Texas Gov. Abbott receives $44.8 million, with a Greg Abbott PAC as top donor


In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is the number one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. 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 is running for re-election in 2022.

Gov. Abbott is a member of the Republican Party and first assumed office in 2015.

Gov. Abbott’s reported campaign finance activity, by quarter (2015-2022)

Source: Transparency USA

Contributions to Gov. Abbott

Of the $44.8 million already reported in the 2022 election cycle, 21.9 percent came from the top 10 donors.

Top Donors to Gov. Abbott (1/1/2021 – 2/19/2022)

RankTotal AmountDonor NameDonor Type
1.$2,156,765Greg AbbottEntity
2.$1,007,200Bobby CoxIndividual
3.$1,000,000James D Pitcock JrIndividual
4.$1,000,000Kelcy L WarrenIndividual
5.$1,000,000Kenny A and Lisa TrouttIndividual
6.$1,000,000Michael & Mary PorterIndividual
7.$939,580S Javaid AnwarIndividual
8.$600,000Arcilia AcostaIndividual
9.$590,500Gary H MartinIndividual
10.$518,900Joseph AgrestiIndividual

The top donor, Greg Abbott, represents reported contributions received by Gov. Abbott’s candidate committee from another committee affiliated with the governor.

Expenditures by Gov. Abbott

On the expenditures side, Gov. Abbott reported $37.9 million, with 79.1 percent of all spending going to the 10 payees topping the list.

Top Expenditures by Gov. Abbott (1/1/2021 – 2/19/2022)

RankTotal AmountPayee NamePayee Type
1.$8,746,014.03CrossRoads Media LLCEntity
2.$6,546,414.35Cross Screen MediaEntity
3.$3,665,940.49Department of US Treasury IRSEntity
4.$3,057,542.44Targeted VictoryEntity
5.$2,156,764.84Greg AbbottEntity
6.$1,742,814.14Paychex IncEntity
7.$1,466,804Camelback Strategy GroupEntity
8.$1,159,868.05Unisource DirectEntity
9.$836,209.26Direct Response LLCEntity
10.$625,920.58Sarah WhitleyEntity

The fifth payee, listed as Greg Abbott, represents reported expenditures a Gov. Abbott candidate committee made to another committee affiliated with the governor. Note that the same amount appears on both the contributions and the expenditures side of the reported data.

How Gov. Abbott’s fundraising compares to other governors

Among elected officials holding the same level of state office, fundraising varies widely. A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for reelection, influence donor activity. Here is how fundraising by Texas Gov. Abbott compares to the 10 other governors with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA in 2022:

Fundraising reported by 11 U.S. governors in the 2022 election cycle

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Texas PACs submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Report NameReport Due Date
2022 Jan Semiannual1/18/2022
2022 Pre-Primary (30 Days)1/31/2022
2022 Pre-Primary (8 Days)2/22/2022
2022 Primary Runoff5/16/2022
2022 Jul Semiannual7/15/2022
2022 Pre-General (30 Days)10/11/2022
2022 Pre-General (8 Days)10/31/2022
2022 Semiannual Data1/17/2023

This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.