In Month Before Primary Day, Dewhurst Spends The Most

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.