In Month Before Primary Day, Dewhurst Spends The Most
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All Republican candidates for lieutenant governor except Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples have dipped into personal financial resources to fill their coffers, according to campaign filings released a week before the March 4 primary.
Incumbent Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst wrote a personal check to his campaign for the first time, putting $2 million into his re-election bid. State Sen. Dan Patrick of Houston loaned himself another $200,000, bringing the amount he's lent his campaign to a total of $1,555,000. Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson has previously invested $200,000 in his campaign.
In the last month before election day, Dewhurst led in spending, with more than $3.4 million in campaign expenditures. Patrick was a distant second, with $1.2 million. The incumbent also had the most contributions during that period, collecting about $1.4 million from donors. Staples came in second, bringing in about $650,000 from political supporters.
While there's still time for some final fundraising and last minute personal checks, Dewhurst also has the most left to spend — about $580,000 — in the remaining days before March 4. Patterson, Staples, and Patrick have about $346,000, $330,000, and $168,000 respectively, left in the bank.
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