Statewide and legislative candidates facing primary opposition raised just over $10.3M and spent at least $22.1M during the first 20 days of 2022, according to 30-day-out reports filed yesterday (Monday) and available online today. Collectively, the candidates have $153M on hand. We expect both those totals will rise slightly as additional reports trickle in from the candidates.

All three figures are higher than those for the corresponding period in 2018, when candidates in contested primaries raised $7.5M, spent $15.2M and had $93.7M on hand.

Our Crib Sheets have been updated with the latest results. Notable reports are highlighted below.

Statewide

GOV (Likely R): Gov. Greg Abbott (R) out-raised former Sen. Don Huffines (R-Dallas), $1.4M to $1.1M, and outspent him, $4.5M to $2.7M. Abbott has a better than $60M advantage in cash on hand over each of his rivals. Former Republican Party of Texas chair Allen West raised $332K and has $83K on hand.

Abbott’s largest contributors for the period were Midland energy executive Javaid Anwar ($109K) and Lubbock commercial builder Chad Merchant ($100K). Huffines’s largest contributor was Defend Texas Liberty PAC ($1M), which supplied nearly 88% of his contribution total. Midland oil and gas executive Tim Dunn ($2.3M) and Cisco businessman Farris Wilks ($2M) supplied 98% of that Defend Texas Liberty PAC’s resources (The other $100K came from Plano investor Ken Fisher.).Kandy Kaye Horn, who is self-financing her campaign, reported spending $1.35M on billboard and digital advertising. She reported having the identical amount on hand, suggesting it may not yet be spent.

Beto O’Rourke (D) raised $1.3M, spent $612K and has just under $6M on hand.

‍AG (Lean R): Former Supreme Court Justice Eva Guzman (R) out-raised Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R), $651K to $334K, and outspent him, $748K to $254K. Guzman was outspent by George P. Bush, who raised $83K and spent $902K. U.S. Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Tyler) raised $21K and spent $54K. Paxton’s $7.5M war chest leads the field followed by Bush’s $2.6M, Guzman’s $1.4M and Gohmert’s $884K.

Guzman’s largest contributor for the period was Texans for Lawsuit Reform ($606K), representing 93% of her contribution total. Paxton’s top contributor was Dallas retiree Lee Roy Mitchell ($75K).

‍AGRIC (Likely R): Rep. James White (R-Hillister) out-raised Comm. Sid Miller (R), $219K to $15K, but was outspent by the incumbent, $74K to $8K. White holds a $298K to $228K advantage in cash on hand. White’s largest contributor for the period was Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC ($150K).

Senate

SD8 (Likely R): Challenger Matt Rostami outspent Sen. Angela Paxton (R-McKinney), $199K to $6K, but she has an $849K to $5K advantage in cash on hand.

‍SD24 (Likely R): Challenger Raul Reyes narrowly out-raised Sen. Pete Flores (R-Pleasanton), $151K to $143K, but was outspent by the incumbent, $367K to $128K. Reyes has a $165K to $100K advantage in cash on hand. Reyes’s largest contributor was Mentone retiree Billy Hopper ($150K). He has supplied 93% of Reyes’s fundraising total for the cycle so far.

‍SD27 open (Lean D): Morgan LaMantia out-raised Rep. Alex Dominguez (D-Brownsville), $52K to $9K, and outspent him, $305K to $67K. She has more than an $800K cash on hand advantage.

House

Generally speaking, incumbents out-raised their challengers, many by greater than 10-to-1. There were two notable exceptions:

• HD14 (Likely R): John Harvey Slocum out-raised Rep. John Raney (R-College Station), $68K to $31K, and outspent the incumbent, $48K to $15K.
• HD53 (Safe R): Wes Virdell out-raised Rep. Andrew Murr (R-Junction), $48K to $9K, and outspent the incumbent, $57K to $14K. Virdell’s largest contributors for the period were Midland oil and gas executive Luke Dunn ($25K), Odessa retiree Charles Saulsbury ($7K) and Defend Texas Liberty PAC ($5K). Murr has a nearly $100K edge in cash on hand.

We’re seeing some movement in open-seat races, but many of the big bets have yet to be placed.

‍HD62 (Safe R): Rep. Reggie Smith (R-Van Alstyne) out-raised challenger Shelley Luther, $109K to $61K, and has a roughly $100K advantage in cash on hand. Luther’s largest contributors were Defend Texas Liberty PAC ($50K) and Flower Mound retiree Darlene Pendery ($7.5K).

‍HD79 (Safe D): In the only matchup of paired incumbents, Rep. Claudia Ordaz Perez (D-El Paso) out-raised Rep. Art Fierro (D-El Paso), $42K to >$1K, and she has a $50K to $6K advantage in cash on hand.

‍HD84 open (Likely R): Carl Tepper out-raised David Glasheen, $158K to $25K, but was outspent by Glasheen, $226K to $33K. Tepper’s largest contributor was Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC ($118K).

‍HD114 open (Safe D): Former U.S. Rep. John Bryant (D-Dallas) out-raised the field with $28K in contributions. Charles Gearing has a greater than $100K advantage in cash on hand over the field.

‍HD122 open (Likely R): Adam Blanchard out-raised the field by a nearly 5-to-1 margin. He raised $74K and has $193K on hand. Elisa Chan increased her loan balance to more than $1.2M, fueling a cash on hand balance of $546K.

‍HD133 open (Likely R): The most competitive seat in terms of fundraising saw four of five candidates raise at least $25K: Mano DeAyala ($54K), Shelly Barineau ($50K), Greg Travis ($42K) and Will Franklin ($28K). Combined they have more than $1M on hand.

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