Dee Margo (R) and Joe Moody (D) both raised whopping sums of cash over the past month as they battle it out to represent District 78 in the Texas House.
Moody, for the first time, bagged more money than Margo, $390,000 compared with $235,000.
(Click here to see what they raised over the summer)
In fact, Moody has raised more in the last month than he has in all previous filing periods. This is interesting in light of the torrid month Moody has had.
His campaign was rocked by (re)revelations of comments he made online in 2007 while polls have shown him trailing Margo.
His fund raising, no small sum even in the flashy world of Texas politics, shows just how seriously Texas Democrats are taking the race.
Margo still managed to outspend Moody over the last month due to having received much more money in the previous eight months. Margo’s campaign fund, going into the final week, is around $131,000 compared with Moody’s $97,000.
However, candidates are still able to raise money in the final week., though they will have to file a special election telegram with the Texas Ethics commission to report large contributions.
Two things stand out in the campaign reports:
First, the massive amounts of money both candidates have raised from out of town. Both took over $150,000 from out-of-town donors, including more than $100,000 each from their respective parties and party controlled politcal action committees.
Both candidates have been intent on putting the “puppet” label on their opponent. With both being a potential freshman in the Legislature and both seeing waves of green from Central Texas lapping up against their purses, both may have a point.
Secondly, the figures show how important the final week is when the “LIVs” emerge from obscurity.
According to Newsweek, LIVs (Low Information Voters) comprise the largest and swingiest portion of the electorate. They get involved in campaigns late and play what they see in front of them.
This perhaps explains why Margo and Moody have spent over $200,000 each, blanketing El Paso with flyers and airing negative campaign commercials.
(Click here to compare the figures below with what they raised during the previous filing period)
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The Breakdown
Sept 26 to Oct 25 2008
Margo
Total raised: $235,842.91
Total spent: $298,569.71
Cash on hand: $131,167.25
Top donors:
Stars over Texas PAC $88,000
Bob Perry (Houston) $35,000
Woody Hunt (El Paso) $10,000
Medical defence PAC $10,000
Republican Party of Texas $9,000
Clayton Williams (Midland) $7,500
Top expenses:
Olsen and Shuvalov $47,000+
Anthem Media $180,000+
Moody
Total Raised: $390,720.88
Total spent: $267,622.81
Cash on hand: $97,052.33
Top donors:
House Dmeocratic Campaign Committee $70,000
Texans for Insurance Reform $65,000
Texans for Economic Development PAC $50,000
Vote Texas PAC $50,000
Blue Texas PAC $40,000
Steven Mostyn (Houston) $20,000
Top Expenses:
Coyote Strategies $200,000+
The Tyson Organization $15,000+
Moody’s latest campaign ad
Margo’s latest campaign ad
Mike
October 28, 2008
Margo has shown he is only interested in the non-Hispanic vote. I have been monitoring this race, and Margo has spent NO MONEY, ZERO dollars on any of the Hispanic, Spanish language stations in town.
In fact, Margo has shown he is completely out of touch with the realities facing people in his district as shown at recent candidate forums. I'm not sure Moody is any more informed, but at least he has exposed himself to the Latino community on the air and online.
It is time that we do what we can to stop electing Bush clones such as Margo to office. Margo no le interesa los Hispanos.