$16 Million Man :

December 05, 2006

GOP House Builder Bob Perry
Lost Bid For Capitol Additions

The No. 1 individual political donor in Texas—and the nation—upped the ante in the 2006 election cycle, contributing $6.7 million to state PACs and candidates. Houston homebuilder Bob Perry increased his political spending this cycle 44 percent over what he spent on Texas’ last election. The money tracked here covers Perry’s contributions to state PACs and candidates from January 2005 to the eve of the November 2006 election.

Bob Perry's Spending
On Texas Politics Skyrockets

Election Cycle	Perry's State Contributions
2001-2002	$3,838,500
2003-2004	$4,640,000
2005-2006*	$6,688,265

These figures do not include the additional $9.3 million that Perry poured into federal elections this cycle, an expenditure that made him the nation’s No. 1 federal donor according to Washington-based PoliticalMoneyLine. While Texas imposes no limits on what individuals can contribute to candidates for non-judicial state offices, the federal system bars individuals from giving a candidate more than $2,100 per election. As a result, Bob Perry gave a relatively modest $82,600 of his federal money to traditional PACs and candidates (Democrats received just $2,000 of these hard-money contributions).¹

The vast majority of Perry’s federal contributions went to so-called federal 527 political organizations (named for a section of the federal tax code) that are not subject to contribution limits. His favorite such slush funds were: the Economic Freedom Fund ($5 million); Americans for Honesty on Issues ($2 million); and the Free Enterprise Fund ($1 million). These groups spent Perry’s millions on ads attacking Democratic congressional candidates.²

Back home in the Wild West, Perry spent $6.7 million through the eve of Texas’ 2006 election. He contributed $4.1 million to 146 state candidates and another $2.6 million to 17 state PACs that back multiple candidates. Republicans got 92 percent of the money he contributed directly to state candidates. Moreover, two-thirds of the state PACs that he backed exclusively support Republicans. In contrast, Perry gave to just one all-Democratic committee: Texas 2020 PAC (which supports moderate House Democrats).

Republicans Got 92 Percent of Perry’s State-Candidate Donations

Party	Perry Total In ’06 Cycle	Share	Number of Recipients	Average Amount
Rep.	$3,792,265	92%	116	$32,692
Dem.	$315,500	8%	30	$10,517
TOTAL:	$4,107,765	100%	146	$28,135

 

Bob Perry’s Multi-Candidate PACs (2006 Cycle)

In addition to his quantitative preference for GOP candidates, Bob Perry qualitatively discriminated between his favorite Republican versus Democratic candidates.

The accompanying tables list the top legislative recipients of Perry’s money broken out by party. Perry’s top GOP legislative candidates include just two incumbents (Gene Seaman and Martha Wong)—both of whom lost to Democratic challengers this month.

In all, just two of Perry’s top 14 Republican legislative candidates won. Where Republican candidates were concerned, Perry concentrated his money in highly competitive races that had the potential to increase the GOP’s legislative majority.

Bob Perry’s Top Republican Legislative Races

Amount From Perry In ’06 Cycle	Candidate	Seat	Incumbency Status	2006 Outcome	Primary %	General %	Runoff %
$262,500	Joe Nixon	S-7	Open Seat	Lost Primary	9	NA	NA
$100,000	Jim Landtroop	H-85	Open Seat	Lost	52	48	NA
$100,000	Michael Schofield	H-133	Open Seat	Lost Primary	35	NA	47
$95,000	Talmadge Heflin	H-149	Challenger	Lost	100	46	NA
$85,000	George Antuna	H-118	Open Seat	Lost	49	44	81
$70,000	Ben Bentzin	H-48	Challenger	Lost	100	0	NA
$70,000	Gene Seaman	H-32	Incumbent	Lost	100	46	NA
$65,000	Bill Welch	H-47	Open Seat	Lost	39	46	55
$62,500	Chris Hatley	H-99	Challenger	Lost Primary	42	NA	NA
$59,500	Martha Wong	H-134	Incumbent	Lost	100	43	NA
$55,000	Alex Castano	H-47	Open Seat	Lost Primary	28	NA	45
$55,000	Dan Patrick	S-7	Open Seat	Won	69	69	NA
$50,000	Donald Margo	S-29	Challenger	Lost	100	41	NA
$50,000	Jim Murphy	H-133	Open Seat	Won	34	56	53

 

