Our first sweep through the July semiannual reports for the House of Representatives will focus on seats we already know are being contested, either in the primary or in the general election. This post has been updated to reflect further information about loans made by Rep. Dawnna Dukes to her campaign accounts.
HD2: Rep. Dan Flynn (R-Van) has a $35K to $22K advantage in cash on hand over primary challenger Bryan Slaton, and he out-raised Slaton, $30K to $24K, for the period.
HD8: Rep. Byron Cook (R-Corsicana) has a narrow lead over primary challenger Thomas McNutt in cash on hand, $257K to $250K, but reported no contributions. Cook has previously reported no contributions just after a legislative session. McNutt reported $321K in contributions, more than triple the amount he raised during the first fundraising period of his 2016 campaign. McNutt’s largest contributors included Frisco businesswoman JoAnn Wilks ($50K), the Empower Texans PAC ($40K), Dallas investor Darwin Deason ($10K), Frisco businessman Anthony Ewing ($10K), Odessa businessman Dick Saulsbury ($10K), Midland businessman Kyle Stallings ($10K) and Frisco executive James Webb ($10K).
HD15 open: Former Rep. Steve Toth (R-The Woodlands) reported raising $52K and has the same amount on hand. His largest contributors included the Empower Texans PAC ($25K) and The Woodlands attorney Eric Yollick ($5K).
HD23: Primary challenger Mayes Middleton reported having $480K on hand, more than triple the amount reported by Rep. Wayne Faircloth ($156K). In addition to a $485K loan, Middleton raised nearly $60K. His largest contributors included Katy businessman Tim Brown ($10K) and Cisco businessman Farris Wilks ($5K).
HD25: Rep. Dennis Bonnen (R-Angleton) reported having $722K on hand. Primary challenger Damon Rambo has less than $1K on hand.
HD46: Rep. Dawnna Dukes (D-Austin) loaned her special purpose committee campaign $148K on June 30, yet reported just $250 in the bank. She also made four loans to her campaign/officeholder account totaling $113K. These loans were itemized but, for whatever reason, were not shown on the summary page. Combined, her loan balance appears to be $261M. She reported no contributions. Former Austin council member Sheryl Cole raised nearly $30K and has nearly $28K on hand. Both figures exceed the combined totals of the other potential candidates who filed campaign finance reports.
HD47: Potential Democratic challenger Vikki Goodwin has a slight edge in cash on hand over Rep. Paul Workman (R-Austin), $62K to $56K, but Workman out-raised Goodwin, $50K to $10K, for the period.
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