Campaign Money Chase Spurs Reshuffling
of Rankings for Texas House Primary Vote

Texas Senate Fundraising - Texas House & Senate Races Rankings

Capitol Inside
January 19, 2026

1 Marc LaHood (R-Inc) $1,431,751 2 Kat Wall (R) $917,568 3 Mike Olcott (R-Inc) $673,774 4 David McArthur (R) $596,943 5 Jeff Leach (R-Inc) $545,163 6 Mike Olcott (R-Inc) $673,774 7 Chris Turner (D-Inc) $556,109 8 Jerry Patterson (R-Inc) $502,778 9 Angelia Orr (R-Inc) $474,277 10 Nathan Watkins (R) $444,622 11 Ken King (R-Inc) $409,493 12 Stan Kitzman (R-Inc) $406,393 13 Will Metcalf (R-Inc) $390,920 14 Morgan Meyer (R-Inc) $375,965 15 Cody Harris (R-Inc) $373,387 16 Stan Gerdes (R-Inc) $314,627 17 Pat Curry (R-Inc) $303,300 18 Goose Geesaman (R) $286,680 19 Andy Hopper (R-Inc) $267,442 20 Brian Harrison (R-Inc) $248,892

A pair of female Republicans could be in danger of early exits from a Texas House they entered together in 2023 as a consequence of massive advantages that primary challengers have had in the campaign money chase in two of the three hottest races for the west wing in Austin in round one this year.

State Reps. Angelia Orr of Itasca and Terri Leo Wilson of Galveston are the only two House Republicans who trailed first-round foes in the total fundraising tally for 2025 in fights for seats that feature incumbents on the defensive in races on the March 3 primary ballot. Orr's primary rival Kat Wallof Bellmead made it clear that money is not an object when she loaned her campaign $900,000 and ended December with more than a quarter-million dollars in cash reserves for the battle in House District 13. .

But the House District 23 race that pits Leo Wilson against Nathan Watkins of Baytown has soared past HD 13 into the number two spot on the Capitol Inside Texas Races to Watch rankings for the state House heading into the final six weeks before the primary vote. Watkins, a real estate developer, raised almost $445,000 in the last three months of 2025 for a novice campaign that had more than $382,372 in cash on hand at the start of January.

Leo Watkins, who served three terms on the State Board of Education, posted relatively pedestrian numbers for an incumbent in a competitive race, with contributions approaching $189,000 in 2025 and a year-ending balance just north of $151,000 in a district where 75 percent of the population resides in Galveston County. But HD 23 contains Chambers County east of the Houston area as well - and Watkins apparently qualified for the contest with a residence in a sliver of Baytown that spills from Harris County into Chambers.

Watkins is a former Navy special warfare veteran who operated a high-speed boat that extracted Navy Seals from dangerous situations in combat. Watkins continued down the path of public service when he worked on his return as the city manager in Mont Belvieu. Watkins recorded contributions of !0,000 or more from a dozen different donors for 80 percent of the total that he reported to the state. The bulk of Watkins' haul came from Baytown including $100,000 that came courtesy of a Texans for Good Government PAC that local health care executive Jeanne Shipp bankrolled with a $100,000 infusion. Watkins also received $50,000 from a realtor in Naples, Florida - Brett Youngquist.

Watkins capped off the donor dollar roundup with a gift that's immeasurable - an endorsement that the big-spending Associated Republicans of Texas PAC bestowed on his campaign this week. While ART tends to follow through with contributions for candidates that it's certified, the endorsement is worth countless sums in terms of the advertising it brings to a candidate who had no name ID outside of his home base until now. Unlike several other challengers who the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC recruited for incumbents for the GOP in the first round, Watkins didn't need TLR in his camp to leave Leo Wilson behind in the scramble for campaign cash.

The House District 121 duel between rookie Republican State Rep. Marc LaHood of San Antonio and TLR-backed challenger David McArthur remains atop the rankings for incumbent contests in the Legislature's lower chamber as the most expensive primary battle that's under way so far. LaHood - the new darling from the majority party for the plaintiffs bar - raised more than $1.4 million for his first re-election bid with a substantial share of that from trial lawyers like himself. LaHood was the House's only incumbent with primary opposition to advance to the million dollar club at the midway point of the 2026 election cycle.

But McArthur sought to stay within striking distance with contributions of nearly $600,000 with the lawsuit reform group supplying the lion's share of that. TLR has sent mixed signals, however, sparking speculation that it's support for McArthur and challengers in bids for seats that State Reps. Mark Dorazio of San Antonio and Andy Hopper of Decatur are seeking again could be on the verge of drying up. But the races in districts where Hopper and Dorazio are facing Lisa McEntire and Willie NG respectively are ranked sixth and seventh on the watch list nonetheless based on the funding that TLR has already invested into both. NG and McEntire both raised more than $100,000 in 2025 - with contributions of $50,000 and $63,000 respectively from the TLR PAC. Hopper raised $267,000 in the first half of the cycle for his first race for re-election in House District 64. Hopper reported $91,000 in cash on hand on December 30. Dorazio - a member of the 2023 freshmen class with Leo Wilson and Orr - corralled $142,000 last year for a second re-election effort - and he ended 2025 with $404,000 in the campaign bank.

GOP State Reps. Brian Harrison of Midlothian and Stan Kitzman of Pattison both appear to face significant challenges in races that round out the top five in districts where primary foes established credibility with six-figure fundraising efforts late last year. Flatonia Republican Dennis "Goose" Geesaman put Kitzman on notice when he fueled his campaign in House District 85 with loans of almost $263,000 during the second half of 2025. Kitzman, freshman lawmaker in 2023 as well, will expect to run as the favorite after raising $406,000 last year.

Harrison - a maverick conservative who's been Speaker Dustin Burrows' harshest critic - raised nearly $250,00 for the race in House District 10 where a pair of first-round foes in Waxahachie Republicans Jon Garrett and Matt Authier both had six-digit fundraising hauls.

State Rep. Harold Dutton - the House's second-longest serving Democrat - had a slightly smaller haul last year than one of two opponents he's facing in a bid for a new term in 2026. Dutton reported contributions of almost $62,000 to the state while primary challenger James Joseph beat that with nearly $72,000 and Danny Norris wasn't far behind.

State Rep. Chris Turner of Arlington was the only Democrat who cracked the list of top 20 fundraisers in House races with incumbents on defense. Turner, who's facing Junior Ezeonu in the primary, raised more than a half-million dollars in the second half last year.