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.
Source: , 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
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