Texas Republicans have huge cash edge in statewide elections

Democrats could be more competitive financially in the U.S. Senate race, but their comparatively small fundraising hauls for state office leave them with fewer resources to reach voters.

Republicans running for state-level offices in Texas vastly outraised their Democratic counterparts in the second half of 2025, raising questions about whether the minority party’s statewide nominees will have enough resources to seize on what is shaping up to be a favorable political climate this fall.

The fundraising disparity, laid bare in campaign finance reports this week, was especially stark among Texas’ gubernatorial candidates. State Rep. Gina Hinojosa of Austin, the leading Democratic contender for governor, reported raising $1.3 million in the last 10 weeks of the year, including $300,000 she lent her campaign. Gov. Greg Abbott, meanwhile, took in more than that — $1.6 million — from a single donor, Midland oil executive Javaid Anwar, contributing to a $22.7 million haul from July through December that pushed his war chest to a staggering $105.1 million.

In the lieutenant governor race, state Rep. Vikki Goodwin, D-Austin, brought in $368,000 — multiples more than she raised as an incumbent Texas House candidate in 2024, but still less than a quarter of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick’s $3.7 million take. The three-term Republican had $37.7 million in his campaign coffers at the end of the year, 234 times the size of Goodwin’s war chest.

Democrats’ comparatively meager hauls mean they are entering 2026 with much less cash to get their message across to voters in Texas, a notoriously expensive state to run in because of its size and numerous high-dollar media markets. It also gives Republicans more latitude to use their money to support GOP candidates in down-ballot races, as with Abbott’s plan to turn Harris County red.

Still, Democrats raised more than they did during the same period in the 2018 cycle, the last midterm election with a well-funded U.S. Senate race at the top of the ticket and President Donald Trump in the White House creating headwinds for the GOP. Democrats may also be more competitive in this year’s Senate contest, having so far outpaced the Republican candidates in fundraising. State Rep. James Talarico, D-Austin, said he has raised $13 million since launching his campaign in September.

During the same reporting period in the 2018 cycle, Democratic gubernatorial candidate and eventual nominee Lupe Valdez raised just $55,250, a fraction of Hinojosa’s haul. Mike Collier, the eventual Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, raised just over a third of Goodwin’s take. Both Democrats went on to lose in the general election — and at this point in 2018, Abbott and Patrick each had less than half as much cash on hand as they do now.

This year, Democrats argued that Republicans, namely Abbott and Patrick, built up such massive war chests by trading on their influence and selling out to deep-pocketed donors and special interests.

“When I launched this race, I knew it would be a David and Goliath fight — just like it’s always been when I’ve taken on Greg Abbott’s corrupt machine,” Hinojosa said in a statement. “Here’s what I know: Greg Abbott can keep lining his pockets with the money he gets from selling out working families, but across the state we are seeing Texans fired up and ready for change.”

Abbott’s donations in the most recent reporting period came from more than 48,000 contributions from all Texas counties, his campaign said, adding that over the course of his four gubernatorial campaigns, he has received more than a million unique individual contributions.

“The outpouring of support from across the state sends a powerful message about the values Texans expect our governor to defend,” Abbott campaign manager Kim Snyder said. “As socialists win elections elsewhere, Texans are stepping up to support Governor Abbott because he protects our way of life.”

After Anwar, Abbott’s biggest donors in the back half of 2025 were casino magnate Miriam Adelson and Texas Republican Leadership Fund, a group backed by GOP megadonor Alex Fairly, both of whom gave his campaign $1 million. Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, Roku founder Anthony Wood, data center developer Black Mountain Power, and Capital Funding Group CEO John Dwyer gave Abbott’s campaign $500,000 apiece.

Elsewhere on the ballot, state Sen. Nathan Johnson, D-Dallas, was the biggest Democratic statewide fundraiser aside from Hinojosa in his bid for attorney general. Still, his $653,000 haul brings his coffers to less than a third of that reported by the Republican candidate with the least money in the bank: state Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, who had $2.7 million on hand.

Further down the ballot, in the race for comptroller, Democratic state Sen. Sarah Eckhardt raised $113,000 — just five percent of Acting Comptroller Kelly Hancock’s haul and a tenth of former Republican state Sen. Don Huffines’ take.

And in the race for agriculture commissioner, the lone Democrat, Clayton Tucker, raised $108,000, while incumbent Commissioner Sid Miller brought in almost triple that — nearly $291,000 — while his Republican challenger, businessman Nate Sheets, raised over $506,000.

The delta between Democrats and Republican candidates, Democratic strategist Matt Angle said, was not surprising.

“It’s also not a measure of character or good public service,” he argued. “The challenge for Democrats is not to outraise or match them. It is to raise enough to show Texans there are better, more effective and more ethical alternatives. We don’t have to be stuck with burnt-out and sold-out Greg Abbott and Dan Patrick.”

With the March 3 primary still more than a month out, Democrats may see their fundraising heat up after capturing their party’s nomination. Democrats down ballot may also see a trickle-down effect from the U.S. Senate race, where both contenders — Talarico and U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas — have proven to be prolific fundraisers and polled competitively against the Republican candidates in early surveys.

Still, even with well-funded candidates at the top of the ticket in recent years, Democrats have failed to break their three-decade skid in statewide races. Former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred lost his bid against U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz in 2024 despite outpacing him with almost $100 million raised. Beto O’Rourke, another powerhouse fundraiser, fell to Cruz by under three points in 2018 and was trounced by Abbott in the gubernatorial race four years later, despite being the only Democrat to date who has kept pace with the governor’s fundraising juggernaut.

Source: Kayla Guo, The Texas Tribune

Photo Credit: State Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin, is greeted by attendees at an event kicking off her campaign for governor in Brownsville on Oct. 15, 2025. Gabriel V. Cárdenas for The Tex

The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues.

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