Time permitting, I’m hoping to do regular updates on the 2014 statewide races in Texas the same way I updated the senate race. But with so many more offices and players, it’s going to take me some time to get up to speed.
Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, with $3 million in the bank, has the largest campaign treasury of the four Republican candidates for lieutenant governor, according to the latest fundraising statements, which were due Monday.
Thanks to a $650,000 personal loan to his campaign, Sen. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, the latest entrant in the race, edged past Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst in money in the bank — $2.1 million to $1.73 million — even though Dewhurst raised $1.2 million compared with about $100,000 for Patrick. The fourth candidate, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson, raised $417,000, bringing his treasury to $1.3 million. Patterson said he hopes to raise $3 million in the next six months to remain competitive, and Dewhurst has a personal fortune that he can tap
- State Rep. Dan Branch hasn’t even declared his AG run, but already has $4 million on hand, including a $5,000 donation from George W. Bush.
- Barry Smitherman has over $1 million cash on hand for his AG run.
- State Sen. Ken Paxton (honestly, I was just guessing he would make an AG run) has more than $1.6 million cash on hand. He hasn’t declared yet.
- George P. Bush reported $2 million raised and $2.6 million on hand for his Comptroller run.
I’ll be digging into the financial reports for all the major candidates when I get a chance (don’t hold your breath this week).
Tags: 2014 Election, Barry Smitherman, Bush43, Dan Branch, Democrats, Elections, George P. Bush, Greg Abbott, Jerry Patterson, Ken Paxton, Paul Burka, Republicans, Texas, Todd Staples, Wendy Davis