Yea right, this coming from THE TAX COLLECTOR HERSELF!
Posted on 07/16/2005 7:52:35 AM PDT by SwinneySwitch
Gov. Rick Perry leads in the fundraising race for next year's gubernatorial election, but his Republican challenger, Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn, isn't far behind.
Perry has $8.4 million in his coffers and raised $2.3 million of it from June 20 through June 30 — the period covered in the latest filing period. Strayhorn, meanwhile, raised $1.5 million in the same time period and counts $7 million in the bank.
The numbers show a real race between Perry and Strayhorn, who are locked in a battle for the Republican Party nomination next March.
"It says she's a player," said Bruce Buchanan, a political scientist at the University of Texas at Austin. "My guess is that where she stands right now is better than Perry would like."
Perry has 14 contributions of $50,000, including one from the San Antonio law firm of Loeffler Tuggey Pauerstein Rosenthal and one from Dr. James Leininger of San Antonio, a well-known, conservative school voucher proponent.
Auto dealer B.J. "Red" McCombs and his wife contributed a total of $50,000 to Perry during the 10-day period. And the governor received a $50,000 contribution from Houston homebuilder Bob Perry, a Republican heavy hitter during the 2004 presidential election and no relation to the governor.
"These individuals know that I will continue to fight for the conservative principles by which I have governed in office, and continue to stand firmly against the liberal forces that seek to undo the tremendous progress Texas has made under conservative leadership," Perry said of his supporters in a prepared statement.
Strayhorn's four largest donors in the most recent report contributed a combined half a million dollars, 40 percent of it from two Texas lawyers — Houston's John Eddie Williams Jr. and Beaumont's Walter Umphrey — known for their role in helping procure the state's $17.3 billion settlement with the tobacco industry.
Both Williams and Umphrey contributed $100,000 on top of the $50,000 they each gave earlier in the campaign.
Strayhorn also received $200,000 from the political action committee of Dallas-based Ryan & Company, a tax consulting firm.
The company's principals include Democratic former state Comptroller John Sharp, who wasn't a donor on the report. Sharp's name has been floated as a potential gubernatorial candidate in 2006.
Dallas real estate magnate Trammell Crow and his son, Harlan, contributed a combined $50,000.
Strayhorn said her support has been "overwhelming" since she announced her candidacy on June 18.
"Texans are looking for leadership, not special session after special session where the largest tax increase in Texas history is recommended and promoted by their governor," she said in a statement.
The reports came in the midst of a special legislative session called to address school finance reform. Perry recently added other items to the agenda for consideration, including protection of property rights, judicial pay increases and funding of university construction projects, but school finance remains the crucial issue.
Perry has much at stake in the special session. A Scripps Howard Texas poll conducted in May showed Perry's job approval rating slipping to 45 percent, a number that experts said could rise or fall depending on how successful the Legislature is at addressing the school finance question.
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rrodriguez@express-news.net
Perry Strayhorn Donations Ping!
This is all I need to know. Not sure about Williams, but Umphrey is a Dim fatcat who would always support the more "progressive" candidate.
Yea right, this coming from THE TAX COLLECTOR HERSELF!
Strayhorn is a loose cannon. With her it's not about the people of Texas but about Strayhorn, an ego trip.
So then you're saying there's no difference between the two cnadidates.
I wish John Sharp would switch parties and run as a Republican.
Demo => RINO! We have way too many now!
Not sure about Williams, but Umphrey is a Dim fatcat who would always support the more "progressive" candidate.
Yup, and that's good enough for me. All these guys are players then, so they know where some of the bodies are buried. Literally any candidate they support, I'll be against. The KISS principle ;^)
I haven't started keeping up yet, but I presume this will be a two horse race?
The donation wasn't even good walking around money for them.
True enough but it's still early in the season.
FGS
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