Close funding race in West Central Texas for Wendy Davis and Greg Abbott
By Matthew Waller
AUSTIN, Texas — Governor campaign fundraising is closer in West Central Texas than in the state as a whole.
While the main Democratic contender for the governor’s office, Fort Worth’s state Sen. Wendy Davis, is well behind Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott in fundraising statewide, Davis is off by only a few thousand dollars around San Angelo and Abilene.
Since July, Abbott raised $11,226 in the Concho Valley compared with $10,261 raised from Davis.
Davis received 81 donations from more than 40 contributors, compared with Abbott receiving 104 donations from more than 80 contributors.
For that same time period in the Big Country, Abbott raised $13,301 compared with $10,742 raised by Davis. Davis had about 80 contributions with more than 40 donors, and Abbott had about 130 contributions with more than 100 donors.
“That’s interesting,” Angelo State University political science professor Jack Barbour said. “I would’ve thought Abbott would do better here in the Concho Valley than Wendy would. This is a pretty red district.” Statewide, 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.
“It’s not surprising at all that Greg Abbott would be leading in the Abilene area,” said Neal Coates, the chairman of the political science department at Abilene Christian University. As for the close money, he said he would guess “the total she has is probably indicative of excitement among local Democrats.” He said the statewide numbers are a good picture of who will win the race.
Tom Green County Democratic Chairwoman Linda Shoemaker wrote in an email that she found the numbers encouraging.
“These funding numbers are fantastic. Wendy Davis is keeping pace with a guy who is a millionaire to begin with. One really positive fact is that she raised almost as much with 40 donors as he did with 80 donors. Perhaps the support for her is deeper and stronger,” Shoemaker wrote. “This shows that Concho Valley voters are ready for a change.”
Jeff Betty, the Tom Green County Republican Party chairman, said Abbott seemed to be doing well from his vantage point. “From my experience Sen. Davis does not have a lot of support around here and General Abbott is very well liked,” Betty said. Abbott has made a campaign stop in San Angelo.
Ed Conley, the Taylor County Democratic Party chairman, said he was impressed with Davis. “When you realize how much money she raised this last go-round, it doesn’t surprise me at all. She has got the best of the best running the campaign,” Conley said. “We’ve had more than normal participation in what little things we’ve done. We have no local candidates, so whatever is stirred up is stirred up by statewide candidates.”
Joy Ellinger, the Taylor County Republican Party chairwoman, said a recent fundraiser that came after the latest reporting period should spike contributions.
“I think you’ll see the number jump significantly for General Abbott. There is no doubt about it that he will out-fundraise Wendy Davis” and win the election, she said. Barbour said some donors might be waiting until after the March 4 primaries and to give during the general election when it is more relevant. “It’ll be interesting to see how funding goes during the general election,” he said. “I think Wendy Davis’ people out here are more enthusiastic. Abbott is kind of, yeah, he is going to get it, but she is the underdog.”
Reprinted with permission from the San Angelo Standard-Times.