The final campaign finance reports before next Tuesday’s election were released earlier this week, detailing funds raised and expended over the period of September 24 – October 23. They suggest we might be in for an eventful closing week in some of the hotly contested SBOE races. Here are a few of the notable findings from these reports:
District 10
- Democratic candidate Judy Jennings continued her strong fundraising performance, reporting another $32,000 raised during this period. She also reported expenditures in excess of $71,000, mostly on media purchases. The Jennings campaign reported just over $13,000 on hand heading into the final 8 days of the campaign.
- Jennings’ Republican opponent Marsha Farney also reported more than $58,000 in media expenditures during the period. However, Farney reported minimal funds raised during the period, so she appears to be dipping into her own pockets for these purchases — just as TFN Insider predicted last month.
District 5
- Republican incumbent Ken Mercer enters the home stretch with just over $16,000 on hand. Mercer continues to spend comparatively small amounts on his campaign (though he did send a donation of $100 to the far-right group Texas Alliance for Life).
- Democratic challenger Rebecca Bell-Metereau raised more than $32,000 during the reporting period, and spent almost $62,000 on television spots and other advertising.
Other interesting items
- Houston homebuilder and major Republican donor Bob Perry took another step into the world of SBOE politics, contributing $5,000 each to the campaigns of Bob Craig (R, Lubbock) and George Clayton (R-Dallas). (Perry previously gave $5,000 each to the Garza and Mercer campaigns.)
- Republican donor Michael Boylan of Houston jumped into two SBOE contests, giving $5,000 each to Carlos Garza (SBOE Dist. 1) and Ken Mercer.
Links to campaign finance reports for all of the SBOE candidates after the jump.
*Update: The original post stated that the last filing available for Thomas Ratliff, Republican candidate for SBOE 9, was from July. The Texas Ethics Commission has now updated the website, and Ratliff’s 8-day out report is now linked in the table below.
I think Rebecca Bell-Metereau has about the most interesting and creative campaign video spots I have ever seen. Even the two big political parties on the national level do not do video work that good. This is probably owing to the fact that Rebecca is a professor of both English and film. This high quality is indicative of her excellent educational and communications. If her service on the Texas SBOE is even half that good, she will be the best Texan who ever served on it.