Buzbee injects $5.5M into mayoral bid
Candidates’ finance reports offer early glimpse into levels of support
Millionaire trial lawyer Tony Buzbee has continued to pump millions of dollars into his campaign for Houston mayor, contributing $5.5 million of his personal wealth during the first six months of the year while spending about $1.8 million, according to his campaign finance report.
Buzbee’s spending total brings his total personal contribution to $7.5 million. He has spent more than $2.3 million on a combination of ads, consulting fees and various other expenditures, amid a pledge to self-fund his entire campaign.
Mayor Sylvester Turner, who is seeking a second term, reported raising about $1.7 million during the reporting period, which spans Jan. 1 through June 30. His campaign spent nearly $1.4 million and reported more than $3.2 million cash on hand. He received 1,240 individual contributions, 485 of which totaled $100 or less, a campaign spokesperson said.
Businessman Bill King, who also is challenging Turner, reported a sixmonth haul of about $685,000. He spent $580,000 during the reporting period and lent his campaign $100,000. That left him with $318,000 cash on hand and $210,000 in outstanding loans at the end of June.
King received contribu
tions from almost 900 individual donors and did not take donations from city vendors, according to a campaign spokesperson.
The reports, which were due Monday, offer the first major look at the financial state of the candidates’ campaigns as they gear up for a grueling four-month stretch leading up to the Nov. 5 election. If no candidate receives 50 percent of the vote, the race will head to a December runoff between the top two finishers.
The number of individual donations candidates receive typically offers an early look at their levels of support before the first public polls come out, Houston political analyst Nancy Sims said. Because Buzbee is not taking campaign contributions, she said, it is difficult to gauge how voters perceive his candidacy.
“We’ve seen wealthy candidates before, but usually they try to raise their own money and match what they put in,” Sims said.
Still, Buzbee’s ability to outspend his opponents allows him to “control the message and blanket the airwaves with whatever he wants,” said Brandon Rottinghaus, a political science professor.
Between December and late August, Buzbee has scheduled 1,584 television ads to run on local broadcast or Comcast cable channels, at a cost of $1.8 million. That is according to disclosure forms the TV networks had filed with the Federal Communications Commission as of Monday afternoon.
Buzbee, so far, has run a TV ad alleging Turner “gives millions in wasteful city contracts to the donors who fund his campaign,” a charge Turner has denied. Buzbee also recently began airing a spot emphasizing his background in the Marines and as a lawyer.
Turner has scheduled 368 ads to run from May through late July, at a cost of about $265,000. In both cases, 15 percent of the candidates’ cash goes to consultant commissions and not ad time.
Turner has run a single TV ad so far, focused on Hurricane Harvey recovery. The FCC forms show no other mayoral candidate has purchased TV ad space this year.
Despite raising far less than Buzbee gave to his own campaign, Turner posted “a very healthy fundraising haul,” Rottinghaus said.
Councilman and mayoral candidate Dwight Boykins filed a report Monday afternoon showing he had raised about $140,000 during the reporting period and spent about $93,000. He had nearly $70,000 cash on hand at the end of June.
Former Councilwoman Sue Lovell, another candidate for mayor, entered the race July 1, the day after the reporting period ended.
Turner largely has ignored Buzbee, though, at an event in February, he appeared to criticize his challenger’s pledge to not accept campaign donations.
“So, if the only way we can be on city council, county commissioner or mayor is to write a personal check to get there, then most of us, we may as well sit down,” Turner said, according to the Houston Defender.
Buzbee and King have alleged that political donors have too much influence at City Hall and have made reforming campaign finance laws a central part of their campaigns.
Last week, a petition drive aimed at limiting the influence of contractors and vendors at City Hall failed to gather enough signatures to put the measure on the November ballot.
The drive would have amended a city ordinance to bar people who do business with the city from contributing more than $500 to candidates for municipal office.
A handful of lesserknown candidates also are running for mayor. Each has yet to file a report or has reported raising less than $2,000.