Would have been nice to have done better.
Sen. Wendy Davis
Republican Attorney General Greg Abbott outraised Democratic state Sen. Wendy Davis by more than 3-to-1 in the first three weeks in January in the race for governor, according to figures reported by each campaign Monday.
The $3.1 million-plus that Abbott raised from Jan. 1 through Jan. 23, the period covered by campaign finance reports due Monday, gave him $29.4 million in cash on hand for the race against Davis.
Davis, of Fort Worth, raised $912,996 over the same period, counting two of her committees and a joint effort with Battleground Texas, which is dedicated to making Texas competitive for Democrats. She reported she has $10.2 million in cash on hand.
The comparison could take off some of the shine from the big money that Davis hauled in during the last six months of 2013 when, counting the same three fundraising committees, she took in $12.2 million compared with $11.5 million for Abbott, long a top fundraiser.
“With the previous announcement, she got a lot of positive attention because she had raised more than people expected and had more relative to Abbott than anyone expected,” said University of Texas-Pan American political scientist Jerry Polinard. “This is another way (for Abbott) of reminding people, ‘Wait a minute, we are still in a very red state. I’ve got more money.'”
It’s also a way for the media to rehash its stories about Davis from the past two weeks, since apparently there isn’t anything else to report on. Candidates in contested primaries have to make 30 day and 8 day reports; candidates like Leticia Van de Putte, who are unopposed in the primary, get to go till July before their next reporting deadline. At this pace, Davis would raise about $10 million for the rest of the year, which ain’t nothing but which would only get her a bit more than halfway to her stated goal of $40 million. The great thing about having a large donor base, as she does, is that you can go back to them and ask for more. Maybe not so quickly, however. As for Abbott, it sure is nice to have a bunch of panicky zillionaires in your corner; hr took in more from five deep-pocketed benefactors than Davis did overall. I’m sure that was the message they meant to send.
On a side note, we find that Greg Abbott received even more contributions than we first thought from payday lenders last year. My guess is he’s taken in more in the current report. Maybe someone can check that when the reports are posted. Like I said, nice to have some deep pockets you can reach into. Campos has more.