Campaign finance requirements govern how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations, how often they must report those contributions, and how much individuals, organizations, and political entities may contribute to campaigns.
While campaign finance is not the only factor in electoral outcomes, successful fundraising can provide a candidate with advantages during a campaign. Fundraising can also indicate party momentum.
This article lists top fundraisers among Texas statewide officeholders and candidates, overall and by party. It is based on campaign finance reports that officeholders in and candidates for statewide elected offices submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission. It includes activity between Jan. 1, 2022, and June 30, 2022.
Statewide political positions are typically offices in the executive and judicial branches of government rather than the legislative, and they most often represent all citizens in the state, rather than those in a particular district.
Top Texas statewide fundraisers by party
The top fundraisers among Texas statewide officeholders and candidates are shown below. Individuals are presented with the office that they are on the ballot for in 2022, if applicable. If no office is indicated, the person was an incumbent and was not on the ballot in 2022.
In the Democratic Party, the top fundraisers in the most recent semiannual reporting period were:
- Beto O’Rourke (Governor) – $31,844,328
- Jay Kleberg (Land Commissioner) – $1,434,388
- Mike Collier (Lieutenant Governor) – $1,358,190
- Rochelle Garza (Attorney General) – $971,981
- Joe Jaworski (Attorney General) – $593,236
In the Republican Party, the top fundraisers in the most recent semiannual reporting period were:
- Greg Abbott (Governor) – $30,018,811
- Dan Patrick (Lieutenant Governor) – $6,252,091
- Eva Guzman (Attorney General) – $4,223,448
- George P. Bush (Attorney General) – $4,189,399
- Donald Huffines (Governor) – $4,110,817
Fundraising totals
Overall, Democratic officeholders and candidates raised $37.2 million in this period. Republican officeholders and candidates raised $60.6 million. Combined, all statewide officeholders and candidates in the Jan. 1, 2022, through June 30, 2022, filing period raised $97.9 million.
The five largest Democratic fundraisers were responsible for 97 percent of all Democratic statewide officeholder and candidate fundraising. The five largest Republican fundraisers were responsible for 81 percent of all Republican statewide officeholder and candidate fundraising.
The table below provides additional data from the campaign finance reports from the top 10 fundraisers during this period.
| TOP 10 FUNDRAISERS – Texas STATEWIDE OFFICEHOLDERS AND CANDIDATES (Jan. 1, 2022, through June 30, 2022) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Party Affiliation | Office Sought | Raised | Spent |
| Beto O’Rourke | Democratic Party | Governor | $31,844,328 | $12,154,146 |
| Governor Greg Abbott | Republican Party | Governor | $30,018,811 | $49,608,521 |
| Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick | Republican Party | Lieutenant Governor | $6,252,091 | $4,500,420 |
| Eva Guzman | Republican Party | Attorney General | $4,223,448 | $3,677,443 |
| Natural Resources Commissioner George P. Bush | Republican Party | Attorney General | $4,189,399 | $7,355,794 |
| Donald Huffines | Republican Party | Governor | $4,110,817 | $13,126,027 |
| Attorney General Ken Paxton | Republican Party | Attorney General | $3,580,265 | $7,626,255 |
| Sarah Stogner | Republican Party | Railroad Commission | $2,000,124 | |
| Dawn Buckingham | Republican Party | Land Commissioner | $1,542,046 | $3,065,708 |
| Jay Kleberg | Democratic Party | Land Commissioner | $1,434,388 | $1,436,124 |
Campaign finance reporting periods
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that candidate PACs submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission. Candidate PACs represent individuals who have run for state or local office at any point, including past and present officeholders. This article does not include non-candidate PACs. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.
| Report Name | Report Due Date |
| 2022 Jan Semiannual | 1/18/2022 |
| 2022 Pre-Primary (30 Days) | 1/31/2022 |
| 2022 Pre-Primary (8 Days) | 2/22/2022 |
| 2022 Primary Runoff | 5/16/2022 |
| 2022 Jul Semiannual | 7/15/2022 |
| 2022 Pre-General (30 Days) | 10/11/2022 |
| 2022 Pre-General (8 Days) | 10/31/2022 |
| 2022 Semiannual Data | 1/17/2023 |
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.