Campaign Finance
02/06/2018

Incumbents Generally Ahead in 30-day-out Reports

TXElects

State candidates with primary opponents were required to file 30-day-out campaign finance reports on Monday. These are normally accessible online early the next morning, but today they were not available until late afternoon. We are in the process of going through the totals – most of the reports themselves remain unavailable – but we wanted to share results for those primaries we have identified as hot races.

Highlights

  • Most incumbents out-raised their opponents. Exceptions included Agriculture Comm. Sid Miller and Reps. Diana Arevalo, Dennis Bonnen, Sarah Davis, Dawnna Dukes and Charlie Geren.
  • Several challengers spent more than incumbents, including Trey Blocker, Emily Cook, Susanna Dokupil and Mayes Middleton.
  • Most incumbents have more cash on hand than their opponents. Exceptions included Miller, Sen. Craig Estes and Reps. Arevalo, Dukes, Wayne Faircloth, Dan Flynn, Mary Gonzalez, Ron Reynolds and Jason Villalba.
  • Speaking of Reynolds, he filed his first campaign finance reports in nearly two years.

Please see our Crib Sheets and Hot Races page for the latest campaign finance results.

Statewide

AGRIC: Challenger Trey Blocker out-raised Comm. Sid Miller (R), $78K to $9K, and has a slight advantage in cash on hand, $415K to $393K. Blocker outspent Miller, $167K to $50K. For the election cycle, Miller has spent $974K and Blocker has spent $847K.

LAND: Comm. George P. Bush (R) raised $183K, which was 10 times the amount raised by former Comm. Jerry Patterson (R), and Bush has a $2.9M advantage in cash on hand.

Senate

SD2: Sen. Bob Hall (R-Edgewood) out-raised Rep. Cindy Burkett (R-Sunnyvale), $239K to $134K, and he has a 7-to-1 advantage in cash on hand, $448K to $64K.

SD8 open: Buoyed by a $2M loan from the campaign of Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton, Angela Paxton has a $2.1M to $1.4M advantage in cash on hand. Phillip Huffines out-raised Angela Paxton, excluding the loan proceeds, $167K to $141K, and outspent her, $760K to $355K.

SD17: Sen. Joan Huffman (R-Houston) out-raised Kristin Tassin, $83K to $73K, and has a $408K advantage in cash on hand. Huffman outspent Tassin, $109K to $56K.

SD30: Sen. Craig Estes (R-Wichita Falls) out-raised Rep. Pat Fallon (R-Frisco), $106K to $31K, but the challenger has a $1.3M to $428K advantage in cash on hand. Estes outspent Fallon, $281K to $233K.

SD31: Sen. Kel Seliger (R-Amarillo) out-raised his two rivals combined and has nearly $1.2M more on hand than his nearest rival. Seliger spent $531K during the period, five times his rivals combined.

House Republicans

HD2: Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van) out-raised Bryan Slaton, $35K to $11K, but Slaton has a $75K to $22K advantage in cash on hand.

HD8 open: Cody Harris out-raised Thomas McNutt, $59K to $19K, but McNutt has a better than $150K advantage in cash on hand. Linda Timmerman raised $21K but has only $19K on hand.

HD18: Rep. Ernest Bailes (R-Shepherd) out-raised Emily Cook, $116K to $84K, and he has a slight lead in cash on hand, $87K to $79K. Cook narrowly outspent Bailes, $41K to $37K.

HD23: Rep. Wayne Faircloth (R-Dickinson) out-raised Mayes Middleton, $79K to $10K, but the challenger outspent Faircloth, $276K to $41K, and has a $303K to $214K edge in cash on hand over the incumbent. Middleton has spent $854K so far this cycle, more than triple Faircloth’s $245K.

HD25: Challenger Damon Rambo out-raised Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton), $103K to $51K, but Bonnen maintains a $627K edge in cash on hand.

Mayes Middleton
Mayes Middleton

HD47: Rep. Paul Workman (R-Austin) out-raised Jay Wiley, $81K to $30K, and he has a nearly 2-to-1 lead in cash on hand over the challenger. A third Republican reported no contributions and no cash on hand.