Bob Perry’s Top Democratic Legislative Races

Amount From Perry In ’06 Cycle	Candidate	Seat	Incumbency Status	2006 Outcome	Primary %	General %	Runoff %
$50,000	Sylvester Turner	H-139	Incumbent	Won	100	100	NA
$45,000	John Whitmire	S-15	Incumbent	Won	100	63	NA
$25,000	Eddie Lucio III	H-38	Open Seat	Won	51	64	NA
$22,500	Ana Hernandez	H-143	Incumbent	Won	100	71	61
$21,000	Mario Gallegos	S-6	Incumbent	NA	NA	NA	NA
$20,000	Norma Chavez	H-76	Incumbent	Won	70	100	NA
$17,500	Rodney Ellis	S-13	Incumbent	Won	100	100	NA
$17,000	Allan Ritter	H-21	Incumbent	Won	100	100	NA
$15,000	Patrick Rose	H-45	Incumbent	Won	100	60	NA
$11,000	Ismael Flores	H-36	Incumbent	Won	100	100	NA
$10,000	Helen Giddings	H-109	Incumbent	Won	90	90	NA
$10,000	Eddie Lucio Jr.	S-27	Incumbent	NA	NA	NA	NA

The Democratic legislative candidates who received the largest Perry checks are different. With the exception of Rep.-Elect Eddie Lucio III, every Democrat who got $10,000 or more from Perry was an incumbent who either did not face a 2006 election (Senators Mario Gallegos and Eddie Lucio, Jr.) or who won reelection by a margin of 20 percent or more. Indeed, half of Perry’s favorite Democrats lacked any 2006 opposition.

When shopping for Republicans, Perry was most generous where he had the potential to increase the GOP’s legislative edge. The Republicans receiving the biggest Perry checks ran in districts with open seats or challenged Democrats in heavily contested races. Perry’s preferred Democrats, on the other hand, were safe-seat incumbents whose races were unlikely to alter the partisan distribution of power in the legislature.

Perry State Candidate Contributions By Incumbency Status

Incumbency  Status	Perry Contributions	Share of Perry's Money	Number of Recipients	Average Contribution
Incumbent	$2,362,765	58%	101	$23,394
Open Seat	$1,282,500	31%	28	$45,804
Challenger	$462,500	11%	17	$27,206
TOTALS:	$4,107,765	100%	146	$28,135

On average, Perry gave incumbents less money ($23,394) than non-incumbents ($38,778), with open-seat candidates commanding the highest average contribution ($45,804). Overall, however, many more incumbents (101) received money from Perry than did challengers or candidates seeking open seats (45). The sheer breadth of Perry’s reach is remarkable. More than half of all Republican legislative candidates on the November 2006 ballot received $1,000 or more from this one powerful donor.

Of the $4.1 million that Bob Perry gave directly to state candidates, winners received 61 percent, losers got 34 percent and officials not facing a 2006 election received the remaining 4 percent.

Led by Governor Rick Perry (no relation to Bob Perry), nine incumbent Republicans who won 2006 reelections to statewide offices received $1.2 million from Bob Perry. This is about half of all the money that Perry gave to winning state candidates in the 2006 cycle.

Perry State Candidate Contributions By Outcome

Outcome	Perry Contributions	% of Perry's Money	Number of  Recipients	Average Contribution
Winners	$2,511,265	61%	100	$25,113
Losers	$1,417,000	34%	37	$38,297
No '06 Election	$179,500	4%	9	$19,944
TOTALS:	$4,107,765	100%	146	$28,135

 

Perry State Candidate Contributions By Office

On average, however, Perry invested more money on losing candidates ($38,297) than winners ($25,113). This again suggests that he was willing to risk more money on uphill or competitive races that had the potential to increase his party’s control in Texas.

Yet Texas voters rolled back this goal in 2006. While Republican Glenn Hegar won a senate seat vacated by conservative Democrat Ken Armbrister, Democrats picked up a net gain of six House seats. (See below for a list of all Perry-backed state candidates.)³■

 

