More Campaign Finance Numbers Drop Early Next Week

A couple of big election-related deadlines hit on Monday. One is the deadline to submit 30-day campaign finance reports, which will include fundraising activity through Sept. 25. The other deadline is for voters to register for the general election.

If Labor Day marks the start of the horse race to Nov. 4, the 30-day deadline means the race is about to enter the final stretch. In a lot of ways, the totals reported here give outsiders a chance to decide who are the contenders and who are the pretenders.

GOP gubernatorial candidate Greg Abbott disclosed on Wednesday the top-line numbers that he’ll be reporting on Monday. Through Sept. 25, the Abbott campaign raised $7.8 million and will have $30.1 million in cash on hand.

The news prompted a tweet from TW’s Ross Ramsey, who likened Abbott’s cash situation to the movie Brewster’s Millions, the 1985 Richard Pryor movie in which the title character had to spend $30 million in 30 days in order to win a $300 million inheritance.

Indeed, the Abbott campaign might have more money than what it can possibly spend in a month, a situation that most other campaigns probably envy. It’s already been reported that Abbott has dropped at least $10 million on airtime in October, meaning that he’ll be able to go statewide with his TV ads for the whole month.

His opponent, Democrat Wendy Davis, has been actively advertising for a few weeks now, mainly through ads trying to drive up Abbott’s negatives. She also has had two opportunities through the gubernatorial debates to give Texans a chance to see her on the same stage as Abbott.

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It was confirmed this week that the major party nominees for U.S. Senate, Republican John Cornyn and Democrat David Alameel, will meet for a debate on Oct. 24.

The encounter will take place in Dallas, but a broadcast by Univision will take place late the following night. And then there’s this — the debate will be conducted in English, but the broadcast will be simulcast in Spanish.

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Swearing-in speeches for legislators rarely make headlines. That would not be the case, however, for Charles Perry. The Lubbock Republican took the oath of office this week for the West Texas-based SD-28 seat that had been left vacant when Robert Duncan resigned to take over as chancellor at Texas Tech University.

In case you missed it, here’s how The Associated Press reported Perry’s remarks:

In his inaugural speech, Perry said a recent trip to a concentration camp in Berlin made him draw a comparison between what he believes are efforts by the government to pass laws against religion and the killing of Jews during the Holocaust.

“There were 10,000 people that were paraded into a medical office (at the concentration camp in Berlin) under the guise of a physical. As they stood with their back against the wall, they were executed with a bullet through the throat. Before they left, 10,000 people met their fate that way,” Perry said.

“Is it not the same than when our government continues to perpetuate laws that lead citizens away from God? The only difference is that the fraud of the Germans was more immediate and whereas the fraud of today’s government will not be exposed until the final days and will have eternal-lasting effects.”