WASHINGTON — Texans have combined to donate more than $65 million directly to the Republican and Democratic presidential campaigns, a windfall that helps pay for the deluge of ads and events focused on a handful of swing states far from Texas.
Generous Texans have long sent money to out-of-state campaigns, said Brendan Glavin, deputy research director at OpenSecrets, a nonpartisan organization that tracks money in politics.
“Texas has a history of not just Republicans but Democrats raising a lot of money,” Glavin said. “There’s clearly a good donor base in Texas for candidates.”
Texas has not backed a Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter in 1976, and based on the latest polling that’s not likely to change this year.
But like busy commuters stopping by an ATM for quick cash, the major-party candidates and top surrogates have made regular stops in Texas to collect checks from donors.
The candidates’ principal campaign committees — Donald J. Trump for President 2024, Inc. and Harris for President — are limited to donations of $3,300 per person, per election, or no more than $6,600 this cycle for those who also donated in the primary.
These organizations are the source of many of the texts and emails that bombard voters with pleas for smaller donations, and many Texans have responded.
OpenSecrets found Texans had donated at least $35 million to Trump and $30 million to Harris in this cycle, through the end of August.
Harris’ total includes money donated to President Joe Biden before she replaced him atop the ticket.
A breakdown by major metropolitan areas found Dallas sent Harris about $6.9 million and Trump $6.5 million, OpenSecrets said. The Fort Worth-Arlington area gave Trump $3 million and Harris $1.9 million.
Those numbers don’t include donations made more recently to the chief campaign organizations for former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.
Nor does it include money Texans funneled to independent super PACs that support the presidential campaigns as well as candidates in competitive races across the country. Super PACS are generally allowed to accept unlimited contributions but are barred from directly coordinating with candidates.
The most significant example is America PAC, billionaire Elon Musk’s pro-Trump committee into which the owner of Tesla, SpaceX and X.com has plowed $118 million.
Texans have given more than $23 million to Make America Great Again Inc., the chief super PAC supporting Trump, and more than $500,000 to FF PAC, which is boosting Harris, according to the most recent data.
Kelcy Warren, executive chairman and chairman of the board of directors of Dallas’ Energy Transfer LP, is among the top Texas donors on the Trump side.
Warren gave more than $5.8 million to committees supporting Trump through the end of August.
The largest super PACs supporting Harris have smaller Texas donations. Dallas’ Garrett Boone, co-founder of The Container Store, has donated to the Harris campaign and gave $200,000 to the pro-Harris AB PAC before President Joe Biden dropped out of the race.
Glavin said Texas, California, New York and Florida play an outsized role in funding political campaigns across the country, including presidential contests and congressional races.
The Texas total of $65 million compares with combined totals of $162 million from California, $68 million from New York and $66 million from Florida.
Donations are often gathered in areas that are not particularly competitive, especially in the presidential election.
“You’ve got to get the money where it is so then you can turn around and spend it in the battleground states,” Glavin said. “That’s just the way the modern campaign has to work.”
One of the largest changes in campaign finance over the past decade, he said, is how candidates use texts and emails to instantly reach potential donors. Technology allows for quick-and-easy donating.
It’s a significant shift from the days when candidates sent mailers asking for a check to be returned to their campaign.
That doesn’t mean campaigns have abandoned more traditional meet-and-greet events with significant donors.
About 100 people gathered under the lights strung across Dallas trial lawyer Russell Budd’s backyard on a March evening to hear President Joe Biden and open their wallets. Budd said the event, the third time Biden had visited his home, raised $2.5 million.
After Biden withdrew from the race and Harris inherited his campaign’s bank account, running mate Tim Walz, the Minnesota governor, was in Dallas in September for a private fundraiser.
At a $1 million San Antonio fundraiser last month, second gentleman Douglas Emhoff thanked donors for their financial support but urged them to continue giving.
“Keep raising the money,” he said, “because raising this money helps us compete all over the map, and it’s tight. You see the polls coming out each and every day. This is a close, close, close, close election. And it shouldn’t be.”
Trump has held a number of fundraisers in the state, including an Oct. 2 luncheon in oil country. His running mate, Sen. JD Vance, R-Ohio, has also been to the state to drum up donations.
Tarrant County Republican Chair Bo French said he attended a late September lunch in Fort Worth where Vance raised a record haul before going to another event in Dallas later in the day.
French said Texas Republicans know boosting Trump will help down-ballot candidates as well.
“I love it when Texas gets some love from the Trump campaign, even though Texas looks like it is not in play,” French said. “Texans understand the dynamic. We are a red state and Republicans don’t have to convince us as much, but they do need our money and there is a lot of it here in Texas.”
