. 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. That amount is up from 12% of his contributions. Caroline Covington contributed to this story. Greg Abbott and Beto O'Rourke broke fundraising records in their race for Texas governor. 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. Democrat Beto O'Rourke hasraised $7.2 million since launchinghis campaign for Texas governor, according to his campaign. While some of this money. For some energy experts, the increase in donations for the officials at the close of the session looks like a reward for not passing more stringent regulations and raises questions about whether lawmakers let the oil, gas and the broader energy industry off easy for its massive failures. requested and disclosed, if provided. Greg Abbott dwarfing other candidates in energy-interest contributions, according to a KHOU 11 analysis of data . Get the latest politics news from North Texas and beyond. Beto O'Rourke announces he's running for governor of Texas. 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. 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. Cobos salary is $143,000. ORourkes top donors come from industries including finance, media and philanthropy. (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.). We do this in two ways: It is impossible to know either the economic interest that made each individual contribution possible or the A Crenshaw aide, though, said hes not thinking about running for governor. Nearly half (45%) of the 1,200 Texas voters who participated in the poll indicated support for Abbott while 39% showed support for O'Rourke. Abbott candidate committee made to another committee affiliated with the governor. ALBANY - Gov. contributor provides it. 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. O'Rourke is running in the Democratic primary and facesMichael Cooper, Joy Diaz, Inocencio Barrientez and Rich Wakeland. Visit us at Ballotpedia.org, or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. committee AND the candidate has received money from PACs representing that same ideological interest. Gov. ORourkes Powered by People PAC gave $1.7 million to his own campaign. 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. 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. Aug. 4, 20215 AM Central. corporations and unions can give directly to campaigns in many jurisdictions. However, Abbott has been a prolific fundraiser for years, which gave him the upper hand earlier in the race. The PUC has largely avoided blame for last weeks power issues, so far, despite providing oversight to ERCOT. Greg Abbott - Governor of Texas "In Texas, anything is possible. In fact, Abbott's campaign said he has raised $95 million this election season. 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. Hancock also has ties to the energy industry in his full-time job as a business owner. Feel free to distribute or cite this material, but please credit OpenSecrets. Kolten Parker is digital executive producer at KSAT. Abbott has run a similar playbook as Perry and has taken it to a different level, Rottinghaus said. Last Christmas, Governor Greg Abbott bussed and dumped migrant families in the freezing cold in Washington, D.C. Texas Gov. 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. Find a complete list of them here. individuals may be classified instead as ideological donors. Gov. 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 . 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.