TEXAS \u2014 In the state\u2019s gubernatorial contest, Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s war chest has kept him in a comfortable position against state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, D-Austin.<\/p>\n
There is a $19 million difference between the amounts their campaigns raised in the second quarter this year. Abbott raised $25.5 million and has $67 million cash on hand compared to Hinojosa\u2019s $6 million raised and $3 million on hand.<\/p>\n
Her donations are primarily from Texans and in small amounts, as she campaigns against big money in politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have lost our way because of a corrupt political system where corporate actors and lobbyists have unlimited money and influence to influence politicians in both parties,\u201d said Hinojosa during her speech at the Texas Democratic Party convention in June.<\/p>\n
Hinojosa campaign spokesperson Tommy Kubitschek said of her opponent\u2019s latest campaign earnings, \u201cFollow Greg Abbott\u2019s money and you\u2019ll find everything wrong with government.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abbotts\u2019s campaign press secretary Eduardo Leal told Capital Tonight, \u201cAbbott continues to receive overwhelming support from Texans, with 93% of funds raised since the beginning of the year coming from Texans.\u201d<\/p>\n
Abbott\u2019s fundraising includes large donations from the likes of Elon Musk, Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and Dallas Mavericks owner Miriam Adelson. Abbott\u2019s finances allow him to focus on his own 2026 election goals, and Hinojosa isn\u2019t one of them.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fact that the governor campaigns for reelection without acknowledging his opponent by name or even by any reference suggests that she can\u2019t earn name recognition and visibility on her own, and he\u2019s not going to give it to her,\u201d said Cal Jillson, an SMU political science professor.<\/p>\n
Abbott is focused on beating Democrats up and down the ballot. He wants to turn Harris County red.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy campaign will spend at least $25 million just in Harris County alone. We\u2019re going block by block, door to door, and we are going to win up and down the entire ballot,\u201d said Abbott during the Republican Party of Texas convention in June.<\/p>\n
Political scientists say a win in Harris County will help Abbott secure more political influence in his expected reelection.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would dramatically extend Republican dominance in Texas, because Democrats depend upon the major urban areas of Houston, DFW, Austin and San Antonio for the bulk of their votes,\u201d said Jillson.<\/p>\n
Hinojosa\u2019s biggest chance to make more of a name for herself in this race is more money, which close election watchers say could come from James Talarico, who has already made a $100,000 donation to her campaign.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe people with the most money, Talarico running for the United States Senate, has to assure his own election, if at all possible, but if there\u2019s anything left, he\u2019s got to make sure that other elements of the Democratic ticket are competitive,\u201d said Jillson.<\/p>\n
Time will tell if the money buys enough votes for Hinojosa to unseat Abbott.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEXAS \u2014 In the state\u2019s gubernatorial contest, Gov. Greg Abbott\u2019s war chest has kept him in a comfortable…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":387137,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6329,1658,2160,132,6328,1570,102,6363,223,287,82,27,29,28,2053,835],"class_list":["post-387136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-app-capital-tonight","tag-app-local-state-politics","tag-app-top-stories","tag-austin","tag-capital-tonight","tag-ctv","tag-dallas","tag-erin-davis","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-san-antonio","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-top-stories","tag-vod"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=387136"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/387136\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/387137"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=387136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=387136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=387136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}