State and legislative candidates were required to file 8-day-out campaign finance reports yesterday. Some of the full reports are now available online, so we will add color commentary to the summary totals where we can. In this post, we summarize the open-seat House primary races with one week to go to Election Day. Candidates are listed in decreasing order of contributions for the period (Jan. 22-Feb. 20) covered by the reports.
HD5
Cole Hefner raised $27K, spent $63K and has $21K on hand.
Jay Misenheimer raised $24K, spent $54K and has $79K on hand.
The remaining candidates still campaigning combined to raise less than $1K.
Hefner’s biggest contributors for the period were Empower Texans PAC ($10K), Texas Homeschool Coalition PAC ($5K) and Constituent Focus PAC ($3K). Misenheimer’s biggest contributors for the period were Blackridge ($5K), Texas Parent PAC ($5K) and the Texas Hospital Assoc. HOSPAC ($2.5K). Misenheimer has a large cash balance relative to his expenditures with a week to go before Election Day.
Jay Dean
HD7
Jay Dean raised $87K, spent $137K and has $50K on hand.
David Watts raised $40K, spent $104K and has $20K on hand.
Dean’s largest contributors for the period include Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC ($15K), Associated Republicans of Texas ($5K) and the Texas Assoc. of Realtors TREPAC ($5K). Watts’ largest contributors include Empower Texans PAC ($20K), Constituents Focus PAC ($7K) and Rex Gore ($5K).
HD18
Keith Strahan raised $45K, spent $45K and has $11K on hand.
Ernest Bailes raised $18K, spent $53K and has $30K on hand.
Wes Hinch raised $9K, spent $44K and has $37K on hand.
Three other candidates raised $5K, spent $27K and has $6K on hand combined.
Strahan’s largest contributors for the period included Constituents Focus PAC ($22K), Empower Texans PAC ($15K) and Rep. Jonathan Stickland ($5K). Bailes added $35K in new loan principal.
HD33
Justin Holland raised $84K, spent $40K and has $307K on hand.
John Keating raised $62K, spent $124K and has $116K on hand.
Lorne Liechty raised $19K, spent $131K and has $55K on hand.
All three candidates have unusually high amounts of cash on hand this close to the end of a campaign. At least one of them is likely to be leaving too much money on the table. Holland’s top contributor for the period was the Texas Assoc. of Realtors TREPAC ($58K), accounting for 69% of his contributions. Keating’s top contributors included Rep. Scott Turner ($20K) and Plano resident Tony Ewing ($10K).
HD49
Gina Hinojosa raised $59K, spent $157K and has $45K on hand.
Huey Fischer raised $29K, spent $25K and has $13K on hand.
Heather Way raised $23K, spent $150K and has $19K on hand.
Blake Rocap raised $21K, spent $107K and has $10K on hand.
Two other candidates raised $5K, spent $31K and have $12K on hand combined.
A seventh candidate’s report was not yet available. Way added $50K in new loan principal.
HD54
Austin Ruiz raised $47K, spent $32K and has $36K on hand.
Scott Cosper raised $32K, spent $36K and has $66K on hand.
Larry Smith raised $3K, spent $7K and has $3K on hand.
Ruiz’s largest contributor was the Texas Optometric PAC ($20K) Cosper’s largest contributors included the Texas Medical Assoc. PAC ($10K), the Texas Parent PAC ($5K) and Prosperity Central Texas ($5K).
HD60
Kevin Downing raised $117K, spent $99K and has $36K on hand.
Mike Lang raised $49K, spent $140K and has $66K on hand.
Downing raised more in the last month ($117K) than for the 2015-16 cycle to date ($86K). His largest contributors for the period included Charles Butt ($30K), Texas Alliance for Life ($19K), Associated Republicans of Texas ($13K) and the Texas Assoc. of Realtors TREPAC ($10K). Lang’s largest contributots included Constituents Focus PAC ($31K) and Alice Walton ($7.5K).
HD64
Lynn Stucky raised $26K, spent $53K and has $29K on hand.
Rick Hagen raised $14K, spent $26K and has $19K on hand.
Read King’s report was not yet available.
HD71
Stan Lambert raised $39K, spent $69K and has $24K on hand.
Chris Carnohan raised $16K, spent $15K and has $27K on hand.
Isaac Castro rasied $4K, spent $12K and has $5K on hand.
Two other candidates raised $3K, spent <$1K and have <$1K on hand.
HD77
Lina Ortega raised $27K, spent $31K and has $30K on hand.
Adolfo Lopez raised $26K, spent $28K and has $9K on hand.
Martin Golando
HD116
Martin Golando raised $60K, spent $56K and has $20K on hand.
His two opponents raised $15K, spent $16K and have $7K on hand combined.
HD120
Art Hall raised $24K, spent $27K and has $10K on hand.
Barbara Hawkins raised $10K, spent $18K and has $14K on hand.
Byron Miller raised $6K, spent $3K and has $7.5K on hand.
Mario Salas and LaTronda Darnell’s reports were not yet available. Lou Miller raised <$1K.
Hall added $45K in new loan principal. Hawkins added $15K in new loan principal.
HD130
Tom Oliverson raised $12K, spent $84K and has $53K on hand.
Kay Smith raised <$1K, spent $7K and has <$1K on hand.
HD139
Randy Bates Jr. raised $12K, slightly more than his three rivals combined. He spent $26K, about $10K more than his rivals combined (Jarvis Johnson was second at $9K.). He has $29K on hand. Johnson has $25K on hand. The other two candidates have $4K on hand combined.
