Attention and Money Flow in Local House Race

The race to represent District 85 in the Texas House is attracting a lot of attention – and money.

The incumbent, Stan Kitzman, has raised more than a half-million dollars for his re-election campaign, according to Ballotpedia.org. Nearly half of that came during the last reporting period, from Jan. 26-Feb. 24. His biggest contributor is the Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which has donated $127,753. House Speaker Dade Phelan’s campaign is also a top contributor, with more than $70,000 in contributions to the Kitzman campaign.

In addition, Kitzman has received contributions from a wide range of political action committees (PACs). Among those were $54,000 in donations from the Texas Sands PAC, organized by the Las Vegas Sands Casino, which hopes to bring casino gambling to Texas.

Kitzman received numerous smaller donations from groups like Texas Construction Association PAC, Texas Medical Association PAC, Texas Association of Realtors PAC, Texas Oil and Gas Association Good Government Committee, Texas Automobile Dealers Association, Texas and Southwestern Cattle Raisers Assn. PAC, Texas Restaurant Association PAC, Texas Food and Fuel Assn. PAC and the Texas Farm Bureau Kitzman’s opponent in the Republican Primary, Tim Greeson, raised a total of $52,038 throughout the entire campaign, according to Ballotpedia. org. The majority of his contributions came from private individuals. Among his top donors are Phil Stephenson, the former state representative whom Kitzman defeated in the last election. Stephenson donated $4,000 to Greeson’s campaign. Fayetteville businessman Fred Robert, who also ran against Kitzman in the last election, is another Greeson contributor.

Kitzman has spent $417,293 so far on his campaign. That compares to $52,924 in spending by the Greeson campaign.