Perry-Backed Candidates in 2006 Cycle

Amount From Perry In ’06 Cycle	Candidate	Party	Office-District	Incumbency Status	’06 Election Outcome
$380,000	Rick Perry	R	Governor	Incumbent	Won
$320,265	Greg Abbott	R	Attorney General	Incumbent	Won
$285,000	David Dewhurst	R	Lt. Governor	Incumbent	Won
$262,500	Joe Nixon	R	Senate-7	Open Seat	Lost Primary
$250,000	Susan Combs	R	Comptroller	Open Seat	Won
$110,000	Michael Williams	R	Railroad Com	Incumbent	NA
$100,000	Elizabeth Ames Jones	R	Railroad Com	Incumbent	Won
$100,000	Jim Landtroop	R	House-85	Open Seat	Lost
$100,000	Michael Schofield	R	House-133	Open Seat	Lost Primary
$95,000	Talmadge Heflin	R	House-149	Challenger	Lost
$85,000	George Antuna	R	House-118	Open Seat	Lost
$70,000	Ben Bentzin	R	House-48	Challenger	Lost
$70,000	Gene Seaman	R	House-32	Incumbent	Lost
$65,000	Bill Welch	R	House-47	Open Seat	Lost
$62,500	Chris Hatley	R	House-99	Challenger	Lost Primary
$59,500	Martha Wong	R	House-134	Incumbent	Lost
$55,000	Dan Patrick	R	Senate-7	Open Seat	Won
$55,000	Alex Castano	R	House-47	Open Seat	Lost Primary
$50,000	Donald Margo	R	Senate-29	Challenger	Lost
$50,000	Jim Murphy	R	House-133	Open Seat	Won
$55,000	Jerry Patterson	R	Land Com	Incumbent	Won
$50,000	Sylvester Turner	D	House-139	Incumbent	Won
$47,500	Kirk England	R	House-106	Incumbent	Won
$45,000	Glenn Hegar	R	Senate-18	Open Seat	Won
$45,000	John Whitmire	D	Senate-15	Incumbent	Won
$42,500	Betty Brown	R	House-4	Incumbent	Won
$42,000	Tony Goolsby	R	House-102	Incumbent	Won
$40,000	Lorraine O'Donnell	R	House-78	Challenger	Lost Primary
$37,500	Van Wilson	R	House-83	Challenger	Lost Primary
$36,000	Kent Grusendorf	R	House-94	Incumbent	Lost Primary
$35,000	Bob Deuell	R	Senate-2	Incumbent	Won
$35,000	Todd Staples	R	Agriculture Com	Open Seat	Won
$32,000	Larry Phillips	R	House-62	Incumbent	Won
$30,000	Tina J. Benkiser	R	Party Chair	Incumbent	Won
$27,000	Elvira Reyna	R	House-101	Incumbent	Lost Primary
$25,000	Nelson Balido	R	House-125	Challenger	Lost
$25,000	Toby Goodman	R	House-93	Incumbent	Lost
$25,000	Eddie Lucio III	D	House-38	Open Seat	Won
$25,000	Mike Hamilton	R	House-19	Incumbent	Won
$22,500	Ana Hernandex	D	House-143	Incumbent	Won
$21,000	Mario Gallegos	D	Senate-6	Incumbent	NA
$20,000	Norma Chavez	D	House-76	Incumbent	Won
$20,000	Dale Hopkins	R	House-54	Open Seat	Lost Primary
$20,000	Susan King	R	House-71	Open Seat	Won
$20,000	Jim Pitts	R	House-10	Incumbent	Won
$17,500	Rodney Ellis	D	Senate-13	Incumbent	Won
$17,000	Allan Ritter	D	House-21	Incumbent	Won
$15,000	John Davis	R	House-129	Incumbent	Won
$15,000	Kyle Janek	R	Senate-17	Incumbent	Won
$15,000	Phil King	R	House-61	Incumbent	Won
$15,000	Nathaniel Parker	R	House-63	Open Seat	Won
$15,000	Patrick Rose	D	House-45	Incumbent	Won
$15,000	Sylvia Spivey	R	House-137	Challenger	Lost
$15,000	Mark Williams	R	House-7	Challenger	Lost Primary
$15,000	John Zerwas	R	House-28	Open Seat	Won
$13,500	Scott Campbell	R	House-72	Incumbent	Lost Primary
$12,500	James 'Rob' Beckham	R	House-71	Open Seat	Lost Primary
$12,500	Joe Crabb	R	House-127	Incumbent	Won
$12,000	David Swinford	R	House-87	Incumbent	Won
$11,000	Ismael Flores	D	House-36	Incumbent	Won
$11,000	Fred Hill	R	House-112	Incumbent	Won
$11,000	Anna Mowery	R	House-97	Incumbent	Won
$10,000	Tom Craddick	R	House-82	Incumbent	Won
$10,000	Kevin Christian	R	House-71	Open Seat	Lost Primary
$10,000	Byron Cook	R	House-71	Incumbent	Won
$10,000	Cynthia Dunbar	R	Education Board-10	Open Seat	Won
$10,000	Michael Esparaza	R	House-35	Challenger	Lost
$10,000	Troy Fraser	R	Senate-24	Incumbent	NA
$10,000	Helen Giddings	D	House-109	Incumbent	Won
$10,000	Patricia Harless	R	House-126	Open Seat	Won
$10,000	James 'Mike' Jackson	R	Senate-11	Incumbent	NA
$10,000	Terry Keel	R	Court Crim. Appeals	Challenger	Lost Primary
$10,000	Bill Keffer	R	House-107	Incumbent	Lost
$10,000	Eddie Lucio Jr.	D	Senate-27	Incumbent	NA
$10,000	Nathan Macias	R	House-73	Challenger	Won
$10,000	Sid Miller	R	House-59	Incumbent	Won
$10,000	Robert Nichols	R	Senate-3	Open Seat	Won
$10,000	Steve Ogden	R	Senate-5	Incumbent	Won
$10,000	'Tommy' Williams	R	Senate-4	Incumbent	NA
$10,000	Jared Woodfill	R	Party Chair (Co.)	Incumbent	Won
$8,000	Alma Allen	D	House-131	Incumbent	Won
$8,000	Dan Flynn	R	House-2	Incumbent	Won
$7,500	Kip Averitt	R	Senate-22	Incumbent	Won
$7,500	Brandon Creighton	R	House-16	Open Seat	Won
$7,500	Jane Nelson	R	Senate-12	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	James Keffer	R	House-60	Incumbent	Won
$7,000	John Otto	R	House-18	Incumbent	Won
