Campaign finance requirements govern how much money candidates may receive from individuals and organizations, how often they must report those contributions, and how much individuals, organizations, and political entities may contribute to campaigns.
While campaign finance is not the only factor in electoral outcomes, successful fundraising can provide a candidate with advantages during a campaign. Fundraising can also indicate party momentum.
This article lists top fundraisers among Texas statewide officeholders and candidates, overall and by party. It is based on campaign finance reports that officeholders in and candidates for statewide elected offices submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission. It includes activity between July 1, 2022, and Dec. 31, 2022.
Statewide political positions are typically offices in the executive and judicial branches of government rather than the legislative, and they most often represent all citizens in the state, rather than those in a particular district.
Top Texas statewide fundraisers by party
The top fundraisers among Texas statewide officeholders and candidates are shown below. Individuals are presented with the office that they were on the ballot for in 2022, if applicable. If no office is indicated, the person was an incumbent and was not on the ballot in 2022.
In the Democratic Party, the top fundraisers in the most recent semiannual reporting period were:
- Beto O’Rourke (Governor) – $40,324,618
- Rochelle Garza (Attorney General) – $2,847,064
- Mike Collier (Lieutenant Governor) – $2,269,459
- Jay Kleberg (Land Commissioner) – $1,563,061
- Luke Warford (Railroad Commission) – $640,836
In the Republican Party, the top fundraisers in the most recent semiannual reporting period were:
- Greg Abbott (Governor) – $42,192,495
- Dan Patrick (Lieutenant Governor) – $7,512,023
- Ken Paxton (Attorney General) – $5,151,363
- Dawn Buckingham (Land Commissioner) – $1,468,308
- Glenn Hegar (Comptroller of Public Accounts) – $1,186,738
Fundraising totals
Overall, Democratic officeholders and candidates raised $48.0 million in this period. Republican officeholders and candidates raised $59.3 million. Combined, all statewide officeholders and candidates in the July 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022, filing period raised $107.4 million.
The five largest Democratic fundraisers were responsible for 99 percent of all Democratic statewide officeholder and candidate fundraising. The five largest Republican fundraisers were responsible for 97 percent of all Republican statewide officeholder and candidate fundraising.
The table below provides additional data from the campaign finance reports from the top 10 fundraisers during this period.
| TOP 10 FUNDRAISERS – Texas STATEWIDE OFFICEHOLDERS AND CANDIDATES (July 1, 2022, through Dec. 31, 2022) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Name | Party Affiliation | Office Sought | Raised | Spent |
| Governor Greg Abbott | Republican Party | Governor | $42,192,495 | $78,472,094 |
| Beto O’Rourke | Democratic Party | Governor | $40,324,618 | $66,894,757 |
| Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick | Republican Party | Lieutenant Governor | $7,512,023 | $19,773,405 |
| Attorney General Ken Paxton | Republican Party | Attorney General | $5,151,363 | $7,514,712 |
| Rochelle Garza | Democratic Party | Attorney General | $2,847,064 | $3,095,763 |
| Mike Collier | Democratic Party | Lieutenant Governor | $2,269,459 | $2,878,121 |
| Jay Kleberg | Democratic Party | Land Commissioner | $1,563,061 | $1,996,163 |
| Natural Resources Commissioner Dawn Buckingham | Republican Party | Land Commissioner | $1,468,308 | $1,020,221 |
| Controller Glenn Hegar | Republican Party | Comptroller of Public Accounts | $1,186,738 | $2,438,733 |
| Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick | Republican Party | Not on the 2022 ballot | $926,235 | $394,404 |
Campaign finance reporting periods
The data above are based on campaign finance reports that candidate committees submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission. Candidate committees represent individuals who have run for state or local office at any point, including past and present officeholders. This article does not include non-candidate committees. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines.
This article is a joint publication from Ballotpedia and Transparency USA, who are working together to provide campaign finance information for state-level elections. Learn more about our work here.