In a fiercely contested fundraising effort, Republican Greg Abbott goes into the final days of the governor’s race with $13 million in the bank. Democrat Wendy Davis reports about $1 million on hand. Both sides have spent millions on TV commercials and campaign travel — and the figures thus far suggest the collective cost of running for governor could top $90 million.
Wendy Davis looks to the future with $1 million on hand for the campaign's final days (Wayne Slater)
New finance reports show that Davis actually raised more money than Abbott in the last four weeks, but Abbott started with the race with much more in the bank to build on. Abbott raised about $4.2 million in the last four weeks. Davis raised about $5.1 million – a combination of her governor’s account and a coordinated account with the group Battleground Texas.
Basically, the bottom-line figures reflect the pre-purchased TV time for commercials that both sides will run through the November 4 general election. That said, the spending has left Davis and Abbott with very different bottom lines.
Her own governor’s account has about $550,000, according to her campaign. Add to that another $400,000 in the joint-Victory Committee account and that leaves Davis on her own with just over $1 million.
Greg Abbott goes into final days with $13 million in the bank
In contrast, Abbott’s $13 million on hand suggests that if he’s elected governor, he would go into office with a healthy political account to build on for any future race. As Christy Hoppe reported yesterday, Abbott raised $4.2 million in the last four weeks, and has been spent heavily – spending down to $13 million a campaign treasury that was $30 million just four weeks ago.
Abbott’s largest contributors in the last month include $100,000 donations from Houston anti-abortion rights activists Kathaleen Wall, Dallas corporate tax consultant Brint Ryan, Conroe pharmaceutical sales executive Richie Ray and Midland oilman Javaid Anwar. His largest out-of-state contribution was $80,000 from Florida road-construction contractor Joe Anderson.
Davis’ contributions include $210,000 from Houston investor Lillie Robertson, $150,000 from Dallas arts patron Marguerite Hoffman, $125,000 from Houston trial lawyer Steve Mostyn and $100,000 from the Beaumont law firm Provost Umphrey. Her out-of-state contributions include $100,000 from the SEIU labor union in Washington and $80,000 from Wendy Schmidt of Palo Alto, Calif., a philanthropist and wife of the Google executive director. She received more than $900,000 as in-kind contribution work from Battleground Texas, the Texas Organizing Project and Planned Parenthood.
Abbott has consistently led Davis in the polls. Abbott advisers are confident he will win — along with the rest of the GOP slate of candidates running for statewide office. Battleground Texas, a group formed by Obama campaign operatives with the promise of turning red-state Texas blue, has worked for more than a year to identify and motivate Democratic voters in a state that hasn’t elected a Democrat statewide since 1994. It’s not clear how effective the effort has been. Early voting in-person turnout in some counties Democrats need — including Harris, Dallas — is down from four years ago.