Houston car dealership's owner among big givers in final months of '06, campaign says
Jan. 16, 2007By R.G. RATCLIFFE
Copyright 2007 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau
AUSTIN — At the end of last year's election and shortly afterward, Gov. Rick Perry raised $2.4 million in donations, his campaign reported Tuesday.
The largest single donation came from the Republican Governor's Association: $500,000.
The individual donor who gave the most was Dallas investor Harold Simmons, who contributed $250,000.
Another large donor was Thomas Friedkin, owner of Gulf States Toyota in Houston.
Friedkin gave three donations totaling $104,665. The Gulf States Toyota political action committee gave another $25,000 to Perry.
Combined with earlier donations, that brought Friedkin's total contributions to Perry in 2006 to more than $174,000, and Gulf States' to $40,000.
The Texas Ethics Commission was closed because of freezing weather, so Perry's full report was not available.
Perry's campaign released a portion of the report showing donations made between Oct. 29 and Dec. 31, 2006.
The material released by the campaign did not include the dates of the donations.
Beer, wine and liquor distributors also ranked high on Perry's donor list.
BG Distribution Partners of Houston gave him $50,000, as did Bennett Glazer of Dallas. Glazer is the CEO of a liquor-distribution company.
The mortgage banking firm ACC Capital Holdings also gave Perry $50,000. So did the Texas Friends of Time Warner Cable.
The largest San Antonio donation was $14,000 from lawyer and lobbyist James Jonas.
Perry's campaign reported that he entered 2007 with $1.2 million in cash on hand.
