Price Tag Soars in CC House Race as Four Dozen Join $100,000 Club
July 16, 2008
By Mike Hailey
Capitol Inside Editor
TEXAS HOUSE FUNDRAISING |
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The race between State Rep. Juan Garcia and Republican Todd Hunter has the potential to be the most competitive state House battle in Texas this year - and it's on track to have the highest price tag as well.
The first-term Democrat and the former lawmaker who's trying to unseat him raised more than $700,000 combined during the past six months in their fight for the House District 32 seat in a four-county coastal area that includes Corpus Christi. Garcia and Hunter listed contributions of about $402,000 and $302,000 respectively during that time on campaign finance reports that they filed this week at the Texas Ethics Commission.
The HD 32 contenders are two of more than four dozen House candidates with major party opposition in the general election to surpass the six-figure mark in fundraising so far during the current two-year election cycle. At least 10 House candidates with fall foes have raised more than $200,000 since January 1. Garcia and at least seven other House members with major party foes this fall have taken in more than $600,000 during the past 18 months.
House Speaker Tom Craddick pushed his total fundraising for the past 18 months to almost $1.5 million with contributions of $653,000 during the first half of the year. State Rep. Phil King, a Weatheford Republican who's a top Craddick ally, joined the $1 million club in total fundraising for the current election cycle with contributions of more than $490,000 since a lopsided March primary victory over an opponent who appeared to have a chance to make the race close. Craddick has outraised Democratic challenger Bill Dingus about 23 to 1 while King has rounded up 2,456 times more for his re-election campaign than Democratic opponent Charles William Randolph at this stage of the game.
Here's how the candidates in some of the hottest House races to watch this fall stack up in the fundraising derby so far:
HD 32 - Garcia has raised more than $616,000 during the past 18 months after ousting Republican Gene Seaman from the House in 2006. Hunter, who represented the seat as a Democrat before stepping down in 1996, didn't start raising cash for the race until January when he filed to run. But Craddick, King and Garcia are the only three House candidates who raked in more money than Hunter during the past six months for general election battles against major party opposition. A victory by Hunter in a district where almost two-thirds of the voters have been Republicans in recent years would be a significant setback for Democrats in their quest to reclaim at House majority at the polls this year. But Gracia ended June with almost $522,000 in the bank compared to $165,000 for Hunter.
HD 78 - Republican Dee Margo and Democrat Joe Moody raised about $235,000 and $67,000 respectively during a four-month period that began a week before they won primary elections and ended June 30. Margo, who knocked off State Rep. Pat Haggerty of El Paso in the GOP primary, has raised more than $685,000 during the past 18 months compared to $88,000 that Moody has rounded up since entering the race. Despite the fundraising disparity, Democrats think they have a good chance to pick up this seat now that Haggerty's no longer defending it in a district that has almost as many Democratic voters as Republicans living in it.
HD 107 - Former Republican House member Bill Keffer and State Rep. Allen Vaught of Dallas reported contributions of $158,000 and $111,000 respectively during the past six months. Keffer, who hopes to win the seat back in a rematch this fall, has raised $329,000 during the cycle compared to $211,000 for Vaught. Keffer will probably need all the money he can get in a GOP district that's been trending Democrat and could go for Barack Obama this fall.
HD 102 - With contributions topping $169,000, Democrat Carol Kent raised three times more than Republican State Rep. Tony Goolsby during the past six months. But Goolsby had more than $403,000 in the campaign bank at the end of last month while Kent, a Richardson school board member, reported cash on hand of more than $122,000.
HD 52 - Democrat Diana Maldonado, who had no primary opposition, has raised almost $199,000 in her bid for the seat that Republican State Rep. Mike Krusee of Round Rock isn't seeking again this year. Bryan Daniel, who won the GOP nomination in an April primary runoff, has reported contributions of $137,000 since entering the race. Maldonado raised $145,000 during the past six months while Republicans were battling among themselves in the HD 52 race in a GOP-tilting district that's been trending Democrat.
more to come ...