Houston homebuilder Bob Perry put $5,000 into College Station incumbent Don McLeroy‘s shaky State Board of Education campaign on Friday, according to a “telegram” report published on the Texas Ethics Commission Web site late today. San Antonio incumbent Ken Mercer also reported $1,200 in late contributions from two donors (but not Perry) over the weekend.
Bob Perry is one of the nation’s biggest campaign donors, and he spreads his money around to Republicans and Democrats (with Republicans getting a particularly healthy share). He also helped bankroll the Swiftboat Veterans for Truth smear campaign against Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004.
He has been known to support some “culture war” issues as well. In 2005, for example, he poured $160,000 into political action committees that supported passage of a state constitutional amendment barring same-sex marriage in Texas.
Despite the late donations to their campaigns, McLeroy and Mercer still trail far behind their Republican primary challengers — Thomas Ratliff of Mount Pleasant and Tim Tuggey of Austin — in total fundraising.
Check our our most recent report on campaign fundraising for State Board of Education races.
