The oil and electric industries are rallying around Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, helping him rake in more than $25 million over four months and boosting other statewide Republican candidates.<\/p>\n
Democrats, whose fundraising trails the GOP in most statewide races, said they\u2019ve raised enough money to stay in the fight \u2014 while arguing that the gusher of oil money shows their opponents are out of touch.<\/p>\n
Texas gasoline prices sit well below the national average, but on Sunday, the state average was about 29 percent higher than a year earlier, according to AAA. And Texas\u2019 data center construction boom has rural residents worried about the impact on their local electric rates, as well as the disruption of living near new facilities and the power plants they require.<\/p>\n
Those issues are in play as Abbott seeks a fourth consecutive term as governor. He\u2019ll have to beat Democratic state Rep. Gina Hinojosa in November.<\/p>\n
\u201cFollow Greg Abbott\u2019s money and you\u2019ll find everything wrong with government,\u201d said Hinojosa campaign spokesperson Tommy Kubitschek in a statement.<\/p>\n
Eduardo Leal, a spokesperson for Abbott\u2019s campaign, said in an email that the governor \u201ccontinues to earn broad support from Texans because of his proven record of slashing property taxes, securing the border, and keeping Texas affordable.\u201d Leal said contributions to Abbott\u2019s campaign are publicly disclosed and in keeping with Texas law.<\/p>\n
Big money is nothing new in Texas politics, where there\u2019s no limit on individual campaign contributions in most statewide races. In the 2022 governor\u2019s race, Abbott and Democratic challenger Beto O\u2019Rourke raised and spent about $160 million<\/a> combined.<\/p>\n Abbott has argued that the Texas economy, which is generally faring better than the national economy, shows his approach is working. Still, government watchdog groups have said for years that the growing cost of Texas campaigns is damaging trust in politics.<\/p>\n \u201cThe result is that a few individuals with wealth unimaginable to working Texans can buy the type of government they want, rather than the one the people might otherwise choose,\u201d Adrian Shelley, Texas director of Public Citizen, said in a statement.<\/p>\n But sometimes the energy industry has to adjust to voters.<\/p>\n That happened in this year\u2019s Republican primary runoff<\/a> for a spot on the state Railroad Commission, which regulates oil and gas operations in Texas. Challenger Bo French toppled incumbent Jim Wright, despite notable oil and gas support for Wright. French is now aiming to defeat Democratic state Rep. Jon Rosenthal and keep the commission seat in GOP hands.<\/p>\n In the governor\u2019s race, Abbott started the year with $106 million in his campaign fund, and after spending for the March primary election \u2014 and raking in $25.5 million in the latest cycle \u2014 had $67.2 million to spend on the general election, according to his latest filing<\/a>.<\/p>\n