Bell
Friedman
Perry
Strayhorn
Overview
From January 2003 through June 2006 four gubernatorial candidates on the 2006 ballot raised a total of almost $43 million (Libertarian James Werner raised negligible funds). An analysis of these funds reveals differences in the amount of money that the candidates raised, how much they have spent, as well as the number, size, locations and profiles of their donors. For details, see the data profiles at the end of this report.
Total Gubernatorial Money Raised By June 30, 2006: $42,557,385
(Period Covered: January 2003 - June 2006)
Gubernatorial Candidate Affiliation
of Total
ContributionsRepublican Independent Independent Democrat James Werner Libertarian TOTAL:
This report makes an important distinction between two different campaign contribution totals that the gubernatorial candidates reported. They reported most of the $42.6 million that they collectively raised as itemized contributions (listing the amount and date of the contribution, along with the donor’s name, employer, city and state). State law also allows candidates to report un-itemized, lump sums for contributions of $50 or less. The four leading gubernatorial candidates itemized some of their small contributions but reported others as lump sums. Note that whenever this report analyzes such characteristics as a donor’s employment or place of residence it necessarily relies on itemized contributions only. No amount of alchemy can extract such data from lump sums.Amounts raised, retained
As incumbent officeholders already wielding political power, Governor Rick Perry and Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn began fundraising earlier (this report starts the clock in January 2003) and raised millions of dollars more than latecomers Richard ‘Kinky’ Friedman and Chris Bell (who entered the fray in early 2005). While Perry raised almost twice the money in this period as Strayhorn ($24 million to $13 million), he tore through it at a much faster clip. As a result, Perry’s bank balance dwindled to $10 million by this June—compared to Strayhorn’s $8 million. Put another way, Strayhorn retained 64 percent of her money, compared to 41 percent for Perry.
Friedman’s merchandise campaign-funding model (which counts buyers of Kinky bumper stickers and kewpie dolls as donors) is innovative. But it costs money to make money this way. While Friedman grossed more than $1 million more than Bell ($3.4 million to $2.1 million), he ended the period with less in the bank ($491,372 to Bell’s $654,502). Friedman’s big challenge is to turn customers into voters—preferably Kinky voters. Yet one in four itemized Friedman donors appear to be ineligible to vote in this race because they live outside Texas. Indeed, only nine Texas towns boast more contributors to the Jewish Cowboy than does New York City. None of Kinky’s competitors listed more than 5 percent of their donors living out of state.
Campaign Cash on Hand as of June 30, 2006
Gubernatorial Candidate Cash On Hand
Share of Total RaisedJames Werner Total Amount Raised By Check Size*
*Chart based on each contribution. Aggregate totals for large donors making multiple contributions are reported below.
Chris Bell
Kinky Friedman
Rick Perry
Carole Keeton Strayhorn> $50,000 $25,000-$49,999 $5,000-$24,999 $1,000–$4,999 $100-$999 Under $100 Unitemized <$50 Number of Contributions By Check Size*
*Chart based on each contribution. Aggregate totals for large donors making multiple contributions are reported below.
Chris Bell
Kinky Friedman
Rick Perry
Carole Keeton Strayhorn> $50,000 $25,000-$49,999 $5,000-$24,999 $1,000–$4,999 $100-$999 Under $100 Unitemized <$50
Out-of-State Funding
Candidate Amount Percent Number Percent Bell Friedman Perry Strayhorn Perry's Donors
Governor Perry is the quintessential big-business candidate, continually vacuuming up checks from business executives and the lobby for every major industry in Texas. Perry’s favorite zip code is the Austin lobby’s 78701, which delivered 8 percent of the governor‘s total war chest. While Perry’s campaign voluntarily itemized more than 10,000 contributions of $50 or less, this money hardly registered as a percentage of his total haul. The governor raised 74 percent of his money in contributions of $5,000 or more. Regular-folks checks of less than $1,000 filled less than 9 percent of his war chest.
Governor Perry’s top donors are wealthy interests with aggressive political agendas. His No. 1 donor ($590,000) is Bob Perry (no relation). Perry Homes helped design the state’s builder-dominated Texas Residential Construction Commission (TRCC); Governor Perry then appointed this powerful builder’s general counsel to a seat on this new agency. AT&T, the governor’s No. 2 donor, pushed a sweetheart communications bill through a 2005 special session that Governor Perry ostensibly convened to tackle a school-financing crisis.
