Even as he fends off primary challengers, House Speaker Dade Phelan is sending campaign contributions to several members of the Texas House—including those opposed by Gov. Greg Abbott.
Newly-released campaign finance reports—which cover the second half of 2023—reveal that Phelan has directly contributed to 16 members of the Texas House.
The donations include around $15,000 each to the following state representatives:
Steve Allison (San Antonio)
Ernest Bailes (Shepherd)
Ben Bumgarner (Flower Mound)
Drew Darby (San Angelo)
Mano DeAyala (Houston)
Stan Gerdes (Smithville)
Cole Hefner (Mt. Pleasant)
Justin Holland (Heath)
Jacey Jetton (Richmond)
John Kuempel (San Antonio)
Stan Kitzman (Brookshire)
Stephanie Klick (Fort Worth)
Glenn Rogers (Graford)
Lynn Stucky (Sanger)
Kronda Thimesch (Lewisville)
Gary VanDeaver (New Boston)
Notably, seven of these members—Allison, Bailes, Darby, Holland, Rogers, Kuempel, and VanDeaver—opposed Abbott’s push for school choice legislation. Abbott has already endorsed opponents to Allison, Darby, and Rogers.
In addition to direct financial support, some Republican incumbents have reported in-kind polling contributions from Phelan, including several House impeachment managers from the failed impeachment of Attorney General Ken Paxton. Those members include State Reps. David Spiller (Jacksboro), Charlie Geren (Fort Worth), Jeff Leach (Plano), and Briscoe Cain (Deer Park).
State Rep. Andrew Murr (R–Junction)—who led the impeachment—also reported $13,850 in polling from Phelan just weeks before he announced he would not seek re-election.
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