Time for cash-counting: The final pre-election campaign finance filings, commonly known as the eight-day reports, are in (covering Sept. 26 to Oct. 25). In Travis County, GOP money slowed in two of the three House seats where Democrats face Republican challengers, with House District 48’s Donna Howard and HD 50’s Mark Strama comfortably outraising their opponents.
But HD 47 is a cash dumping ground, with almost $225,000 dropped into Donna Keel‘s campaign to remove incumbent Dem Valinda Bolton. On top of $140,000 from the Republican Party of Texas, there’s $10,000 from GOP sugar daddy Jim Leininger, $10,000 from Bob “Swift boat” Perry’s Empower Texans PAC, and $7,500 from Clayton Williams, the Midland oilman who lost the 1990 gubernatorial race to Ann Richards after making rape jokes. Bolton’s not short of money either, with donations from a mix of industry and union political action committees and from fellow state reps including Jim Dunnam, D-Waco, and Garnet Coleman, D-Houston.
That’s small change compared to Williamson County’s HD 52 race, where Republicans have dropped more than half a million dollars into Bryan Daniel‘s war chest (including $224,000 from Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC and $125,000 from Speaker Tom Craddick’s Stars Over Texas PAC) against Dem hopeful Diana Maldonado. It’s similar numbers for GOPer Tim Kleinschmidt in HD 17 ($60,000 from Perry, $110,000 from Stars Over Texas) against Democrat Donnie Dippel.
(Raised / Spent / Cash on hand)
HD 17
Donnie Dippel (D): $323,462 / $84,066 / $49,085
Tim Kleinschmidt (R): $492,483 / $249,254 / $102,642
HD 47
Valinda Bolton (D)*: $131,181 / $167,736 / $54,197
Donna Keel (R): $224,828 / $122,569 / $22,823
HD 48
Donna Howard (D)*: $53,411 / $13,944 / $100,202
Pam Waggoner (R): $6,350 / $11,780 / $7,702
HD 50
Mark Strama (D)*: $56,470 / $54,612 / $71,653
Jerry Mikus (R): $3,249 / $3,628 / $2,802
HD 52
Diana Maldonado (D): $304,649 / $365,697 / $102,316
Bryan Daniel (R): $587,550 / $319,922 / $87,719
(*incumbent)
This article appears in John McCain.
