Last July, when candidates were last required to disclose their campaign finances, Gov. Greg Abbott announced that he had around $55 million on hand to battle his challengers.
Tuesday morning, Abbott confirmed that in the last six months, another $19 million has made its way into his campaign account.
Abbott credits Texans for this accomplishment, stating, “These generous contributions from people all across Texas show just how excited Texans are for this campaign.”
The Abbott campaign announced that almost 44,000 of the nearly 159,000 individual donations from the last six months came from first-time donors.
“I’m honored to have the support of so many Texans as we seek to secure the future of this great state. It’s inspiring to see people from all walks of life giving whatever they can spare to fuel this pivotal campaign,” said Abbott.
This latest round of fundraising efforts brought Abbott’s cash-on-hand total to $65 million.
Transparency USA Executive Director Tracy Marshall shares some insight into money in politics.
“Greg Abbott always has been, and continues to be, one of the most prolific political fundraisers in the nation—and his $19 million haul in the last six months continues to prove that.”
“However, while money is necessary to a successful campaign, it is definitely not the deciding factor,” said Marshall, citing several notable races of the past couple of years, including Michael Bloomberg’s half-billion-dollar presidential run in 2020 and the 2021 Virginia governor’s race where Democrats outspent Republicans but still lost.
“In 2020, Republican Railroad Commissioner Ryan Sitton outspent his Republican primary challenger Jim Wright by 64 to 1 and still lost his race [in Texas]. Money is important, but it does not buy elections.”
