[ Report Home | Previous Page | Next Page ] Governor Perry’s War Chest: Who Said ‘Yes’ To ‘Governor No’?   III. Contributions At A Glance

Money influences who attains political power, who has access to that power and how that power is exercised.¹¹  Perry raised $34.3 million for his Lieutenant Governor and Governor races from June 1997 through June 2002 (the most recent available data). This study analyzes the economic and ideological interests of Perry’s big donors of $500 or more—donors who supplied 92 percent ($31,402,362) of all the money he raised. By tracking the employer and occupation of these high rollers, researchers identified the interests behind 91 percent of Perry’s big-donor money ($28,632,936), or 84 percent of the total money he raised.
 
 

Timing of Contributions Period Amount  For Lt. Governor Race $10,879,932 As Lt. Governor $9,668,802 As Governor $10,853,628 TOTAL:  $31,402,362

Contribution Size Donor Category Total Given Donor Count >=$1,000 $30,251,489 5,313  >=$5,000 $23,841,275 1,160  >=$10,000 $20,673,079 615  >=$25,000 $15,879,140 253  >=$50,000 $12,257,166 134  >=$100,000 $8,500,897 60

 
 

Donation by Place

Top-10 Cities City Amount  Houston $7,117,021  Dallas $6,294,108  Austin $5,550,863  San Antonio $1,721,231  Fort Worth $917,303  El Paso $638,789  Irving $452,500  Bryan $351,773  Midland $307,606  Abilene $307,250  TOTAL: $23,658,444

Top-10 Zip Codes Zip City Amount  78701  Austin $1,829,300  75201 Dallas $1,234,164  77002 Houston $1,041,027  77019 Houston $743,021  75225 Dallas $523,140  77056 Houston $406,460  78746 Austin $389,582  78205 San Antonio $329,810  78703 Austin $324,229  77017 Houston $309,750  TOTAL: $7,130,483 *$8.4 million (27%) of Perry's contributions were reported electronically without zip codes listed.