Republicans Raise $18.3M for 10 Abbott
Target Fights as Rookie Gets Gov's Love

Capitol Inside
February 28, 2024

Governor Greg Abbott could be grooming a freshman state lawmaker to be the next leader of the Texas House if he's successful in a bid to defeat a significant of Speaker Dade Phelan's GOP allies in the primary election on Tuesday or subsequent runoffs.

Armed with an extra $6 million that he scored from the leading investor in TikTok after accusing the social media firm of spying on Texans for the Chinese, Abbott contributed more campaign cash in the past month to State Rep. Ellen Troxclair of Lakeway than any other incumbent Republican in the House.

Troxclair - a former Austin City Council member - raised almost $1.1 million in that four-week span thanks in large part to about $280,000 from the governor to go with $580,000 from the Texans for Lawsuit Reform PAC. The gubernatorial and business establishment largess pushed Troxclair's running count for the 2024 election cycle to more than $1.45 million.

Abbott made a special trip on Wednesday to Fredericksburg to campaign for Troxclair in the city where her chief primary foe Kyle Biedermann is a resident.

"The values held by people in the Texas Hill Country are far different than the values in Austin,” Abbott said in an email on Thursday morning. “There is a fire in Ellen Troxclair that represents the values of people right here in Fredericksburg. Ellen has been a tremendous help in ensuring Texas remains the beacon of freedom, prosperity, and opportunity that it is today. Make sure you cast your vote for someone you know is going to vote for your values—make sure you vote for Ellen Troxclair for House District 19.”

Newly-elected State Rep. Jill Dutton of Ben Wheeler was the only House member who rounded up more campaign cash than Troxclair in the past 14 months with Phelan as the lone exception. But Dutton spent months last year as a candidate for the House District 2 seat that she won in a special election in January when he beat the Abbott-endorsed candidate Brent Money of Greenville. .

Dutton raised $1.46 billion to take a razor-thin edge over Troxclair based on an examination of campaign finance statements that candidates with primary opposition submitted to the Texas Ethics Commission this week. Dutton faces Money in a rematch on the primary ballot next week.

Abbott spent about the same amount of money on House Republicans and challengers in the monthlong period that ended February 24 as the sum that he garnered from the Pennsylvania resident Jeff Yass of TikTok fame. Yass' generosity came as a surprise in light of the fact that Abbott had banned his app from use on state computers and telephones the year before. The governor could put himself in jeopardy of criminal charges if he took the money from Yass simply for the sake of giving it away to other politicians.

Abbott poured $4 million into campaign kitties for 10 challengers he's supporting in an attempt to eliminate so-called RiNOs from the Legislature's lower chamber with votes against school vouchers last fall as the hook. But Abbott is supporting an array of House Republicans who've voted as much or more with Democrats than a majority of the rural representatives he's trying to oust.

Abbott appears to be determined to control the House of Representatives with the same iron and unforgiving fist that Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick wields in the Senate. The governor clearly expects Troxclair and the other candidates who've been his beneficiaries to be rubber-stamps for his priorities in a chamber where Republicans would be punished for putting constituents first when their wishes and Abbott's demands aren't the same. Abbott would almost certainly want to effectively select the speaker if does well as he expects in the epic attempt to reshape the House into a personal kingdom.

With Abbott shelling out money to House contenders at a record clip, the 10 challengers he supports on the school choice retribution quest have raised almost $9.4 million combined in the current cycle that's spanned less than 14 months. But Abbott may be surprised and disappointed to learn that the 10 incumbents he's targeting have fared almost as well in the donor dollar chase with a collective haul over $8.9 million in the same period of time.

The House Republicans in Abbott's sights and their chief primary foes have rounded up a jaw-crashing 18.3 million combined. But only three of Abbott's challengers - Alan Schoolcraft of Universal City, Stormy Bradley of Big Spring and Joanne Shofner of Nacogdoches - have amassed larger war chests than the incumbents they're seeking to unseat.

Abbott hasn't indicated why he's wanted to give more of his donor's money away to Troxclair than other Republicans in the House. The governor has appeared at multiple events on her behalf as well.

The large sum for Troxclair could be a function of Abbott's concerns that she could be on the verge of losing to former House member Kyle Biedermann of Fredericksburg at the polls on Tuesday or in overtime in a race that has three candidates on the primary ballot. But the prevailing sentiment outside Abbott's camp has been that Troxclair should win easily in her first re-election race.

The flow of cash into House races has been no less than obscene - regardless of whether the candidates are accepting dirty money. Thirteen incumbents have raised more than $1 million apiece in a group that starts with Phelan, Dutton and Troxclair and includes four of the lawmakers who the governor wants out of the House - State Reps. Steve Allison of San Antonio, John Kuempel of Seguin, Gary VanDeaver of New Boston and Ernest Bailes of Shepherd.

GOP State Reps. Morgan Meyer of Dallas, Jacey Jetton of Sugar Land, Mano DeAyala of Houston, Jeff Leach of Plano and Lynn Stucky of Sanger also have reached seven figures as legislators with endorsements from Abbott as consolation prizes on school choice.

The only other challengers who've raised more cash that the incumbents in the same races are Skeeter Hubert of Conroe and Jamie Haynes of Amarillo. Haynes and Hubert are taking on GOP State Reps. Steve Toth of The Woodlands and John Smithee of Amarillo.

more to come ...