Rep. Wayne Faircloth
Rep. Wayne Faircloth

HD54: Rep. Scott Cosper (R-Killeen) out-raised his opponents, $48K to $2K, and he has a $55K to $19K advantage in cash on hand over Larry Smith.

HD55: Rep. Hugh Shine (R-Temple) raised $78K, well more than C.J. Grisham ($12K) or Brandon Hall ($10K). Shine has a 9-to-1 advantage in cash on hand over either challenger.

HD59: Rep. J.D. Sheffield (R-Gatesville) raised $46K and has $48K on hand. He spent $51K. Challenger Chris Evans’s report was not available.

HD64: Rep. Lynn Stucky (R-Sanger) out-raised Mark Roy, $99K to $6K, and he has a $55K advantage in cash on hand.

HD73: Rep. Kyle Biedermann (R-Fredericksburg) out-raised Dave Campbell, $66K to $37K, but the two are just about even in cash on hand with $65K each.

HD87: Rep. Four Price (R-Amarillo) out-raised Drew Brassfield, $81K to $3K, and has a nearly $550K advantage in cash on hand.

HD88: Rep. Ken King (R-Canadian) out-raised his two primary challengers combined and has a nearly 10-to-1 advantage in cash on hand over Jason Huddleston.

HD98: Rep. Giovanni Capriglione (R-Southlake) out-raised Armin Mizani, $123K to $3K, and outspent him, $85K to $64K. The incumbent holds the edge in cash on hand, $68K to $40K.

HD99: Challenger Bo French out-raised Rep. Charlie Geren (R-Fort Worth), $281K to $85K, but the incumbent outspent him, $286K to $79K. Geren has the cash-on-hand advantage, $315K to $221K.

HD114: Rep. Jason Villalba (R-Dallas) out-raised Lisa Luby Ryan, $67K to $7K, but the challenger leads in cash on hand, $204K to $42K, and is competitive in spending. Villalba outspent Ryan, $76K to $60K.

Bo French
Bo French

HD121 open: Charlotte Williamson took out a $100K loan to fuel $54K in spending and a $47K cash-on-hand balance. Marc Whyte leads the field with $85K on hand and raised the most ($32K) for the period, outside of Williamson’s loan.

HD122: Rep. Lyle Larson (R-San Antonio) out-raised Chris Fails, $53K to $17K, and outspent him, $62K to $13K. Larson has a $532K advantage in cash on hand.

HD134: Challenger Susanna Dokupil out-raised Rep. Sarah Davis (R-Houston), $257K to $223K, and narrowly outspent the incumbent, $81K to $77K. Davis has a cash-on-hand advantage of $245K to $88K

House Democrats

HD27: Rep. Ron Reynolds (D-Missouri City) filed his first campaign finance reports in nearly two years. He reported $8K in contributions on his 30-day-out report and nearly $18K on a late-filed January semiannual report. He has $2K on hand. Challenger Wilvin Carter raised $8K and has $19K on hand.

HD31: Rep. Ryan Guillen (D-Rio Grande City) out-raised Ana Lisa Garza, $73K to $6K, erasing her prior advantage in contributions. Guillen reported having $1M on hand, well over Garza’s $16K.

HD46: Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) reported no contributions, and she has less than $2K on hand. Sheryl Cole led the challengers with $12K in contributions. She and Chito Vela each have slightly over $20K on hand to lead the field.

HD75: Rep. Mary Gonzalez (D-Clint) out-raised MarySue Femath, $38K to $2K, but Femath has a narrow lead in cash on hand, $45K to $44K. Beyond a $100K contribution from the Ysleta del Sur Pueblo, Femath has raised just $13K.

HD104: Rep. Roberto Alonzo (D-Dallas) out-raised Jessica Gonzalez, $20K to $11K, and he has a $149K to $30K advantage in cash on hand.

HD116: Former Rep. Trey Martinez Fischer (D-San Antonio) narrowly out-raised Rep. Diana Arevalo (D-San Antonio), $23K to $18K, and outspent the incumbent, $38K to $19K. Martinez Fischer has the edge in cash on hand, $70K to $13K.

©2018 Texas Election Source LLC

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