Legislators and state officials were required to file legislative special session reports by the end of Thursday if they accepted any contributions between July 10, the date Gov. Abbott called the special session, and August 15, the date the special session ended. No other information is required to be included in the reports.
Statewide elected officials on the ballot in 2018 (including Speaker Joe Straus) accepted at least $1.4M in contributions during the reporting period:
- Greg Abbott reported nearly $900K in contributions. The report itself was not available online as of 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
- Land Comm. George P. Bush reported $159K in contributions, including $25K from former White House Counsel C. Boyden Gray.
- Atty Gen. Ken Paxton reported $151K in contributions, including $25K each from Gatesville retiree Gary Heavin, McAllen Anesthesia Consultants P.A. and Midland oil and gas executive Kyle Stallings.
- Speaker Joe Straus reported $58K in contributions, all received prior to the convening of the special session, including $25K each from Bellaire energy executive Steve Chazen and the Texas Assoc. of Realtors TREPAC.
- Supreme Court Justice Jeff Brown reported $30K in contributions.
- Agriculture Comm. Sid Miller reported $29K in contributions.
- Railroad Commission Chair Christi Craddick reported $22K in contributions.
- Supreme Court Justice John Devine reported $15K in contributions.
- Supreme Court Justice Don Willett reported $10K in contributions.
- Comptroller Glenn Hegar reported a single $50 contribution.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick either did not accept any contributions during the period or his report was not yet available online as of 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
At least two statewide officials not up for re-election in 2018 also filed special session reports. Railroad Comm. Ryan Sitton reported $134K in contributions, including $25K from Abilene retiree Dian Stai, and Railroad Comm. Wayne Christian reported just over $10K in contributions, including $10K from the AT&T Texas PAC.
Most legislators’ reports that we have seen reported less than $10K. The total amount of contributions received is not required to be reported, so every individual contribution must be added together to arrive a total. All contributions reported during this period will also be included in the officials’ January semiannual reports.
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