Texas GOP Gov Shatters Own Records
as Paxton Raises Most in Senate Battle

Capitol Inside
July 16, 2025

Seventeen Republicans rounded up nearly $60 million for statewide races during the past six months - with Governor Greg Abbott accounting for more than a third of the collective total after raising more than $20 million for a re-election bid in a span of only 10 days.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton raised $2.9 million for a federal race with strict contribution limits - three times more than U.S. Senator John Cornyn reported as the incumbent the state lawyer is challenging in the contest that will crown the Texas ballot in 2026. Cornyn had a $5.9 million cash balance on June 30 when Paxton had $2.5 million in the bank.

State Senator Mayes Middleton of Galveston and former Senate member Don Huffines of Dallas fueled campaigns for comptroller and attorney general respectively with loans of $10 million each en route to huge leads in the amount of cash they had socked away on June 30 for contests that are highly competitive.

Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick reported contributions topping $5 million for the first half of 2025 when he and other elected leaders were barred from raising campaign cash during the regular legislative session and the first three weeks in June.

The only Democrat in the running for Texas Senate president - State Rep. Vikki Goodwin of Austin - generated $136,000 from donors to go with a $100,000 loan. Patrick ended June with $37.5 million in the bank - almost 171 times more than Goodwin reported in cash on hand.

While Patrick was a distant second to the governor in the donor dollar dash for the 2026 election cycle's first six months, Huffines was a close third to the lieutenant governor after reporting contributions of $4.95 million in the same period when he wasn't subject to the session moratorium. The comptroller contender's second biggest giver was his brother, Phillip Huffines, who contributed $3 million to the ex-senator's second race for statewide office since an unsuccessful attempt to oust Governor Greg Abbott in 2022.

The former senator raised almost $15 million for his campaign account in the competition for comptroller when the five-digit loan is added to the equation.

A pair of Huffines primary rivals - Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick and State Senator Kelly Hancock of North Richland Hills - raised $2.9 million and $1.5 million respectively from contributors when they were free to reboot fundraising apparatuses after the session ban expired.

Republican Aaron Reitz - a Paxton protege with ties to President Donald Trump - had an impressive debut in the fundraising arena as novice candidate who raked in $2.1 million for a campaign for Texas attorney general.

With four state Senate seats up for grabs in 2026 without incumbents on the ballot, Southlake Republican Leigh Wambsganss took the early lead in the money chase for openings in the upper chamber with a $200,000 loan on top of $141,000 that she generated from supporters for the Senate District 9 race.

Rhonda Ward of Nacogdoches got a jump on State Rep. Trent Ashby of Lufkin in the donor dollar scramble for the GOP primary election in Senate District 3. Ward raised $220,000 compared to $9,400 for Ashby. But the veteran lawmaker had almost five times more in reserve than Ward with $1.1 million in cash on hand on the final day of June.

GOP State Rep. David Cook used a $250,000 as a springboard for an open Senate District 22 contest that he's competing in as one of three contenders for east wing openings with endorsements from the lieutenant governor. Patrick has remained on the sidelines up to now in the fight between Ashby and Ward in East Texas.

more to come ...