Attorney General Greg Abbott has edge over Sen. Wendy Davis in Coastal Bend fundraising

AUSTIN — Campaign donations along the Coastal Bend for the governor’s race imitate the statewide trend where top Republican candidate Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott has a substantial edge over top Democratic candidate state Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth.

Since last summer through late January, Abbott has raised about $72,000 from the region, and Davis has raised about $28,000.

“What it sounds like is that it’s a microcosm of what we’re seeing more broadly,” said Jim Henson, a political science professor at the University of Texas at Austin. “It’s a little narrower than statewide, but not very far off.”

Abbott reported raising more than $3.1 million Jan. 1-23 and Davis raised $912,000. That gives Abbott $29.4 million in campaign cash and Davis $10.2 million.

Both candidates had about the same number of donations from the same region along the coast. Abbott had about 270 contributions and Davis had about 260. Abbott, however, had much larger contributions. He had five $5,000 contributions to one $5,000 contribution for Davis.

David R. Smith, assistant professor of political science at Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, said the numbers match up with the idea of the Coastal Bend trending Republican, even with a Hispanic influence associated with Democrats.

There are more Republican Hispanics in Texas than in any other state, according to recent Gallup polling.

“Texas Hispanics are decidedly Democratic in their political party preferences, 46 percent to 27 percent, but that 19-percentage-point Democratic advantage is much smaller in Texas than the average 30-point gap Democrats enjoy among the Hispanic population in the other 49 states,” Andrew Dugan with Gallup wrote in an analysis Friday.

“It’s red and I think for the foreseeable future I think it will continue to be red,” Smith said of the Coastal Bend.

Smith said Abbott is “hitting more of the issues that are going to be important to the residents of the Coastal Bend area” such as reining in the Environmental Protection Agency as far as refineries in the area and prioritizing human trafficking.

“Greg Abbott continues to display a strong showing of support among Texans across the state, especially from Corpus Christi and other cities in the Coastal Bend area,” Abbott’s press secretary Avdiel Huerta said in an email. “It’s clear that his message of more jobs, improving our infrastructure and a better education system is resonating with Texans.”

A request for comment from Davis’ campaign hadn’t been returned Friday evening.

See spreadsheets of contributions on this page.

Reprinted with permission from the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.