Strayhorn's Donors
Another big-business candidate, Comptroller Strayhorn extracted 7 percent of her war chest from the Austin lobby’s 78701 zip code. Yet many conservative businesses are reluctant to finance a Perry challenge. So the comptroller has cultivated two additional revenue streams. One is Ryan & Co., which helps businesses din the comptroller’s office for tax breaks. Apparently receptive to these appeals, the comptroller collected almost $1.6 million in campaign money from Ryan & Co. (a remarkable 12 percent of her total). Strayhorn also has wooed wealthy trial lawyers (led by John Eddie Williams, Walter Umphrey and Joe Jamail), who evidently decided that she has a better shot at the Governor’s Mansion than the Democratic nominee. The Finance sector and the Lawyers & Lobbyists sector were the most lucrative for Strayhorn largely due to Ryan & Co. and plaintiff attorneys. Strayhorn also hit the jackpot in the Energy industry, which she previously regulated as a Texas Railroad commissioner.
Stayhorn amassed this race’s most top-heavy war chest. She raised just six percent of her money in checks of less than $1,000, while checks of $5,000 or more delivered 78 percent of her total. While both she and Friedman relied on whopper checks of $50,000 or more for 29 percent of their financing, Kinky also dominated the other end of the spectrum—taking in 32 percent of his money in increments of less than $100.
Friedman's Donors
If Friedman’s war chest were a balloon it would be twisted into a kink in the middle—and bulging at the extremes. Thanks in large part to the merchandising of Kinky kitsch, this campaign raised an extraordinary 57 percent of its money in checks of less than $1,000. Yet it also raised another 29 percent of its total from just nine whopper checks of $50,000 or more. Indeed, a single donor accounted for an extraordinary 25 percent of Friedman’s war chest. Befitting a candidate whose curly locks inspired an enduring nickname, Kinky received $851,000 from his shampoo magnate pal John McCall. Kinky got another $10,400 from hair-products magnate Farouk Shami. These endorsements must have stung the incumbent—whom Molly Ivins dubbed “Governor Good Hair.”
Bell's Donors
Fundraising late bloomer Bell has had trouble breaking out of his home turf in Houston, which accounts for 57 percent of his money. Consistent with this base, Bell’s top donors have been trial lawyers and oil independents. Yet Bell has fought for the level of trial-lawyer support that Democratic gubernatorial nominees once took for granted. The $100,000 or so that he received from a trial lawyer PAC and a partner at O’Quinn & Laminack rank among Bell’s top donors. Yet two other trial lawyers gave Strayhorn five times as much. (In September Bell’s campaign announced big commitments from major plaintiff lawyers Fred Hagans, Fred Baron and Harold Nix.) Bell has relied much more heavily on the middle tier of donors than his competitors, raising 74 percent of his money in check sizes ranging from $100 to $25,000.
While the Perry and Friedman fundraising machines raked in fairly constant amounts of money each month (see the timelines in the candidates profile sectons below), the Strayhorn campaign whips its money machine into a frenzy approximately once every six months. Meanwhile Bell has posted steady growth ever since he belatedly hit a fundraising stride late last year.
Hedging Bets:
Big Donors To Two Gubernatorial Candidates
Contributor Company/Business City Clifton Thomas, Jr. Speedy Stop marts Victoria Robert Girling Girling nursing care Austin Gordon Graves Graves Management Austin Charles Joekel TX Staffing Services Houston Union Pacific PAC Railroad Washington Stephen Clark Cypress Realty Austin Fulbright & Jaworski Law firm Houston Gordon Richardson Life insurance agent Caldwell Baker Botts Law firm Houston Heard Denman Robins Cloud & Heard Houston Hughes & Luce Law firm Dallas Clark Thos. Winters Law firm Austin James Elkins Retired banker Houston Robert Cavnar Mission Resources Houston Victor Rogers Rogers Bros. investors Beaum. Marilyn Oshman Oshman’s Sporting Austin Russ Rutledge Fiber Composite Big Spring Melissa Jones Community volunteer Austin Nicholas Marvin Nicholas Earth Printing Sugar Land
During the first 18 months of the 2006 election cycle 19 donors made four-digit contributions to two competing gubernatorial candidates. Strayhorn occupies a pivotal role in this group, receiving checks from all but two of the big donors backing two racehorses. Significantly, Strayhorn received some or all of her money from these donors after she formally challenged Governor Perry on June 18, 2005.
©Copyright Texans for Public Justice, September 2006