$7,000	Beverley Woolley	R	House-136	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	John Anderson	R	Appeals Court-14	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Joseph 'Jody' Anderson	R	House-12	Challenger	Lost
$5,000	John Carona	R	Senate-16	Incumbent	NA
$5,000	Wayne Christian	R	House-9	Challenger	Won
$5,000	Joe Deshotel	D	House-22	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Dawnna Dukes	D	House-46	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Kevin P. Eltife	R	Senate-1	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Dawn Estes	R	District Judge-192	Open Seat	Lost
$5,000	Nathan Hecht	R	Supreme Court	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Phil Johnson	R	Supreme Court	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Tim Kleinschmidt	R	House-17	Challenger	Lost
$5,000	Trey Martinez Fischer	D	House-116	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Ruth McCledon	D	House-120	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	David M. Medina	R	Supreme Court	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Ken Mercer	R	Education Board-5	Challenger	Won
$5,000	Lee Parsley	R	Appeals Court-3	Open Seat	Lost Primary
$5,000	David Puryear	R	Appeals Court-3	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Mauricio Rendon	R	District Judge-234	Open Seat	Won
$5,000	Charles Seymore	R	Appeals Court-14	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Vicki Truitt	R	House-98	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Marc Veasey	D	House-95	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Alan Waldrop	R	Appeals Court-3	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Don Willett	R	Supreme Court	Incumbent	Won
$5,000	Will Wilson	R	Appeals Court-3	Open Seat	Lost
$4,500	Bob Pemberton	R	Appeals Court-3	Incumbent	Won
$4,000	Brady G. Elliott	R	District Judge-268	Incumbent	Won
$3,500	Roy Blake	R	House-9	Incumbent	Lost Primary
$3,500	Dwayne Bohac	R	House-138	Incumbent	Won
$3,500	Linda Harper-Brown	R	House-105	Incumbent	Won
$3,000	Mike Krusee	R	House-52	Incumbent	Won
$2,500	Kevin Bailey	D	House-140	Incumbent	Won
$2,500	Drew Darby	R	House-72	Challenger	Won
$2,500	Glenda Dawson	R	House-29	Incumbent	Won
$2,500	Juan ‘Chuy’ Hinojosa	D	Senate-20	Incumbent	NA
$2,500	Frank Madla	D	Senate-19	Incumbent	Lost Primary
$2,500	Bailey Moseley	R	Appeals Court-6	Open Seat	Won
$2,500	Ronald Pope	R	District Judge-328	Open Seat	Won
$2,000	Warren Chisum	R	House-88	Incumbent	Won
$2,000	Dianne Delisi	R	House-55	Incumbent	Won
$2,000	Al Edwards	D	House-146	Incumbent	Lost Primary
$2,000	Vilma Luna	D	House-33	Incumbent	Resigned
$1,000	Leo Berman	R	House-6	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Joe Driver	R	House-113	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Harold Dutton	D	House-142	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Rob Eissler	R	House-15	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Rick Hardcastle	R	House-68	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Bryan Hughes	R	House-5	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Jesse Jones	D	House-110	Incumbent	Lost Primary
$1,000	Lois Kolkhorst	R	House-13	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Jodie Laubenberg	R	House-89	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Armando Martinez	D	House-39	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Jose Menendez	D	House-124	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Richard 'Rick' Norriega	D	House-145	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Ken Paxton	R	House-70	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Debbie Riddle	R	House-150	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Corbin Van Arsdale	R	House-130	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Mike Villarreal	D	House-123	Incumbent	Won
$1,000	Judith Zaffirini	D	Senate-21	Incumbent	NA
$4,107,765	TOTAL

 

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¹ Bob Perry gave a total of $2,000 to Texas Democratic Congressmen Henry Cuellar of Laredo and Al Green of Houston. After the DeLay-led congressional redistricting, Rep. Green beat Chris Bell in the 2004 Democratic primary for Rep. Nick Lampson’s seat.
²  The Free Enterprise Fund also attacked the opponent of incumbent Sen. Joseph Lieberman (D-CT), who successfully ran as an independent after anti-war candidate Ned Lamont defeated him in the Democratic Primary.
³  Democrats picked up one House seat with the special election of Donna Howard on February 14, 2006. They won five more House seats in November.