July semiannual and July quarterly campaign finance reports are due Friday for state and federal candidates and officeholders, respectively. The federal reports will become available in real time on Friday, and the state reports are expected to become available online on Saturday.

The beginning of the fundraising period depends on whether the candidate had a contested primary or participated in the runoff. The period ended June 30 for all candidates.

Four years ago, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) raised $10.95M during the period that corresponds to the same period as his report this week will cover, and he ended June 2018 with $28.9M on hand. Beto O’Rourke (D) raised $10.2M during the second quarter of 2018 for his U.S. Senate campaign, and he ended June 2018 with $10.2M on hand.

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R) raised $4.5M during the same period that this week’s report will cover in 2018. He ended June 2018 with $13.8M on hand. Mike Collier (D) raised $266K during the same period, and he had $61K on hand as of the end of June 2018.

Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R) raised $2.48M during the first half of 2018 – He was unopposed for the Republican nomination. – and ended June 2018 with $7.2M on hand. His Democratic opponent that year, Justin Nelson, raised $755K during the first half of 2018 and ended the period with $1.1M on hand.

GOV (Likely R): Democratic challenger Beto O’Rourke announced he would embark on a seven-week, 65-county campaign tour beginning July 19 in El Paso. O’Rourke visited all 254 counties during his 2018 race for U.S. Senate, and he indicated he may again campaign in each county. O’Rourke fared better than 2016 Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in 198 of the state’s 254 counties, but he fared notably worse in 20 South Texas and border counties.

PRES: Former President Trump leads Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, 45%-26%, in a hypothetical 2024 presidential primary, according to a new Defend Texas Liberty PAC poll of 2022 Republican primary and runoff voters. U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (5%) and Gov. Greg Abbott (4%) are far behind. Without Trump in the field, DeSantis leads Cruz, 56%-12%, with Abbott at 8%. These results are nearly identical to the group’s June poll.

Eye on 2026: Atty. Gen. Ken Paxton (R) leads U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R), 51%-31%, in a hypothetical Republican primary matchup, according to a new Defend Texas Liberty PAC poll of 2022 Republican primary and runoff voters. Following a series of questions designed to make Cornyn appear less favorable, Paxton’s hypothetical lead grows to 56%-28%.‍

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