Keffer Brother Off to Good Start for Rematch
But Democrat Leads Fundraising for House

Five of Speaker's Republican Foes in Coup Ranked Among
15 House Members with Most Cash in the Campaign Bank

July 19, 2007

By Mike Hailey, Capitol Inside Editor

Former State Rep. Bill Keffer lost his seat in the Texas House last year after getting off to a slow start in his bid for re-election and being outspent by the challenger before the race ended. The Dallas Republican appears to have learned from his mistake.

Freshman State Rep. Juan Garcia - on the other hand - won a House seat in 2006 despite having $200,000 less for the race than the incumbent he knocked out. But the Corpus Christi Democrat still raised as much money for last year's campaign as Keffer and his foe did combined - and now Garcia is second to no one in fundraising for the state House elections in 2008.

According to campaign finance reports that were due this week at the Texas Ethics Commission, Garcia raised almost $143,000 during a two-week stretch in June for a possible rematch with Republican Gene Seaman , who failed to win re-election despite having more money to spend than all but two House candidates in 2006. Keffer - ousted last November by Democratic State Rep. Allen Vaught - reported raising $40,000 during the first half of 2007 for a rematch next year. Vaught, whose fundraising was restricted to the last 12 days in June as a result of the session prohibition on contributions, didn't raise any money for round two against Keffer during that time.

Keffer, who served two terms in the lower chamber before the unexpected exit, ranked eighth in fundraising among Texas House members and challengers for the first six months of 2007. Keffer - unlike all of the other known House candidates - wasn't affected by the ban on political donations during a legislative session. His contributions included more than $11,000 from State Senator John Carona in January and $10,000 each from Dallas developer Harlan Crow and Midland oilman Timothy Dunn in May. Keffer ended June with more than $67,000 in cash on hand - almost ten times more than Vaught had in his campaign kitty at the end of last month - while Garcia had almost three times more money in his account than Seaman with a balance of $179,000. Garcia received $10,000 from H.E.B. chairman Charles Butts and $50,000 from Andres Elizondo, a doctor who lives outside the district as the administrator of a home health care business in Alice.

Only 10 Texas House members reported war chests larger than the one amassed by Keffer's brother, State Rep. Jim Keffer, an Eastland Republican who finished last month with more than $297,000 in the campaign bank. House Speaker Tom Craddick, who Jim Keffer would like to replace in the chamber's top leadership post, had $3.8 million in cash on hand at the end of the first six months of 2007.

State Rep. Burt Solomons, a Carrollton Republican who has his eye on a future state Senate race, ended June with the second biggest campaign surplus of all House members with almost $758,000 in cash on hand. Another Republican candidate for speaker at the session's end - Republican State Rep. Brian McCall of Plano - ranked third among House members in cash on hand with more than $501,000 in the bank.

State Rep. Joe Straus, a San Antonio Republican who's in the midst of his second House term, had the fourth biggest surplus with $468,000 in cash on hand at the end of June. State Rep. Jim Pitts , a Waxahachie Republican who ran against Craddick at the start of the year and helped lead the revolt against him in the session's final two weeks, was fifth with a campaign cash balance of $442,000.

Five House Republicans who helped lead the attempted coup in the waning days of the session - State Reps. Mike Krusee of Round Rock, Fred Hill of Richardson, McCall, Pitts and Jim Keffer - ranked in the top 15 in cash on hand for House members at the close of June. Krusee reported a cash balance in his political account of $321,505 while Hill had more than $251,000 in cash on hand. Krusee could face opposition in both the primary and general elections next year. Jim Keffer may have a primary test as a result of his role in the attempted overthrow.

Twenty-one of the 25 House members with the biggest war chests at the end of June are Republicans. State Rep. Robert Puente of San Antonio is the highest ranked Democrat in the 13th position on the cash on hand list with $254,000 in his campaign bank account.

Thanks to a $125,000 loan from himself, Democratic State Rep. Mark Homer of Paris deposited more into his campaign bank account during the first half of the year than every House member except Garcia. Homer - a perennial target of Republicans in a GOP-leaning rural House district - raised an $11,439 from contributors for a fundraising total of more than $136,000 during the opening half of 2007.

Republican State Rep. Corbin Van Arsdale of Houston raised more than $100,000 from contributors during the 12-day stretch in June after the session fundraising prohibition expire. Van Arsdale, a third-term lawmaker, ranked third among all House members and candidates in the fundraising department for the period that ended June 30.

Republican State Reps. Mike O'Day of Pearland and Dan Branch of Dallas were fourth and fifth in the fundraising department during the first six months of the year. O'Day - the House's newest member after winning a special election a week after the session got under way in January - raised almost $45,000 and loaned his campaign that exact amount. Branch, who's serving his third House term, reported contributions of $74,000 after the session ban was removed in June.

House Members Gearing for Re-Election Showdowns Ranked High in Fundraising

Two-thirds of the 25 state House members who raised the most campaign cash after the ban on contributions during the regular session came to an end are bracing for opposition at the polls in 2008.

A pair of South Texas Democrats - State Reps. Kino Flores of Mission and Veronica Gonzales of McAllen - ranked among the top 15 House members in fundraising during the 12-day stretch in June when political donations were no longer prohibited.

Flores, who could have a primary battle against Mission attorney Sandra Rodriguez shaping up, reported contributions of almost $29,000 in a campaign finance report that he filed with the Texas Ethics Commisson this week. Gonzales, whose seat is being eyed by Texas Funeral Service Commission member Javier Villalobos, a Republican, raised more than $24,000 during the same time period for her re-election bid.

State Rep. Rick Noriega, a Houston Democrat who's formed an exploratory committee in anticipation of a U.S. Senate race next year, raised $36,000 for a re-election race that no one expects him to enter. Only eight House incumbents and one challenger raised more than Noriega so far in 2007. Most of the money that Noriega raised can be shifted to a U.S. Senate race because the contributions to him were less than the federal limits on individual and political action committee donations. Even then, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the $4 million mix of personal funds and contributions that Democratic rival Mikal Watts already has in place for a U.S. Senate primary battle. Watts and Noriega are expected to do battle for the seat that U.S. Senator John Cornyn represents.

The list of the 25 most successful fundraisers among House members in the abbreviated period in which contributions were allowed includes Democratic State Reps. Mark Strama of Austin, Ryan Guillen of Rio Grande City, Scott Hochberg of Houston and Donna Howard of Austin. All of the above are expected to face opposition in the primary election or from Republican foes in the fall next year. Guillen, who might draw a primary foe as a result of his close association with Speaker Tom Craddick, ranked among the top 14 House members in cash on hand as well with a closing balance of more than $235,000 at the end of June. Guillen is the vice-chair of the Appropriations Committee.