Members of the Texas House filled their campaign war chests with $14,627,357 from
July 1, 1995 through year-end 1996.
House members raised a staggering 80 percent ($10,047,340) of their $100-or-larger
contributions from sources outside the home district.* Rep. Senfronia Thompson
raised 100 percent of her contributions outside her district. Four other members went
out of district for 99 percent of the value of their contributions of $100 or more. Just
11 members raised more than half of such money in their home districts.
Contributions of $100 or more accounted for 95 percent of House money; 37 percent
($5.4 million) came in contributions of $1,000 or more.
Businesses and PACs directly contributed 62 percent ($9 million) of all the itemized
contributions that House members received; individual contributors accounted for the
remaining 38 percent ($5.4 million). * Just 27 members raised more than half of their
money from individual contributors; PACs and businesses accounted for at least half
the money raised by every other House member. In fact, 21 House members raised
more than 80 percent of their money from PACs and businesses.
9 zip codes in Austin, Houston and the Dallas Metroplex accounted for 48 percent
($6.1 million) of the value of all House contributions of $100 or more (three Austin
zip codes generated $4.4 million, or 35 percent of all contributions of $100 or more). *
The Speaker and five powerful Democratic chairs (Reps. Hugo Berlanga, Mark
Stiles, Rob Junell, Clyde Alexander and David Counts) raised well over $200,000
each. The only other members of the House $200,000-Plus Club are Reps. Ron
Clark, Bill Siebert, Gene Seaman, and Harryette Ehrhardt. These 10 members
raised 23 percent of all the money raised in the entire House.
Many members raise much more money than they need. Forty percent of the House’s
members faced no opponent in their primary or general election. Nonetheless, these 61
members raised almost $3.6 million. Three uncontested members (Reps. Rob Junell,
Kim Brimer and Kyle Janek) raised more than $150,000 each.
The candidate with the most money almost always wins. Out of 66 contested general
elections, the least-funded candidate prevailed in just seven races. Of these seven upset
races, only two resulted in an incumbent’s defeat and only two were won by
candidates whose opponent raised more than twice as much money as the victor.
* The “Method” section explains why all contributions are analyzed in some cases and just contributions
of $100 or more in other cases. It also explains which contributions are “itemized.”
