[ Report Home | Previous Page | Next Page ] Tony Sanchez’s War Chest: Who Gives To A $600 Million Man?   III. Contributions At A Glance

 

Self-Financing Sanchez Source Amount Percent Self-Financed Loans $17,761,663  57% Contributions to Self $10,172,407  32% All Other Contributions $3,573,748  11% TOTAL:  $31,507,818  100%

Money influences who attains political power, who has access to that power and how that power is exercised. Sanchez reported raising almost $32 million from August 2001 through June of 2002 (the most recent available data). Sanchez obtained an astonishing 89 percent of this money ($27,934,070) from self-financed loans and contributions. As his own biggest fan, Sanchez donated $10,172,407 to his campaign. In addition, the campaign obtained another $17,761,663 in bank loans that the candidate personally secured with his prodigious assets (Sanchez’s own bank is not the lender).¹²

Having discussed the origins of Sanchez’s personal money in the introduction, the body of this report focuses on the relatively modest $3.6 million that Sanchez obtained beyond his own wealthy family circle. In particular, this study analyzes the $3.4 million that Sanchez obtained from outside donors of $500 or more. These big donors supplied 96 percent of Sanchez’s outside money. By tracking the employer and occupation of these high rollers, researchers identified the interests behind 71 percent ($2,411,484) of Sanchez’s big-donor, external money.
 
 

Contribution Size

Donor Category	Total Given	Donor  Count
>=$1,000	$3,301,198	897
>=$5,000	$2,369,860	211
>=$10,000	$1,696,232	82
>=$25,000	$962,500	18
>=$50,000	$675,000	7
>=$100,000	$400,000	2

The top-10 city list of external contributions to this Laredo native is striking in that it includes four Texas-Mexico border cities that provided just over $1 million, or 30 percent of Sanchez’s big-donor, external money. Altogether, 33 percent of Sanchez’s external money came from border cities. This substantial share of border money may be unprecedented for a major statewide campaign in Texas. By comparison, border cities accounted for 10 percent of the Texas Railroad Commission money that Brownsville native Tony Garza raised from 1997 through 2001.
 

Top-10 Cities City Amount Houston $823,539  *Laredo $684,153  Dallas $440,999  Austin $295,750  *McAllen $176,500  San Antonio $135,918  *Brownsville $113,200  Corpus Christi $92,600  *El Paso $63,706  Amarillo $55,520  TOTAL:  $2,881,885  *Texas-Mexico border city.

Top-10 Zip Codes Zip City Amount 77002  Houston   $459,000 78041 Laredo $246,952 78040 Laredo $129,274 78045 Laredo $107,775 75219 Dallas $104,643 78044 Laredo $91,000 75201 Dallas $89,000 75230 Dallas $78,500 78703 Austin $75,500 78504 McAllen  $73,500   TOTAL: $1,455,144