Democratic gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis will be feted at a Hollywood fundraiser on Thursday hosted by film industry bigwigs J.J. Abrams, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg.

Half of the proceeds from the Santa Monica, Calif., event will benefit Battleground Texas, the statewide field operation established to make Texas more competitive for Democrats, while the other half will fund the Davis campaign directly. Guests are asked to contribute between $1,000 and $25,000.

Davis’ Republican opponent, Greg Abbott, has criticized Davis for relying on “out-of-state liberals” for campaign contributions.

Both candidates have tapped the star power of famous friends for fundraising purposes. In February, Abbott toured alongside rocker Ted Nugent at campaign stops in North Texas. In April, Texas legend Willie Nelson sang at a high-dollar fundraiser for Davis.

Edgar Walters worked at the Tribune from 2013 to 2020, most recently covering health and human services. Before that, he had a political reporting fellowship with the Berliner Zeitung, a daily newspaper...