In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott is the number-one fundraiser in state politics in the 2022 election cycle so far. According to the most recent campaign finance reports made to the Texas Ethics Commission, the governor received $69,538,463 in total contributions and spent $68,042,038 between January 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. Abbott is running for re-election in 2022.

Gov. Abbott is a member of the Republican Party and first assumed office in 2015.

Contributions to Gov. Abbott

Of the $69.5 million already reported in the 2022 election cycle, 19 percent came from the top 10 donors.

Top Donors to Gov. Abbott (1/1/2021 – 6/30/2022)

Rank Total Amount Donor Name Donor Type
1. $2,281,764.84 Greg Abbott* ENTITY
2. $1,808,900.00 S Javaid Anwar INDIVIDUAL
3. $1,500,000.00 James D Pitcock Jr INDIVIDUAL
4. $1,500,000.00 Kenny A and Lisa Troutt INDIVIDUAL
5. $1,310,000.00 Bobby Cox INDIVIDUAL
6. $1,000,000.00 Edward Roski Jr INDIVIDUAL
7. $1,000,000.00 Kelcy L Warren INDIVIDUAL
8. $1,000,000.00 Michael & Mary Porter INDIVIDUAL
9. $958,000.00 Gary H Martin INDIVIDUAL
10. $912,250.00 Tilman & Paige Fertitta INDIVIDUAL

 

The top donor, Greg Abbott, represents reported contributions received by the Texans for Greg Abbott candidate committee from another committee affiliated with the governor.

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Expenditures by Gov. Abbott

On the expenditures side, Gov. Abbott reported $68 million, with 82.6 percent of all spending going to the 10 payees topping the list.

Top Expenditures by Gov. Abbott (1/1/2021 – 6/30/2022)

Rank Total Amount Payee Name Payee Type
1. $18,958,421.66 CrossRoads Media LLC ENTITY
2. $16,424,438.92 Cross Screen Media ENTITY
3. $5,289,956.07 Targeted Victory ENTITY
4. $3,724,433.49 Department of US Treasury IRS ENTITY
5. $2,934,217.46 Camelback Strategy Group ENTITY
6. $2,697,704.68 Paychex Inc ENTITY
7. $2,281,764.84 Greg Abbott* ENTITY
8. $1,780,381.05 Unisource Direct ENTITY
9. $1,192,453.17 Direct Response LLC ENTITY
10. $953,759.48 Sarah Whitley ENTITY

 

*The seventh payee, listed as Greg Abbott, represents reported expenditures the Greg Abbott (The Honorable) candidate committee made to another committee affiliated with the governor. Note that the same amount appears on both the contributions and the expenditures side of the reported data.

How Gov. Abbott’s fundraising compares to other governors

Among elected officials holding the same level of state office, fundraising varies widely. A number of factors, including whether an incumbent officeholder is running for reelection, influence donor activity. Here is how fundraising by Texas Gov. Abbott compares to the 10 other governors with campaign finance data available from Transparency USA in 2022:

Fundraising reported by 11 U.S. governors in the 2022 election cycle

The data above are based on campaign finance reports that active Texas PACs submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission. Transparency USA publishes campaign finance data following major reporting deadlines. State or federal law may require filers to submit additional reports.

Name of Report Reporting Period Deadline
2022 Jan Semiannual 7/1/21 – 12/31/21 1/18/2022
2022 Pre-Primary 30 days 1/1/22 – 1/20/22 1/31/2022
2022 Pre-Primary 8 days 1/21/22 – 2/19/22 2/22/2022
2022 Primary Runoff 2/20/22 – 5/14/22 5/16/2022
2022 July Semiannual 1/1/22 – 6/30/22 7/15/2022
2022 Pre-General 30 days 7/1/22 – 9/29/22 10/11/2022
2022 Pre-General 8 days 9/30/22 – 10/29/22 10/31/2022
2022 Jan Semiannual 7/1/22 – 12/31/22 1/17/2023

 

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.