Let’s move on to finance reports from the State House, which I will break up into two parts. Today’s look is on the various races in the greater Houston area, and after that I’ll look at the other races of interest from around the state. Part One of my look at the July reports for state races is here. January reports for Harris County State House races are here, January reports for other area State House races are here.
Martin Shupp, HD03
Cecil Bell, HD03
Lorena McGill, HD15
Steve Toth, HD15
Jeff Antonelli, HD23
Mayes Middleton, HD23
Brian Rogers, HD24
Greg Bonnen, HD24
Patrick Henry, HD25
Cody Vasut, HD25
Sarah DeMerchant, HD26
Matt Morgan, HD26
Eliz Markowitz, HD28
Gary Gates, HD28
Travis Boldt, HD29
Ed Thompson, HD29
Joe Cardenas, HD85
Phil Stephenson, HD85
Natali Hurtado, HD126
Sam Harless, HD126
Kayla Alix, HD129
Dennis Paul, HD129
Gina Calanni, HD132
Mike Schofield, HD132
Sandra Moore, HD133
Jim Murphy, HD133
Ann Johnson, HD134
Sarah Davis, HD134
Jon Rosenthal, HD135
Justin Ray, HD135
Akilah Bacy, HD138
Lacey Hull, HD138
Dist Candidate Raised Spent Loan On Hand
==============================================================
HD03 Shupp 430 0 0 430
HD03 Bell 8,750 24,449 82,140 19,327
HD15 McGill 11,010 12,791 0 3,437
HD15 Toth 32,849 22,015 0 20,413
HD23 Antonelli 2,104 0 0 2,104
HD23 Middleton 9,782 271,170 500,000 87,325
HD24 Rogers 970 0 0 1,445
HD24 Bonnen 16,120 35,375 450,000 563,721
HD25 Henry 3,660 5,113 0 3,660
HD25 Vasut 48,486 68,549 100 28,176
HD26 DeMerchant 12,998 5,138 975 6,178
HD26 Morgan 25,702 44,030 29,615 3,998
HD28 Markowitz 287,618 243,837 0 48,119
HD28 Gates 497,620 632,891 1,736,100 58,549
HD29 Boldt 16,531 7,228 0 15,682
HD29 Thompson 59,521 72,807 0 412,652
HD85 Cardenas 9,298 4,542 0 1,800
HD85 Stephenson 20,243 40,447 29,791 34,720
HD126 Hurtado 121,203 30,604 0 66,783
HD126 Harless 28,914 2,965 20,000 124,052
HD129 Alix 33,836 3,868 0 898
HD129 Paul 38,885 17,665 156,000 46,752
HD132 Calanni 92,315 33,941 0 99,500
HD132 Schofield 63,290 134,658 0 53,016
HD133 Moore 4,025 2,352 0 3,862
HD133 Murphy 60,100 27,894 0 514,779
HD134 Johnson 267,651 110,996 0 193,642
HD134 Davis 133,245 98,848 0 169,966
HD135 Rosenthal 129,685 61,548 0 87,108
HD135 Ray 64,170 53,847 0 60,774
HD138 Bacy 76,135 38,924 0 48,944
HD138 Hull 25,638 49,438 0 20,518
The first thing to keep in mind is that the time period covered by these reports varies. Candidates who did not have a primary opponent did not have to file eight-day reports for March, so those lucky folks’ reports cover the entire six months from January 1 through June 30. Those who had a March primary and emerged victorious did have to file an eight-day report for March, so their reports cover February 23 through June 30. And those who had to endure the runoff election also had to file an eight-day report for that race as well, so their reports cover February 23 through July 6. Got it? Check the individual report links themselves if you’re not sure what applied for a given candidate.
For obvious reasons, candidates who had contested primaries and/or runoffs may have raised and spent more than someone who could have cruised through that period. Looking at these numbers, it’s not actually all that obvious who was running in a real race during this period and who wasn’t, but that was a factor. Also, remember that the runoff for the special election in HD28 was in January, so much of the fundraising and spending for Eliz Markowitz and Gary Gates includes that.
So with all that, a few things to note. Ed Thompson (HD29) and Jim Murphy (HD133) have clearly followed the well-trod path of multiple-term incumbents, building up a decent campaign treasury for the year when it may be needed. Remember how I once suggested that Jim Murphy could make sense as a candidate for Houston Mayor in 2023? The strategy of building up a campaign war chest while a member of the Legislature worked pretty well for Mayor Turner. I’m just saying. First term Democratic incumbents Jon Rosenthal and Gina Calanni, neither of whom were big fundraisers in their successful 2018 campaigns, have done all right for themselves so far. They’re not going to scare anyone off with their bank accounts, but they’re not starting from scratch, either.
Nobody in the hot races in HD26 or HD138 has a lot of money right now, but I don’t expect that to last. I figure the 30-day reports will tell more of the story there, and of course there will be a ton of PAC money at play. Eliz Markowitz will have a larger network of donors from her special election to tap into, but will be operating in a much more competitive environment, and as before will be running against a guy who prints his own money. Natali Hurtado has some catching up to do in HD126, but she’s off to a roaring start. No one in the lower-profile races has done anything to raise their profiles.
By the way, when you see a puzzling disparity between raised/spent and cash on hand, the answer is almost always because the amount raised includes a significant “in kind” share. Kayla Alix in HD129, for example, raised $33K, but $26K of it was an in-kind donation for office rental. It’s a real contribution, but it doesn’t manifest as cash on hand.
The two oddest reports to me are those belonging to Sarah Davis and Mayes Middleton. What in the world was Middleton, a first-term incumbent with no primary opponent, spending $271K on? About $78K on advertising, and at least that much on six or seven paid staff, in monthly installments. Why does he have so many people on monthly retainers? You’d have to ask him. As for Davis, I have no idea how it is that she doesn’t have $500K or so in the bank. She’s been an incumbent for as long as Murphy has (they both were elected in 2010; Murphy had served a term before that and was defeated in 2008 but came back the following cycle), her last serious Democratic challenger was in 2012 (Ann Johnson again), and like Murphy she represents a wealthy district with plenty of well-heeled constituents. I recognize that this is a tough cycle for her, by most reckoning one in which she is likely to lose, so I can understand how Johnson is outperforming her now. What I don’t understand is why she didn’t have more socked away for exactly this circumstance. Not complaining, you understand, just marveling.
Sarah Davis’ opponent is not Matt Morgan.
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