AUSTIN — Gov. Greg Abbott topped all Texas politicians in political fundraising so far this year, raising more than $20 million for his campaign, a figure that dwarfs every other hopeful who has announced they are running for a statewide office in 2026.
Abbott’s haul shows the three-term governor continues to dominate all other Texas politicians when it comes to convincing donors to cut big checks. Only Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick comes close to the levels of campaign cash Abbott has amassed, with about $37.5 million in the bank compared to Abbott’s $86.1 million.
“Support from thousands of donors across the state reflect the unwavering trust Texans have in Governor Abbott’s strong leadership,” Abbott’s Campaign Manager Kim Snyder said. “The broad backing we’ve received proves that Texans are committed to keeping our state strong, secure, and prosperous.”
Abbott’s fundraising feat is more impressive by the fact he had only about a week to raise the money. Texas law prohibits many candidates from raising money during a legislative session, which spans most of the first six months of the year.
“Greg Abbott’s the most prodigious fundraiser in Texas political history,” said University of Houston political scientist Brandon Rottinghaus. “I never thought we’d see somebody who could raise money better than Rick Perry, but Abbott has certainly done that and more.”
Rottinghaus credited Abbott’s longevity and his growing influence over the Texas Legislature for his dominance in campaign fundraising. The governor notched several wins during the legislative session, including overcoming years of Republican opposition to put in place the state’s first-ever program to allow taxpayer money to be spent on private school education.
Four donors each gave Abbott $1 million, including Kelcy Warren, the CEO of pipeline company Energy Transfer, and Fisher Investments founder Ken Fisher. Other notable top donors include Buc-ee’s founder Arch “Beaver” Aplin III, Texas mega-donor S. Javaid Anwar and H. Ross Perot Jr., who each gave Abbott’s campaign $250,000.
Abbott’s campaign warchest might appear prohibitive to any prospective Democrat hopeful and nearly insurmountable to a GOP challenger.
“You’re going to lose,” veteran lobbyist Bill Miller said Wednesday of any primary challenger to Abbott. “The question is how badly are you going to lose? It’s not a question of can you win? You can’t win.”
No prominent Democrat has announced candidacy for governor, though several are weighing whether to jump into the numerous statewide races that will be up for election in 2026, most notably the U.S. Senate.
Better targets might be the two statewide offices where Republican incumbents are not seeking reelection.
Attorney General Ken Paxton is taking on Sen. John Cornyn in an already bitter campaign for Senate.
And former Comptroller Glenn Hegar created a down-ballot GOP shuffle after he resigned to serve as chancellor of the Texas A&M University System.
On the GOP side, three Republicans have already amassed millions of dollars for their campaigns for attorney general. Leading the pack is state Sen. Mayes Middleton, who is self-financing his campaign with $10 million of his own money. Middleton is the president of a Houston-based oil and gas company and manages his family’s mineral and ranch holdings across Texas.
Sen. Ted Cruz’s former chief of staff Aaron Reitz raised the most among the three candidates, but has the least banked, campaign finance reports indicated. His campaign brought in $2.1 million. State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, raised $763,000 and has $3 million in the bank.
Miller said money matters, but it is not as indicative of a frontrunner as it used to be.
“It’s not the sole arbiter of the outcome,” he said. “There’s a lot of ways to reach people that’s a lot less expensive than buying [ads] on CBS Evening News, which used to be the whole deal.”
Dallas Democratic state Sen. Nathan Johnson announced his candidacy for attorney general Tuesday. Johnson’s report showed he raised about $58,000 and that his campaign has about $436,000 in the bank. Former Galveston Mayor and 2022 attorney general candidate Joe Jaworski has not announced a run for the spot, but filed paperwork indicating that he raised $184,000 to run for attorney general. No Democrats have announced for comptroller as of yet.
Interim comptroller Kelly Hancock is seeking the seat after Abbott appointed the former North Richland Hills state senator to run the state’s checking account. Railroad Commissioner Christi Craddick has joined the fray as well, alongside former state Sen. Don Huffines, who ran an unsuccessful primary challenge against Abbott in 2022.
Campaign finance reports indicate that Huffines took out a $10 million bank loan for his campaign, leaving him nearly $14.5 million in the bank. Hancock’s campaign has nearly $6 million and Craddick has about $3.2 million banked.
Miller said the Republican primaries for both the attorney general and comptroller will likely end up in runoffs.
“It’s an interesting time,” Miller said. “You have interesting candidates and how they try and separate themselves from each other in the beginning will be most interesting.”
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